Julia Lester has stormed both the stage and our Disney+ accounts with her role as Ashlyn Moon in High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, and this season she’s getting her leading-lady moment playing Belle in East High’s Beauty & the Beast production. With only one episode left in Season 2, what’s in store for the Wildcats as they perform Act 2 of Beauty & The Beast?
I got to sit down for a quick phone conversation with Julia, in which we discussed the ins and outs of Season 2, the anticipated season finale, her role as Ashlyn, being in high school theatre, filming during COVID, Marvel, and the shows we’re currently watching.
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KY KASSELMAN: First of all, congratulations on Season 2! It’s been a blast to watch so far. I’m so excited for the finale. What are you most excited about for the finale?
JULIA LESTER: The finale is actually something that we’re all super excited about because we’re not really sure how it turned out because episode 11 was actually split up into two parts. So it’s going to be really exciting to see how the second part of this finale plays out because of the big “To be continued” cliffhanger that we just left off on. There’s a lot to be excited for. I think there’s also going to be some stuff that people are not going to expect at all, which is gonna be really exciting.
KY: That’s awesome. So, what was your biggest takeaway from working on Season 2 as opposed to Season 1?
JULIA: This season was a totally different experience in general, just because of, you know, everything that was going on in 2020. I think we all really gained a better appreciation for each other and a bigger understanding of the show and how much it means to us. It really plays out on screen and really translates into what we made for this season! I would say that I think it really bonded us, and we grew a lot stronger.
KY: Yeah, I’m sure that was an amazing bonding experience. Do you have a favorite scene or episode from the season?
JULIA: Oh, that’s really hard to narrow down. I’m really excited that “Be Our Guest” and “Something There” are out now because the big musical theater moments of [this] season are what I was really looking forward to. I definitely can’t pinpoint what my favorite is, but I’m super excited that I can talk about those specific ones now and that they can be out there.
KY: Those numbers were incredible to watch! Just so much fun.
JULIA: Thank you so much, they were so much fun to film.
KY: If you could have played another character in this season, who would it have been?
JULIA: I have a really special place in my heart for Miss Jenn. Maybe that’s just because I love Kate Reinders but I love Miss Jenn and I could never play [that role] the way that she does, but it would be a super fun part to play [around] with.
KY: How did the process for filming Season 2 differ between Beauty and The Beast and High School Musical? How did you keep the High School Musical spirit alive in the show?
JULIA: That’s really interesting. I was asking myself that question when we entered the season, because I was really curious to see how they were going to incorporate this whole new topic into our show that already was so established with a very clear franchise that we were getting also. I was also really curious about that. The spirit of High School Musical will always be alive in our show because we go to East High and that was like where our show took place, so I think that no matter what happens in—hopefully—seasons to come, there will be other [productions] and other genres that we can play [around] with. [It] will always be High School Musical at heart. I think that’s something that’s really special about our show, is [that] we’ll never lose that East High Wildcat spirit.
KY: Yeah, I think that’s such a really unique perspective that y’all can have on this show is just having the feeling and the vibe of the nostalgia of High School Musical while doing something completely different. It’s a really interesting concept that you don’t get in a lot of TV.
JULIA: Totally. I’m so excited that it translates that way.
KY: So, obviously, a huge part of Ashlyn’s storyline this season is this solidified relationship with Big Red. Are there any storylines that you could relate to or draw inspiration from your own life for?
JULIA: Oh, yeah. I mean, I went to public school growing up, and I did high school theater and went through it all. So doing this show and playing that specific part is really exciting because I feel like, even if I’m not going through like the specifics of what Ashlyn’s going through, I know exactly what it’s like to be a high school theater kid. When in doubt, I always pull from just knowing that I was in her position at one point, just as a 15 year old sophomore. That’s something that’s super cool.
Hayes) (L-R) Julia Lester, Larry Saperstein
KY: Yeah, for sure, I also did high school theater.
JULIA: Oh, my God. Amazing.
KY: So, it’s so fun to watch! Especially this opening night episode, I second-handedly feel the stress of a high school theater on opening night. It’s a different type of stress.
JULIA: It’s been really cool to see how accurately depicted these theater scenarios are because every time we get a new script I love reading the things that actually happened in my high school career and going like, “Oh, my God, we did that.” And the jokes about going to eat at Denny’s after; all the classic theater kid stuff. I love that we incorporate that.
KY: Especially with the rival school this season. It made me think a lot about doing theater competitions, which is something I haven’t thought about in years.
JULIA: I also did theater competitions in high school! So when they introduced the rival storyline into our show, I knew that things were going to get heated, because there was always drama during those.
KY: For sure! One of my favorite numbers of this season was the one that you did with Kourtney and Gina at the beginning of the season. What was that dynamic like? How did this season develop those specific friendships more?
JULIA: That’s actually also one of my favorite numbers of a whole series by far. We were really excited when we were presented with the opportunity to do a trio because I think that’s also, not necessarily an unlikely trio that would come together, but it’s something totally different from season one. That’s something that I think we see in every episode, our friendships forming and other pairings getting together and people bonding over things that we didn’t touch on in Season 1. I think it’s really cool that we get to see this kind of girl power trio of these three friends who are working together and doing something cool that they’re proud of. I really love the dynamic, and I hope that we explore it more if there [are] more seasons to come.
KY: Yeah, I just love those three characters so much and that was just such a fun number. I went back and rewatched it a couple of times.
JULIA: Oh, my God, amazing!
KY: Of course! So, Ashlyn getting the role of Belle felt like one of the most satisfying moments of the season to watch for me because, honestly, Ashlyn is my favorite character.That was such a great moment [to watch]. What was your reaction when you found out that Ashlyn would be the lead?
JULIA: Oh, thank you! I was really excited and really surprised and just really grateful that Tim Federle, our creator and showrunner, wanted me to carry the responsibility of playing Belle and depicting this storyline and portraying this character. I just knew that there was a lot of work to do, and I was ready for it all and very grateful and excited. The response has been really wonderful too, so it’s just really great that people are loving Ashlyn as Belle.
KY: Where do you think Ashlyn is headed in the future? What do you picture for her?
JULIA: Oh, my goodness, I don’t know—I think she’s just trying to make it to junior year! I think that Beauty and the Beast was such a big moment for her and a moment of realization where she started to really come into her own and figure out the things that make her sparkle and make her feel beautiful, and make her shine. I think she’s really on this self-discovery journey. If anything, she’s falling more and more in love with performing and acting as it goes on. So, hopefully, we’ll see her dream even bigger and continue to want to perform and pursue whatever she wants.
KY: I do want to talk to you about the spring break episode, which was super cool to watch, with all the vignettes of everything going on. What was that like, creatively, being separated from everyone and doing that really cool, edited number?
JULIA: Yeah, it was really fun and very interesting because, like you said, we were all separated when we filmed. It’s really cool to see how it all got pieced together. Our director for that episode, Brent Geisler, he’s such a huge part of our high school musical family—he worked on the original movies and has now directed an episode of our show. He took on such a big undertaking with that specific episode in that Zoom format. I just think he did such a brilliant job of piecing it all together. It was so cool to see how when we were filming, I was talking to a white poster board, and somebody from our crew was reading the lines. So to see the episode piece all together where it really looks like we’re on a Zoom call together, it’s just so fantastic. He’s such a visionary. I just am so pumped with how it turned out because it was such an interesting episode to get and read through [since] you never know what it’s going to turn out to be like. He just did such a fantastic job. I got to spend most of the shooting time with Matt—who plays EJ—and he was just so much fun to be around. So we had a blast.
KY: It looked like a lot of fun! That was super interesting because it’s not like the show had a COVID storyline. But that specific episode with the Zoom call and everything, you could feel, “Oh, this is what we’re all used to from the past year and a half.” It feels really relatable in that aspect.
JULIA: Totally, I loved how it kind of brought a sense of comfort, and you know, we all went through that over the past year. So it was just a cool episode to do and depict in the way that we did it.
KY: How has the fan reception been this season? Do you have any cool stories from fans?
JULIA: The fan reception has just been so wonderful. It’s been really exciting to see how people are relating to the characters this season. My favorite thing is when people come up with predictions or what they think is going to happen in the next episode. I love reading through those and seeing what people think is going to happen. It’s just really cool to see. People fall in love with characters that they didn’t hear much from last season and get a better taste of the whole cast and the show. It’s been super cool and really rewarding.
KY: I just have a couple more fun questions: do you have a favorite ship on the show besides Big Red & Ashlyn?
JULIA: Ooh, I love Seblos! They’re amazing and perfect. I have “In A Heartbeat” on repeat right now in the car. So, yeah, I’m a big Seblos lover.
KY: Yes! They’re so adorable. They’ve had such great moments this season, it’s been awesome to watch. What movies, TV, or music are you loving right now?
JULIA: Let’s see, let’s see. I am very excited, I’m seeing Caroline Polachek in concert soon, so I’ve been listening to some of her music recently. I recently also got into Marvel, so I’ve been loving the TV shows that they’ve been putting out like I just finished Loki, and it was really good. Also, I love rewatching nostalgic Nickelodeon shows. I’ve been doing some SpongeBob rewatching.
KY: Are you watching the iCarly reboot?
JULIA: Oh my God, yes! Okay. I’ve seen like the first two episodes of that. I need to catch up.
That is so much fun to watch. So good.
KY: Thank you so much for doing this interview. It was really fun! JULIA: Of course! It was so nice to talk to you.
High School Musical: The Musical: The Series is streaming now exclusively on Disney+.
