Ashley Tisdale Opens Up About Saying Goodbye to Disney and Being Starstruck by SAMCRO’s Jax in Sons of Anarchy

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Ashley Tisdale is an interesting person, in that the way she talks causes you to think she’s just a normal person, which obviously isn’t true. I’m not saying she isn’t a nice person, but can we ever really say a celebrity knows a normal life? I’ve known her for too many years as Sharpay from High School Musical to fully see her as a regular human being, but I have to admit I’m impressed with how down to earth she seems. And this new relatability comes from her most recent role on FX’s Sons of Anarchy where she plays the innocent-looking escort, Emma Jean. It’s so far away from the glitz and glamour of her Disney Channel days you almost forget about them completely. It’s one of those redefining roles that turn a child into an adult. She’s doing something serious and it’s paying off.

While filming her next movie, Scary Movie 5, Tisdale took some time to do a conference call interview with such publications as EW. She explained why she wanted to take the SOA role and why she wanted to distance herself from Disney and High School Musical. “I can do so much more than what I did on that channel and what I did in those movies. And it takes just one person to kind of give you that chance. And for me it was Kurt Sutter….”

And she didn’t even have to audition. As a fan of the show, she’s always wanted to snag a part, but it was actually a lot easier to do than you might think. Tisdale explains it best: “It’s kind of a funny story. My dad, who built my house, also actually builds for Kurt Sutter and Katey Sagal, and he has for years. And I’ve been in love with the show and I’ve always been like, ‘Dad, you gotta tell Kurt…. I want to be on the show.’ My dad’s so quiet and shy. He’s like, ‘No, no, no. I can’t do that.’ And so it just so happened that Kurt was writing Emma Jean and came upstairs to the kitchen and actually asked my dad. He’s like, ‘I’ve got a favor to ask you. I would love for Ashley to be on the show.’ And my dad was like, ‘Ohmygod, she’s gonna die.’ And so he definitely thought of me for the character. But of course, my agents, at first, were like, ‘I don’t know. We have to read it.’ I’m like, ‘I gotta do it! I gotta do it!’ Because like I said, it is one of my favorite shows.”

Her time on SOA was a series of firsts for Tisdale. Not only was it her first really serious role, but it was also her first time on a motorcycle and her first time getting to meet the cast, all of whom she was rather starstruck by, particularly of Charlie Hunnam who plays Jax. She name drops meeting Angelina Jolie as an example of having met celebrities and doesn’t normally lose her cool around famous people – she shouldn’t since she’s famous as well – but after being such a big fan of show for years, meeting the cast was just a little overwhelming at times. Speaking of being overwhelmed, she was shocked to read about Opie’s death, made all the more worse by not being able to talk about it.

As for her character’s future, she teases she doesn’t trust just everybody, but she does form a bit of a bond with Jax. She also assures us she won’t be killed off; she makes it out alive. This could possibly mean she’ll return sometime in the future. Sounds good to me.

One Comment

1. 

   DisneyInfoNet

   October 5, 2012 at 3:49 pm

   Your headline is a little deceiving. She has not said goodbye to Disney and in fact still works on one of their shows as the voice of Candace for Phineas & Ferb. As far as we know she is still under contract with them for this show.

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