Lucas Grabeel Opens Up About Not Labeling Ryan Evans' Sexual Orientation in Original 'HSM' Movies

Lucas Grabeel has made his return to the world of High School Musical on Disney+’s HSM: The Musical: The Series, and in a new interview with TVLine, opening up about the impact of Ryan Evans on the world.

“People have always asked me if Ryan was gay,” the now 35-year-old actor shared. “I’ve seen a lot of performances from the tours or high schools or community theaters, and they always take Ryan to that place of being way over the top. That’s fine, but that’s not exactly the way I played it.”

Lucas continues, “I had a lot of talks with [director Kenny Ortega] about his own experience in high school. He was not out, and he wasn’t running around being that way, but he had that energy inside of him. It’s such an important time in your life, and you’re figuring so many things out. Now, thankfully, people are much more accepting and welcoming of other people’s differences.”

Ryan, Lucas says, was still figuring things out in the original movies, like more teenagers are.

“Ryan was a guy who was really excited about theater and art and dance choreography and bright colors and hats,” he says. “But he also liked Kelsey, and he really liked [Zeke]. He didn’t need a label, because he wasn’t ready for that. He was still learning about himself and about people and where he fit into the world.”

“I didn’t mean for it to be a giant statement,” Lucas adds. “I actually wanted to be kind of subtle. I wanted to add nuance and little things that you might catch the second or third time you see the movies. I wanted people to think, ‘That character’s more complex than I thought,’ instead of saying, ‘Oh, he comes out in pink and you know he’s gay.’ That’s not what we had in mind. We had a lot of fun with putting in all those little nuances along the way.”

If you missed it, check out Lucas performing with Kate Reinders on the series on JJJ!