Lana Condor Loved High School Musical So Much, She Auditioned For The Spin-Off

By right now, Disney+ has been around long enough for viewers to know that they're fully obsessed with High School Musical: The Musical: The Series. What fans of the show might not directly know, nevertheless, is that To All of the Boys star Lana Condor actually auditioned for it. And although she ultimately wasn't cast in the series, she revealed to Teen Vogue that still looks back at the audition process as "an astonishing memory."


As soon as news of the series first started to surface online, it immediately rang a bell. "I was seeing some things on Instagram, although I was like, I think I straightforward to God, might have auditioned for that," she instructed them outlet in an interview published Wednesday (January 15). "I don't think it was Disney+ If I shot for it, I think it was just Disney."


For Condor, auditioning for a role in the HSM spin-off simply made sense at the time — especially because she was such a big fan of the original movies. "I was the biggest High School Musical fan Once I was a child," she mentioned. "[I was like] oh my God, I'd like to be Gabriella. I thought it was so cool."


One of the reasons Condor loved Gabriella's character so much was because lose never saw a lead actress prior to that who she truly felt represented her. "I looked up to Vanessa Hudgens since I was little because of High School Musical," she mentioned. "She sort of looks like me and that's the opening person that I've ever really seen that looks like me that has a lead role in something. So I've habitually looked up to her."


Any time it came time to audition, though, there was a twist: Those who were trying out for a part in the series could not sing a High School Musical song. And nevertheless in spite of the fact that the actress couldn't quite remember what song she had selected, her boyfriend Anthony de la Torre chimed in mid-interview to remind her that it was, case in point, "A Thousand Years" by Christina Perri.


Despite not getting the chance to live out her dreams of playing HSM's Gabriella Montez, Condor understands that she still gets to inspire young women in the same way that Vanessa Hudgens once inspired her. "I looked up to Vanessa Hudgens While I was a kid and right now there really are women, like me While I was little, that are probably looking up to me [as Lara Jean Covey]," she mentioned. "[It's] weird yet I'm okay with it."


With rather anticipated To All of the Men sequel hitting Netflix this February, we think it's safe to mention that Condor wound up right where she was meant to be all along.