Exclusive Interview! Return to Halloweentown Star Lucas Grabeel Tells All -- Part One

"I don't glorify the position of the actor, because there is so much more that goes into [a movie] than the pretty face that you see on the screen."

With starring roles in the hit movies Halloweentown III: Halloweentown High, High School Musical and Return to Halloweentown behind him, and the eagerly anticipated High School Musical 2 coming up next year, Lucas Grabeel is now one of the most popular young actors on the Disney Channel. But he is becoming known for his guest starring roles on more grown-up fare, as well, including Boston Legal, Veronica Mars and Smallville. He's also branching out as a musical performer (he'll be part of the two-month, nationwide High School Musical concert tour that kicks off at the end of November) and in movies. In fact, Grabeel called to do an interview with MediaVillage reporter Maya Motavalli from St. Louis, Missouri, where he is currently filming the independent feature Alice, co-starring Alyson Stoner, Luke Perry and Penny Marshall. Grabeel had just returned to St. Louis after a drive to his hometown of Springfield, Missouri, for a "real quick" visit with his parents. After the interview he was heading to a local studio to record songs for Alice. The movie isn't a musical, Grabeel says, "but there are songs in it … my character in the movie has a garage band."

An edited transcript of Maya's interview with Lucas follows.

MediaVillage: How would you compare working on Return to Halloweentown to Halloweentown High?

Lucas Grabeel: Halloweentown High was the first movie that I had ever done, so it was a whole new experience. I had to ask a lot of questions and all those kinds of things. I had worked a few times since then so I was a little bit more comfortable with the whole process on Return to Halloweentown.

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MV: What was it like playing Ethan Dalloway again? He was so different in Return to Halloweentown because he lost all his magic. [Ethan was a warlock in Halloweentown High but lost his powers at the end of that movie.]

LG: It was interesting. When they asked me to come back as Ethan I wondered what was going to happen. Reading the script it was kind of interesting to see that he was the same character, but it had been a couple of years since we and the audience had last seen him. I think he has done a lot of growing up since then because of the things that happened with him and his dad and all that. He kinda grew up a little bit. It's kinda cool.

Lucas Grabeel - Return to Halloweentown

MV: In this movie you have more of a starring role than you did in the other one. What was it like to be "on the spot"?

LG: It's kinda weird because on Halloweentown High I worked almost every day, but I didn't have lines every day I worked. This go round I worked a less amount of time, but every time I was on set I had more lines and things. It's kind of crazy. It happened the opposite way than you would think. You would think I'd be on set a whole lot more but I really wasn't.

MV: How is it different filming a regular movie versus a musical?

LG: High School Musical was very fun and extremely experimental. I had never shot a musical before. It's a lot different because you have to make sure that everyone is on the right step and the right beat when you're filming to play back to the song that you've already recorded. Doing a regular movie you don't have to worry about all that, so it's a lot less stressful, that's for sure. Things move a little bit quicker. Sometimes they tend to be a little bit tedious when you're working on a musical because you just can't get something right or you're having technical problems, stuff like that.

MV: Which do you like better?

LG: There are things I like about both of them. I hope to do a wide range of acting roles. I would like to be able to do the comedy and the musical and the fun stuff but also do dramatic stuff as well.

MV: Is it hard for an actor to work with special effects?

LG: So much of acting on camera is going and finding the moment that you're trying to create right then, because sometimes you're only filming a little bit at a time. You have to remember how you are doing a scene when you do it, and then ten or fifteen minutes later or two days later when you do it again. [Acting in a movie] is kind of already in that realm where you're just kind of thrown in to do something and you do it. [With special effects] they throw in a green screen behind you or you have to hold onto something that looks like it does from one angle but not from another. You do what you're told to do. You get to learn about how they set it up and the different kinds of shots and stuff.

MV: How was it different working with Sara Paxton instead of Kimberly J. Brown? [In Return to Halloweentown Sara plays Marnie Piper, the character Kimberly created in the first three Halloweentown movies.]

LG: They're both awesome people. We had a great time on both films. I worked a little bit closer with Sara than I did with Kimberly. Sara is great. She's hilarious. She's very spunky and funny. She's crazy.

MV: Ethan flirted with Marnie through the whole movie. Sara told us they filmed a kiss between Ethan and Marnie but it was cut out. What happened?

LG: I don't know! I kind of see how when the scene played out [the kiss] just didn't fit or work in there. I think it would have been kind of pushed. The last scene moves so quickly there isn't really time for a slow, romantic kiss, you know?

MV: Was that your first movie kiss?

LG: Yes.

MV: What was that like?

LG: I suppose it's like doing any other scene. Sara's really cool. We became pretty good friends. [The kiss wasn't filmed on] the first day or anything, so that kinda made it alright. We were already kind of comfortable with each other and it was just like, 'All right, this is something we have to do, so we're just gonna do it.'

MV: Did you become friends with all the other actors?

LG: All of them! They're really, really cool people. It was one of the coolest sets I've been on. Everybody was very professional, very dedicated and diligent and ready to work but at the same time we were all having so much fun. After we were done working we would hang out and things, go and have dinner, all that. It was very nice. Sometimes that doesn't happen.

MV: Do you think there will be another Halloweentown movie?

LG: You know, I don't know. I doubt that they'll ask me to come back if they do.

MV: Who are your acting influences?

LG: I don't really have any acting influences. I would hope that I never try to act like somebody. I am a movie lover. I don't watch television but I watch a lot of movies. I don't glorify the position of the actor so much as maybe the public does, because there is so much more that goes into [a movie] than the pretty face that you see on the screen. There are so many other jobs that can make it or break it. I try to think of everything as a whole. I take influence from good works of art and things but not necessarily specific actors.

Tomorrow: Lucas talks about the sequel to High School Musical, the upcoming HSM concert tour and shaving his head for Smallville.

Read: Exclusive Interview! High School Musical Star Lucas Grabeel Tells All -- Part Two.