Ashley Tisdale saw the meme comparing her High School Musical character to Taylor Swift — and she stands by the analogy.
“She’s an icon,” Tisdale, 39, exclusively told Us Weekly of Swift, 35, while promoting her partnership with Willow. “I mean, both are icons.”
Tisdale played overachiever Sharpay Evans in all three High School Musical films as well as the spinoff Sharpay’s Fabulous Adventure. During the Super Bowl earlier this month, an image of Swift standing up in her suite and looking disappointed went viral, with some fans comparing it to the moment in the first HSM movie when Sharpay sings, “This is not what I want. This is not what I planned.” (Swift was at the big game to support her boyfriend, Travis Kelce, whose Kansas City Chiefs lost 40-22.)
After the meme went viral, Tisdale reposted via her Instagram Story with the caption, “Icons being icons.”
While she appreciates the comparison to Swift, Tisdale is also happy that Sharpay has remained such a cultural touchstone after all these years.
“It’s pretty incredible to play a character where … people are still seeing images of people now in the present day and thinking of her,” she told Us. “It’s not Gabrielle they’re posting, it’s not Troy — it’s Sharpay. She’s an icon. It’s unreal. It’s so amazing.”
While Tisdale has great memories of being a Disney star, she’s less enthusiastic about the prospect of her own kids following in her footsteps. The actress shares daughters Jupiter, 3, and Emerson, 5 months, with husband Christopher French.
Courtesy of Duffy-Marie Arnoult/WireImage Ashley Tisdale’s daughter is a Troy Bolton fan. While a guest on the “Breaking Beauty” podcast, Tisdale revealed that her 3-year-old daughter, Jupiter, whom she shares with husband Christopher French, has already seen High School Musical for the first time. “She has seen High School Musical, I think when about a year […]
“I personally wouldn’t have them go into the business,” she told Us. “Obviously, when they’re older and if they want to decide to do something, for sure, I would support them. But I come from a different place where I’ve been in the business since I was 3 and [have] been working since I was 3. For me, the most important thing for my kids is for them to have a real childhood. … Working [as a kid], it’s not an easy thing to do. The biggest thing is for them to just have a normal life, and if they wanna do it when they’re older and can handle that, then I would support them.”
Tisdale has been nesting with French, 43, since welcoming Emerson last September. The Carol’s Second Act alum said she had a “better experience” postpartum than she did the first time around, thanks in part to the way Willow’s wearable breast pumps eased the breast-feeding journey.
“I had such a hard time with Jupiter and breast-feeding,” Tisdale told Us. “But the second time with Emerson, she latched right away, and I’ve really been able to have that experience, which I’m really grateful for. It’s one of those things where I love having a second child, because my first experience was [when] I had postpartum depression and I went through a lot.”
Ashley Tisdale got her fairy tale ending when she married Christopher French — and things have only gotten sweeter. The former Disney Channel star was smitten with the musician shortly after the twosome were introduced by mutual friends in 2012. Eight months later, they were engaged. Tisdale wed French in September 2014. Tisdale announced in […]
While Tisdale is happy she’s having an easier time breast-feeding Emerson, she soon realized that the process was going to take up a lot of her time — which is where Willow has been a lifesaver.
“To be able to have the breast-feeding journey with Emerson was really exciting — and then came work, and I was like, ‘Oh, my God, how am I supposed to do this?’” she recalled. “When you’re breast-feeding a newborn, you feel very much like you’re just in the rocking chair the entire time. Willow really gave me that optimism to be like, ‘Oh, I can leave and I don’t have to be here at all times, every hour, and I can have a life again, and I can do these things.’ And now I have this support system and it’s been really great.”
With reporting by Amanda Williams