High School Musical Star Says Just One Cast Member Turned Down His Podcast

High School Musical cast member Bart Johnson is dispelling some rumors about his podcast about the show.

Back in August, Johnson — who played Coach Bolton, the father of Zac Efron’s Troy Bolton, in the beloved film series — started his podcast, Get Your Head in the Game, a spin-off of the Magical Rewind podcast, which is all about Disney Channel original movies (DCOMs to fans). Since then, he’s been interviewing cast and creatives from the series, which began with 2006’s High School Musical. That film will celebrate its 20th anniversary in January. 2007’s High School Musical 2 and 2008’s High School Musical 3 followed. 

Now Johnson is clearing up fan questions about who will and won’t be on the podcast. He shared a now-deleted post on X on Dec. 4, writing, “EVERY cast member has been invited to be on the podcast. Almost got everyone!!”

He explained, “3 are trying hard to make their schedule work and only ONE cast member said, ‘No. I’ve talked about this movie for 20 years and I’m done talking about it.’ ” And to clear up more rumors, he added on the end, “It wasn’t Zac.”

On Dec. 5, Johnson deleted his original post and wrote a long thread clarifying. He wrote in part, “A lot of people have been asking, so let [me] clear it up: EVERY member of the cast has been invited on the podcast. My goal was to get ALL the actors, dancers, singers and filmmakers. ALL of them!! I’ve been overwhelmed, touched, and so grateful for everyone’s effort to come on and share some of their favorite memories, private things they’ve never shared before, and how much the franchise and the fans mean to them.” He praised his guests for their “great sacrifice and effort” in scheduling time on the show and for opening up.

He continued, “A few cast members are working out of the country, juggling schedules, and doing their best to make it happen. Shooting schedules can be so demanding and the unpredictable hours get LONG. Again, everyone has been invited and almost everyone has already been a guest on the podcast. It’s been the best reunion I could have ever hoped for.”

He said that the cast “has all been interviewed to death” over the last two decades, but the idea was to have a “different, more personal and insightful take” on people’s experiences on the podcast.

As for the person who said they did not want to appear, he wrote in the last part of the thread, “Yes, one cast member did say, ‘No. I’ve been talking about this film for 20 years and I’m done talking about it.’ 😂 I didn’t take it personally at all—and nobody else should either! I actually thought it was hilarious, and I can guarantee you I’ll eventually get this person on the podcast. We’ll talk about it, have a good laugh. Promise!! 😂😂” He said their comments were “all good” and urged fans not to “take it personally.”

He concluded, “Just know that the abundance of love and gratitude everyone has for the fans — and for this franchise that changed EVERYONE’S lives — is 100% real. 🙏❤️”

Johnson has already had over a dozen conversations with people involved with the film. His episodes have included appearances by Vanessa Hudgens, who played Gabriella Montez; Lucas Grabeel, who played Ryan Evans; Alyson Reed, who played drama teacher Ms. Darbus; Kaycee Stroh, who played Martha Cox; and Drew Seeley, who provided the singing voice for Troy in the first movie. Robert Curtis Brown, who played Ryan Sharpay’s dad and Jemma McKenzie-Brown who played Tiara Gold in HSM 3 have also appeared, as has , Britt Stewart, a Dancing With the Stars pro who also appeared in the movies as a dancer. 

Johnson has also had choreographers Chucky Klapow and Bonnie Story, writer Peter Barsocchini and dancer Mollee Gray as guests. Johnson’s most recent episode featured an interview with series director Kenny Ortega.

HSM cast members who have yet to appear include Efron; Ashley Tisdale, who played Sharpay Evans; Corbin Bleu who played Chad Danforth; Monique Coleman who played Taylor McKessie; Olesya Rulin who played Kelsi Nielsen; Chris Warren Jr. who played Zeke Baylor; and Ryne Sanborn who played Jason Cross. 

Johnson said in another X post, “My idea for ‘Get Your Head in the Game, with Bart Johnson’ podcast was to celebrate the 20 year HSM Anniversary…  offer fans the first ever ‘cast interviewing cast’ experience as a THANK YOU to the best fans on the planet!!” In response to a fan’s direct question about Efron, 38, appearing on the podcast, he wrote, “Yes he’s trying but his schedule [is] BUSY.”

Johnson also reshared a clip of Ortega, 75, discussing the movie and its impending anniversary. “I hope that this 20th anniversary enables us to have an opportunity to say thank you in the grandest capacity to all those that just have continued to support and to find these movies,” he said. “But I wouldn’t mind seeing everybody. I think that would be really cool.” He added, “. If you’re out there listening to me, let’s get together and say thanks, if nothing better.”

High School Musical’s long reach also includes the 2011 spin-off movie Sharpay’s Fabulous Adventure and the very meta Disney+ series High School Musical: The Musical: The Series. Bleu, Coleman, Grabeel and Stroh all appeared in the final season of the TV series, which ran from 2019 to 2023.