There’s more than one hot guy roaming the halls of High School Musical.
So if you can take your eyes off Zac Efron for one minute, ladies, let’s hear from his co-star Corbin Bleu.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Have you started working on your second album yet?
CORBIN BLEU: Right now I’m actually working on different songs and just trying to figure out where to go next. With the first album [Another Side, released earlier this year], I worked really hard. It was still a first album, though. Now I definitely feel very comfortable, and I want to take it to the next level.
EW: What do you hope to change from the first to the second?
Bleu: I want to have a lot more of my hand in the work of writing it. Just putting my own creative input when it comes to it.
EW: Does this mean you want pursue music more than acting right now?
Bleu: At the moment, because of the [Nextfest summer tour] and everything, I’m focusing on music. But after that’s done, what would be ideal for me would be to go do a [big-screen] movie. The last time I did a feature it was called Catch That Kid, so that was a long time ago. There are a lot of different scripts and things that are coming in. We’re trying to figure out what’s next.
EW: Do you have a dream project or someone you would love to star with?
Bleu: Johnny Depp is one of my favorite actors. Meryl Streep — I absolutely love her work. Just working with people that are truly legends and who have been though it. That rubs off. You learn from them.
EW: Do you have a role model?
Bleu: I really, really respect Jamie Foxx… He’s a beautiful singer, he plays the piano wonderfully, he’s an incredible actor. He’s just a very well-rounded person. I very much admire that.
EW: As far as High School Musical 3 goes, are you definitely going to sign on?
Bleu: Right now we’re in the negotiation process. I would love to be able to see a script. I think all in all it would be really nice to have some closure to this whole HSM phenomenon.
Meanwhile, there’s also a High School Musical leading lady not named Ashley Tisdale or Vanessa Hudgens. It’s time to hear from Monique Coleman after the jump…
MONIQUE COLEMAN: It’s a goal of mine. In terms of acting roles, I haven’t found a role yet that is the next move for me. In the meantime, I am interested in writing a motivational book about what celebrities are really like. It’s not really a memoir — I feel like I’m too young for anything like that. [And] it’s not about being famous, it’s not a recount of this long-lived career.
It’s just an in-the-moment way of saying, ”This is what it’s like in this stage,” because no one ever really talks about it. The point where it’s making it, but still not really making it. Still only being 26 and having a whole life ahead of you.
EW: When do you expect it to be out?
Coleman: I’m still in the beginning stages — I’m working on a proposal. We’ll see if [a publisher] bites.
EW: Do you have any upcoming projects set in stone?
Coleman: No, not right now. It’s funny, I’ve sort of taken a different turn than everybody else. I’m a part of the Disney Dreamers Academy, which is basically an academy to enrich African-American high school students through Walt Disney World, with empowerment classes and things like that. To help inspire and encourage, that’s really what I want to do. I love television, I love movies, I love all of that, but I still feel very young and I feel like I have my whole life to find those parts.
In the meantime, after doing something as successful as HSM, it’s sort of hard to take a role that I’m not interested in just to get to act. Instead, I would rather get to speak.
EW: What do you see yourself doing next as far as acting goes?
Coleman: I would love to do features. My favorite movies where I thought, ”I wanted to be in that!” were Crash, Million Dollar Baby, Dreamgirls. I love roles in films that really make a statement. I am older, but I play so young that it’s sometimes harder to find a role for a young African-American girl that’s really meaty. I have no sort of issues with Disney at all — I think Disney is wonderful with what they are able to do — but I also want to do other things.
I graduated with a degree in acting, so I’m not afraid of roles that are very challenging and maybe show the underbelly of society as well. I think that that’s just as important as showing the bubbly, happier parts of things.
EW: You think you’ll do the another High School Musical?
Coleman: I am definitely interested. It’s too early to really say what’s going to happen and whether or not everybody is going to sign back on or what. I would love to continue this journey. It’s been incredible, I have made the most wonderful friends, I’ve gotten so much exposure. It’s opened the door for me to be able to fulfill some of my own goals and aspirations with empowering women and girls.
If being a part of this project gives me that visibility, then sign me up!