Matt Cornett Talks High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, Zombies 3, and More

Matt Cornett is one of the industry’s most exciting triple threats. He’s best known for his breakout role in High School Musical: The Musical: The Series.

In Season 3, the Wildcats head to Camp Shallow Lake, a California sleepaway camp, where they and their fellow campers are primed for an unforgettable summer ripe with romance, curfew-less nights and a taste of the great outdoors. With a high-stakes production of Frozen on the horizon and a drama-filled “docu-series” of the production, the Wildcats will attempt to show who is “best in snow” without leaving anyone out in the cold.

Pop Culturalist was lucky enough to chat with Matt about Season 3 of High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, Zombies 3, and more!

PC: We’re halfway through Season 3 of High School Musical: The Musical: The Series. You’ve said in previous interviews that this has been your favorite season to shoot. Why has it been so special for you?
Matt: This season was very fresh in many ways—one of which was that quite literally we got a lot more fresh air being outside. [laughs] But it’s new scenery. We have new cast members (which we had in Season 2 as well). We had some new sets. Moving the show to LA for the season was such a huge thing because it makes the show still what it is but completely new in every aspect because there’s not one place that we’ve been to yet this season that we’ve been to in the previous seasons. That was very fresh. Getting to come home and sleep in my own bed after work was very nice.

PC: The writers have thrown so much at your character, especially in this third season. How rewarding has it been for you as a storyteller to know that they trust you with these important storylines?
Matt: I feel very blessed to get to tell storylines like this—and to get to be a part of a show that tells such beautiful storylines that I don’t even get to be a part of per se, but it feels good. I’m my own worst critic. Sometimes I have to look at how everything has been mapped out. I know that Tim [Federle], all the writers, and Disney trust me with the work that they have given me, otherwise I wouldn’t have the job. It’s very rewarding. It feels good. At the end of the day, it’s a job that I love to do so much. I love it so much. It will always make me nervous and a little stressed whenever I can’t figure something out. But all in all, I feel very blessed.

PC: Speaking about being your worst critic, when we chatted in Season 1, you said you’d never considered yourself to be a singer or a dancer. More so than anybody else in the cast, you’ve grown so much in those areas specifically. Have you felt that change as you’ve grown with EJ and approached each new season?
Matt: Absolutely. I would go so far as to say that I can sing and dance now. I still don’t know if I’m quite comfortable enough with freestyle dancing, but give me some choreography and I can do it. It’s like anything else in life: the more you do it, the more comfortable you get. Being surrounded by so many extremely talented and supportive people has helped me in so many different respects. If there’s something that I’m struggling with, I ask them to help me.

Specifically on Episode 4, the performance of “Love Is an Open Door” with Sofia Wylie is a number that I couldn’t have done without Sofia. Obviously, we have incredible choreographers, but Sofia played a huge part in my comfort level and confidence with that dance. I literally told her, “Can you please be a brutal dance coach to me? If there’s anything I’m doing wrong, tell me! I want this to be perfect. I know that you and I can make it perfect. Let’s do that.” She did. If there were little tiny missteps I was doing or my foot wasn’t turning quite the right way, she would point it out in the nicest way. All of that helped, and it ended up turning out pretty good.

PC: It’s a great number. Finding balance is a big theme for EJ this season. What can you tease about what we can expect from him for the rest of Season 3? How will that affect his relationship with Gina?
Matt: I haven’t seen all the episodes. I actually haven’t been able to see anything that we shot, so there are things that I forgot happened. When I’m watching episodes I’m like, “Oh, right! That leads to what we filmed here.” But yeah, EJ is going through a lot this season. He’s trying his best not to revert back to how he was in his relationship with Nini in the sense of doing these wrong things because he does care about Gina. He cares about her so much, and he wants this beautiful, perfect relationship with her, but he also wants to put on the perfect show because he wants to prove to his dad that he can be successful and great without going to his dad’s school.

It’s a lot for him. There are moments where he does have little mess-ups and small blowups where he is so overwhelmed. In Episode 4, Ricky, Ashlyn, and Gina all walk into the tent and ask him for all these different things and he pops off and goes off on each of them. It’s moments like that that could affect any relationship, not even just his relationship with Gina but his relationship with Ricky, Ashlyn, and everyone. But it’s definitely an interesting ride that he goes on this season.

PC: Speaking of balance, the show has done such a great job balancing fan-favorite songs from the Disney canon with so many incredible original songs. Some of my favorites are when it’s the entire ensemble. If you could have EJ duet with somebody in the future, who would you love for that to be and why?
Matt: I want an EJ and Ricky song. I think it would be great because I feel like my and Josh Basset’s voices mesh well, but I also think it would be fun doing a song with Josh. I’ve told Josh so many times in the past that I want to do a song with him. But it would be fun because we’re so goofy when we’re around each other. We’re like two children when we’re next to each other. No matter what the circumstance or the context is, I know Josh and I would have a blast with it and we would make it goofy and funny.

PC: This is the longest that you’ve lived with a character. Has anything surprised you about this overall experience? What’s been the biggest takeaway for you thus far?
Matt: No matter how long you do a show, you will always discover new things about your character. I have friends that have worked on shows that went five, six, seven, or ten seasons. They’ve talked about how even in the sixth season, there were things that they were still figuring out about their characters. That’s something that I chatted with Tim about recently. What I love so much about playing EJ is that it’s not easy. There are little things that are just natural to me because he’s like a second body to me now, but there are also things that I still have to figure out about him. I have to figure out how things would affect him. Why is he going through this? Why is he feeling this? He is definitely still a difficult character to play at times because he goes through a lot and there’s a lot happening in his head.

PC: The show never shies away from tackling timely and relevant themes, and fans have expressed how much that’s meant to them. Does that bring a different pressure as you’re heading into the new season? How much more rewarding is it to know that your show’s having the impact that it’s having on audiences?
Matt: I don’t know if it brings any pressure because I think we have such a beautiful group of people backing the show. We have a diverse and inclusive writers’ room that is very current with what’s happening and the stories that need to be told. That’s beautiful because we know what stories are important right now and they know what stories need to be told.

That’s always been a fun part of it for me. We are telling such incredible stories. I could talk all day about this, but I also love our cast. We truly have somebody that represents everybody. I really do think that there is somebody in our show for everybody.

PC: You’ve had arguably the summer of your life with High School Musical: The Musical: The Series and Zombies 3. What’s left on your bucket list? Is there a dream role that you would love to bring to life on the screen? I know this season we’re seeing EJ step into the director’s chair. Is that something you’d like to do in your own career?
Matt: That’s a fantastic question. At some point, I would love to direct. I don’t know if that point is now. I feel like I still have a lot of learning to do there, but at some point, I would love to direct. I would love to write, direct, and star in my own project. That’s such an incredible thing that so many great actors do. They write these projects, and then they star in them and they also direct them. I know it’s a whole lot of work, but I think that’s just so much fun.

But in terms of what’s next on my bucket list, I want to play a superhero so bad. I want to be a superhero. I don’t know what superhero that is, but I’m going to put it out there. I feel very lucky to have had the summer that I’ve had. I had such a fun and incredible summer with Zombies and High School Musical. They’re both such incredible projects that I’m so insanely proud of. But yeah, if it could get any better, it would be because I got to play a superhero.

PC: You were also working on some original music when we chatted in Season 2. Did you ever finish that song?
Matt: [laughs] Nope. I still have that guitar melody that I want to write something to. I use this as an excuse—though there should be no excuses—I get so busy and it gets put on the back burner. Unfortunately, music is not my number one priority right now. At some point, I will probably focus on it a bit more because I know a whole lot of people want it from me. It’s a lot of work. It’s hard. I think I probably said the last time that we talked that it’s very difficult. It’s not easy to write a song, but I do still have a little guitar melody that I want to put something to.

PC: In the interviews that you did for Season 2, you manifested that the show would one day do Frozen. We thought we would end the interview with your predictions for Season 4. Congratulations on the pickup, by the way. What musical will the series tackle in Season 4?
Matt: The Little Mermaid would be so fun because it adds a water element. We could film some things in a swimming pool or underwater. Peter Pan would also be fun. There are so many different things that would be fun. I’m very excited about what’s next.

PC: Which High School Musical alumnus or former Disney star will pop up in Season 4?
Matt: Listen, we got Jason Earles and if he could call Miley [Cryus] and get Miley on board, I would have a heart attack. That’s such a great question. Ashley Tisdale would be a fun one. Vanessa [Hudgens] would be a fun one. We all want Zac Efron. Everyone including the fans would love Zac Efron.

To keep up with Matt, follow him on Twitter and Instagram. Watch High School Musical: The Musical: The Series on Disney+.

Photo Credit: Disney/Sheryl Nields