Disney Channel stars know well that “age is only a number,” as the saying goes.
“I auditioned forThat’s So Ravenin 1999 or 2000,” van der Pol toldMedia Mikes.
“I didn’t have real good representation at the time.
Nobody really knew of me.
I just went to a big open casting call with hundreds of girls.
Luckily they noticed something in me.
I did three more auditions.
They dyed my hair.
They then ended up casting somebody else, fired her, and then they finally cast me.”
Thank goodness because van der Pol was meant to play Chelsea.
As an adult, Earles was better able to appreciate just how special the show was.
One of those teens was Tawni Hart, played by Tiffany Thornton.
That same year, she starred in the high school comedyHatching Pete,also on the Disney Channel.
She married him in 2011 (viaUs Weekly), with herSonny With a Chanceco-star Demi Lovatoas a bridesmaid.
The last episode airedin March 2012, a month after Thornton announced that she waspregnant with her first child.
Knight also played a teenage star in the 2010 filmStarStruck.
Surprisingly, his newfound fame didn’t change his life too much.
he explained toKidzworld.comin 2010.
Grabeel is thankful for the role, especially because his character was a role model for many young people.
Tisdale was also in her 20s when she starred in theHigh School Musicalfranchise as high school divaSharpay Evans.
“I’m really, really young still,” she toldThe Star Scoopin 2005.
I always wanted to work for Disney my whole life."
She went on, “I figure, this is where I want to be right now.
I don’t want to do all those mature roles right now.
I have my whole life to do that.”
“There also weren’t African-American female characters like Taylor.
The actress was about 25 years old whenHigh School Musicaldebuted, according toher IMDb page.
That’s nearly a decade older than her character!
Catapulted to fame aftera starring role inTeen Beach Movie, Clayton turned into a teen heartthrob overnight.
But Clayton wasn’t actually a teen himself he wasalready in his 20swhen the 2013 movie came out.
Clayton might not have had a problemlookingyounger than his age, butsoundingyoung was a different story.
Clayton had to take some creative measures to land the role.
Born Gary Michael Clayton, the actor discovered his first name was holding him back.
“So, about a year in, I changed it.
Within that time, I started booking things.”
Being older than your character isn’t a bad thing, though, and age has brought Stewart wisdom.
They’ll say, ‘Reality check here!'”
One thing that Carsondidhave experience in, though, was being a high school student.
By the timeDescendantsaired in 2015, Carson was 22 years old, according toher IMDb page.
How does he stay looking so young?
Goodacre isn’t too sure.
“I don’t know,” the Disney Channel star toldCandid.
“I have to give a lot of credits to my parents.
They’re the ones who made me.
I can’t say there’s too much that I do that’s outside the norm.
I do really love to workout.
I do a lot of CrossFit.
I love doing that.
“I quit acting right before I got the audition,” he toldTribute.
I was going to go back to university and stuff.”
One example is Lilan Bowden fromAndi Mack.
In reality, the actress was 32, according toher IMDb page, when the showdebuted in 2017.
