Ashley Tisdale

Spotlight

Discovered at a local mall at 3, the perky blonde’s first gigs were commercials and stage productions of Les Miserables and Annie before her family moved to California and she scored one small guest spot after another on TV shows like Boston Public and Beverly Hills, 90210. By 2005, she was welcomed into the fold at the tween-icon factory known as the Disney Channel. Playing earnest babysitter Maddie on The Suite Life OF Zack And Cody was good, but Tisdale really found mainstream fame (and her first serious boyfriend, backup dancer Jared Murillo,) when she turned up her nose to become super-snob Sharpay in 2006’s High School Musical, the highest rated program in the network’s history. She reprises the role for a 40-city tour, HSM 2, a Sharpay spinoff special and a big-screen adaptation. She showcased her power-pop vocals and her songwriting skills on her solo debut Headstrong. In 2009, she found love at work once again. She dated Scott Speer for two years after he directed her video for “It’s Not Alright, It’s OK.” Although she’s still besties with her HSM co-star Vanessa Hudgens (They have the tattoos to prove it!), her most recent work — as a belly-baring cheer captain on the defunct series Hellcats and a high-priced escort on Sons Of Anarchy — seems to be proof that the twentysomething is ready to shed her Disney image for good.