Exclusive Interview: Pop Culturalist Chats with Matt Cornett About Season 2 of High School Musical: The Musical: The Series

From an early age, Matt Cornett knew he wanted to be an actor. He and his family made the decision to pack up their lives in Arkansas and moved out West, so that Matt could pursue his dreams. That decision paid off big as Matt booked roles in projects including Bella and the Bulldogs, The Goldbergs, Life in Pieces, and most notably, High School Musical: The Musical: The Series.

As one of the stars of High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, Matt sung and danced his way into our hearts as the often misunderstood and overly ambitious EJ.

Now in its second season, Pop Culturalist caught up with Matt to chat about EJ’s transformation, whether we can expect him to release some original music in the future, and he described each of his castmates in one word!

Career

PC: How did you discover your passion for acting?
Matt: I grew up in Arkansas and did theater in school. I always loved theater class. At first, it was a class to hang out with friends, goof around, and have some fun. Then I got into it, and I really started enjoying it more. At one point, I was in the car with my grandma or my mom and something came on the radio and was like, “Do you want to be an actor for Disney and Nick?” I was like, “Yeah, I do.” I went to this convention in LA and my parents were like, “If this is really what you want to do and what you want to put your time and energy into, we’ll support it. We’ll help you make it work.”

PC: Who or what has had the biggest influence on your career, either personally or professionally?
Matt: Personally, my family means everything to me. The support that they’ve had for me, keeping me level-headed and humble, has helped tremendously. I wouldn’t even be in the position that I’m in without my brother’s help. He’s the one that helped me get started in acting. He’s the one that paid for me to come to California to be able to do all of this. He used all the money that he had saved up throughout his life to help me come out to California to try acting. They’ve all been so supportive.

Professionally, it’s all the people that I’ve worked with and the relationships I’ve created in the industry with friends, producers, directors, and people that I’ve been cast with. It’s so important to create good friendships, especially with people you work with. It’s such an amazing thing to have a great relationship and friendship with those people.

PC: You’ve had a lot of success already in your young career. When you look back, is there a particular moment that stands out to you?
Matt: I feel like it was my first big TV job where I had a recurring role on a Nickelodeon show called Bella and the Bulldogs; that was a turning point in my short acting career. When my mom and I first moved out to California, we said, “We’re going to give it two years. If nothing substantial happens in two years, we’ll go back to Arkansas and figure out what’s next.” It had been almost two years and I had done little things here and there, but a couple of months before the two-year mark, we were getting ready to be like, “Are we going back to Arkansas? Are we going to stay out here? What’s the deal?”

Then, I booked Bella and the Bulldogs. That was a pretty big role for me at the time. I’m still great friends with the entire cast, the producers, and the crew—everyone was so amazing. But I loved that experience so much, and not only because at the time I was like, “This is what I’m mean to do.” I learned so much through that process and through that show. I hold that very near and dear to my heart.

High School Musical: The Musical: The Series

PC: You’re one of the stars of High School Musical: The Musical: The Series and Season 2 is just about to premiere. What can fans expect from this upcoming season?
Matt: This season is beyond good. It is so good that I can’t even express how good it is. Season 1 was great—we’re all so proud of it, but this season takes it to the next level. It steps it up a bit. Whether or not you’ve seen Season 1, you haven’t seen Season 1, you were a fan of Season 1, or you weren’t, I really do think you’re going to love Season 2. There is something for everyone. I said that about Season 1, but it’s even more so this season. We have more characters. There’s more music. There are more numbers. There’s more dancing. There are more storylines. There’s more drama. There’s more everything, and it’s so good. I can’t wait for people to see it. I can’t wait to see it. I’m such a big fan of the show.

PC: Season 1 was so incredibly well received. Did that bring any pressure heading into Season 2?
Matt: Moving forward with any show, there’s definitely a bit of pressure every season to keep up the work that we’ve been making. But I think for us, we were so comfortable with each other after working together for a full year and for a full season, we all knew each other so well. The writers all knew us even better than they did in Season 1. We’d already been through a full season, so we all knew our characters so well. It was almost a bit easier in Season 2 because we knew the flow of the show.

In Season 1, we were trying to figure out where the show was, where the flow was, and what the tone was. Now in Season 2, it’s a well-oiled machine. We knew what we were doing. We know our characters. We know each other. They also make it so easy for us because their writing is so darn good.

PC: EJ has probably the biggest transformation in Season 1. How fun was that for you to play? How will that impact the EJ we see in season two?
Matt: It was super fun getting to play that. It was a little tough at times, because there were a lot of times where I was figuring out in each moment where his head was at and what his tone was. I feel like that was something that did progress throughout Season 1 and even more so in Season 2. He’s almost a new version of himself. He’s trying to focus more on what’s important to him. He starts to realize that the group is super important to him, and that’s really what matters. There’s more to the world than just yourself, which I think sometimes in Season 1, he got caught up in focusing on how things affected him rather than how it affected other people.

I’ve always said EJ is a really good guy. He wants the best for everybody, but Season 1 was a matter of him going about things in the wrong way. In Season 2, he puts less pressure on himself to be this perfect person. He’s trying to listen to other people, hear them out, and be there for them.

PC: He had a lot of redeeming qualities that we got to see, especially in Episode 10. How early on did you know where his arc was heading? How did that change the way you approached the character?
Matt: I feel like maybe three-quarters of the way through. Tim Federle, who created the show, always sat us down and would talk to us about where each character is at and where we are going. That really helped us. The huge thing with playing EJ is playing him as a good guy that comes across as misunderstood and not someone who’s a bad guy, because he’s really not. He wants the best for everyone but goes about it in the wrong way in Season 1.

The big thing was focusing on the undertone. He’s always been a good guy. He really truly does care with everything in him. He wants the best for everybody. He’s so darn passionate about certain things that he’s going to do whatever he can to make them happen. [laughs] Giving a girl a bad deviled egg got Nini the role. He’s definitely more easygoing in Season 2.

PC: There’s so much incredible music that’s in the first season. Is there a number that EJ wasn’t a part of that you wish he was?
Matt: Great question. I’m trying to think of the numbers in Season 1. I enjoyed everything that EJ was part of. I was going to say a little bit of “Truth, Justice and Songs in Our Key”, when we’re saving Ms. Jen’s job, but EJ was in that most of the time as well, so I’m not sure. Everything that he was in, I was really happy with. I was happy to be a part of what I was lucky enough to be a part of. I will say “Get’cha Head in the Game” is one that I was so excited to do. Luckily, EJ was in it. I had so much fun. That was by far my favorite number from Season 1.

PC: Which of EJ’s relationships was your favorite to explore in Season 1 and has that changed heading into Season 2?
Matt: Josh [Bassett] and I are really close friends. I consider that dude my best friend. It was really fun in Season 1 getting to play enemies—it’s always fun as an actor to get to pretend to hate your best friend. Heading into Season 2, there’s definitely still a rivalry between the two of them, but they’re more willing to work together and help each other. I feel like there’s a little friendship forming between EJ and Ricky at some point. I would love to see it in a possible Season 3.

PC: You can tell that the cast got incredibly close throughout this process. If you had to describe each of your cast members in one word, what would it be?
Matt: Let’s go down the line. Olivia [Rodrigo], I would say “sweet”. She’s super sweet. Sofia [Wylie], “goofy”. She’s one of the goofiest people I’ve ever met. Josh, I’d say a “mess”, but in a good way—a good mess! He’s always getting into something. [laughs] Julia [ Lester], I was going to say “iconic”, but I want to use that for Dara [Reneé]. Everything that Dara says is iconic. Julia has a very sisterly vibe to me, so I’m going to say “sisterly”. Frankie [Rodriguez], I’m going to say “queen”—he’s going to love that [laughs] because he’s the queen. Joe [Serafini]…let’s go with “smiley”. I’ve literally never not seen a smile on his face. Larry [Saperstein] is “thoughtful”. He’s very thoughtful. He’s always there for you, very much like Julia. He’s extremely thoughtful and wants the best for you. I’m going to say for Mark [St. Cyr], “gentle”. He has the softest speaking voice that I’ve ever heard in my life. Whenever he comes into a room, he’ll be like, “Hey, guys,” and it’s the most softly spoken sweetest thing. Then Kate [Reinders], I don’t even know. Kate is everything. We’ll say, “everything plus more”. Kate is amazing. She’s hilarious. She’s goof. She’s crazy—she’s Ms. Jen.

PC: We’ve seen a couple of your cast members go on to release their own original music. Can fans expect something similar from you?
Matt: I would love to at some point in the future release my own music. There’s a song that I’m working on right now. I want to write a song so badly. I’ve talked to Josh and Olivia a bit about songwriting because they’re so extremely successful with theirs—their music is so great. But I’ve gotten advice and ideas from everyone. It’ll take some time for me because the lyrics are probably the hardest part. I’ve got some of the melody, but the lyrics are so hard. I’ve never been a great writer…this is really shining through right now. [laughs] I’ve got some major writer’s block whenever I’m trying to write a song, but hopefully at some point in the future. I would love to do some music.

Pop Culturalist Speed Round

PC: Guilty pleasure TV show?
Matt: SpongeBob.

PC: Guilty pleasure movie?
Matt: Avatar.

PC: Favorite book?
Matt: I don’t read a lot. I’ll just say the most recent book I read was Maze Runner.

PC: Favorite play or musical?
Matt: Dear Evan Hansen.

PC: A band or artist that fans would be surprised to learn is on your playlist?
Matt: Probably Post Malone because I’m such a big country music lover. I feel like everyone knows that I love country music. Most people associate me with country.

PC: Dream role?
Matt: I would love to do hardcore action stuff at some point, some kind of military movie or something like that would be a blast.

PC: Who would play you in the story of your life?
Matt: Oh my gosh. That’s a good question. I was going to say Tom Holland because Tom Holland is great. We look nothing alike, and he’s older than me, so neither of those would work. I don’t know any actors that are younger that could play me. I’m going to say Tom Holland because I love him. He’s great.

To keep up with Matt, follow him on Twitter and Instagram. Season 2 of High School Musical: The Musical: The Series premieres on May 13 on Disney+.

Photo Credit: Disney/Roger Erickson