Julia Lester Reveals She Cried When She First Heard 'Rising' For 'HSMTMTS'

Julia Lester has done it again!

The actress puts on another amazing performance in the latest episode of High School Musical: The Musical: The Series.

In the third episode of season three, her character struggles with her Frozen casting, and ends up alone in the barn and sits at the piano.

She then sings “Rising,” which was actually co-written by Disney alum Cozi Zuehlsdorff, who you may remember from Freaky Friday, Mighty Med or Liv and Maddie.

Julia recently opened up about the song and how she reacted when she first heard it.

Keep reading inside to see what she said…

“I remember the first time I heard it was the day I went in to do a hair and makeup test, before we even started filming the season. The show’s creator, Tim Federle, pulled me into his office and said, ‘I want you to hear this song you’re going to be singing in a couple of episodes,’” she told Vulture. “And, well, I’m a very emotional person, so I just started crying. There’s this one line that says, ‘Will my future self and I be friends?’ It just broke me down.”

She also dished on Ashlyn’s response to not getting a lead role in Frozen.

“Ashlyn has become co-dependent, not only on her boyfriend but also on Miss Jenn, who gave her the opportunity to play Belle,” Julia said. “Ashlyn’s been plucked from that place of comfort and security and dropped into a new environment where they’re not there to advocate for her. She has to remember who she was before Miss Jenn gave her the opportunity to shine.”

ICYMI: Check out all of the songs on High School Musical: The Musical: The Series season three.