This is an I-Heart podcast.

Guaranteed Human.

Hey, Wildcats.

This is Bart Johnson, and you're listening to Get Your Head in the Game.

Hey, guys, welcome to the first ever get your head in the game. I'm Bart Johnson. I'm your host. And I'm here with the fabulous, ever-famous Valentine's The Morning Star, Jill. Thank you. Not famous, but thank you. Famous. You are famous. You're amazing. Thank you so much for being here. Thank you for having me because I'm such a fan of high school musical and a fan of yours. Thank you. I'm so glad

that you're a part of the East High family. Yes. And we got a lot to talk about today. Get you head

in the game. I can't, this is such an honor. And I'm so excited. And I can't believe this day is

actually here. But this is a podcast to celebrate 20 years. Can you believe it, Jill, 20 years since high school

musicals come out.

It's gone by so quickly for us. Fans, I can't imagine how fast it's gone by for you.

It's wild. I can't believe it. The movie came out January 2006. So, yeah, we're sneaking up

on 20 years. So we're going to do a podcast where we interview the cast, the crew, all the filmmakers, the choreographers, all the interesting people.

And a bunch of interesting people that I know have really great stories.

And I know they have great stories because I was there.

So that's, I guess, the advantage of doing this.

But I just want to say, my interest in doing this is entirely for the fans, which are the, they are, Jill, they're the greatest people in the world. They're so kind. They've been so good to me. So thank you guys. I love you all so very much. And this is going to be super fun. Does that sound good, Jill? That sounds perfect so far. How old were you when the movie came out? Okay, so I was just a tad older, I think, than I should have been when watching it. Okay. Because I was in my early 20s. Okay. So I love Disney and I loved all the Disney Channel original movies. And my sister was the first one who was like, you have to watch this. Little sister. My little sister, Britt. And so I went to watch and I love musicals. I love everything Disney. So right away, I became a fan. Okay. And have been since then. And with the other movies as well and then following the cast 20 years later and all of them becoming such big stars, it's just so cool to go back and to see

how it all started with that first movie. Yeah, you know, I love the age range here because

this movie, I think it was made for like really young people, but it's got such a broad

appeal, which is amazing. Like I get little kids coming up to me that recognize me. Like these little tiny kids. I'm like, the movie came out 15 years, 18 years after you were born. Like, how do you know who I am? So it's, uh, it's pretty cool that it's had the longevity and the, uh, the age range that it has. And still relevant today, because I remember during the pandemic, one of my first TikToks was two, we're all in this together. Like, really? Tell you everybody like, don't worry, guys. Yes. We're all in this together. We're all staying in home. So, like, still to this day. I love that. That is one thing I love about the movie. It has such great messaging. Like, the songs are meaningful. Like, they really have a lot of weight to them. And I think that's a really timely one like during the pandemic. Like we're all in this together Thursdays. Like just going live and like talking like what are your concerns? Like let's talk about it. Like let's what are you guys worried about? Let's let's let's just be there for each other. You know, and it's like everyone,

it's the only time everyone in the world has experienced that same, like, fear and that same pain. And so it was a, it was a cool thing to say, yeah, the world really is all in this together. And we know you as coach Bolton. So like you are the world's coach. You're the world's dad. So I'm sure seeing your face during that time,

you know, it was comforting to the fans too, you know?

Yeah, you know the world's coach. You're the world's dad. So I'm sure seeing your face during that time, you know, it was comforting to the fans too. Yeah. You know, it's, it's wild. It is really interesting dynamic because I'm called coach every like I walked through the airport yesterday and I heard like maybe 10 people, hey coach, hey coach, can I get a picture coach? Like everybody calls me coach, which is I love it's so endearing to me. And like, like, you're my dad. I love it. I think that's so cool. So, yeah, it was an interesting role to play. I kind of feel like, I've been told a lot of times, like, you're the world's dad. Like, you're the world's coach. And like, man, what an honor. That's so cool. And because of that, because we know you as coach, we want to get to know Bart Johnson in this first episode. So if you can, can you take us back to the very beginning? Oh, gosh. Very beginning of the high school musical journey. Well, you know, it all begins. I was born in Hollywood. True story. It really was born in Hollywood. And my mom was a hairstylist.

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