Bart Johnson - November 3, 2006

Here are some of the highlights from the Interview.

Raul: Before High School Musical were you much of a basketball player or coach or anything like that?

Bart Johnson: Ya know not so much basketball, just about every other sport in the world I think. I do a lot of soccer and skiing and snowboarding, winter sports and ya know not a whole lot of basketball. I’m kinda hooked now, I’ve got a hoop at my house and I play a lot.

Raul: So how did you study for the role?

Bart Johnson: Well, watch games, I’m really good yelling at kids. No, I actually work with the Boy Scouts and that actually helped a lot because we have a basketball team and we play a lot and sort of working with the Boy Scouts you do a lot of playing and a lot of building relationships with young teen players. So that helped.

Raul: Yeah, this movie has skyrocketed for everybody involved. I image even for you since your playing Zac Efron’s dad in the movie, Coach Bolton. I mean I can imagine your life has changed quite a bit?

Bart Johnson: Yeah, Zac Efron man he’s a Zac’s a good guy, I love that guy, it was great to work with him. It was a pleasure to play his dad, the girls think he’s a really good looking guy so now I get to take the credit for that one being the father. So thanks Zac, thanks for the good genes buddy. Yeah, it’s been terrific, a lot of events and people are crazy about the movie and just when you think it’s gonna start slowing down it’s, it’s just insane the kids are crazy about this thing, I’m a rockstar with 10 year olds.

Raul: I was gonna say I imagine you just can’t go into the market or Starbucks or something like that and be left alone anymore.

Bart Johnson: I get all these strange looks from kids these days and they start staring at me and then when the jaws start dropping I go oh hear it goes and then one person says hey that’s the coach and all of a sudden everyone’s like oh my gosh it’s the coach, it’s the coach.

Raul: And you filmed in Utah and that must’ve been from what I understood was very humid and hot at the time that the movie was being filmed.

Bart Johnson: Yeah, ya know it’s too bad because I have a place up in Utah. I own a resort up there called Johnson Mill. You should check it out sometime JohnsonMill.com.

Raul: I will.

Bart Johnson: And I spend a lot of time up there and when we were shooting it just happened to be it’s like two weeks every summer you get really bad weather and we nailed it. We nailed it for a couple times it seems like. It was pretty hot and those guys were playing basketball luckily it was indoors but man, those guys were working hard too because there was dance rehearsals all morning and then they took a break to ice their knees and a medic would come in there and put ice packs on their knees and around their elbows and shoulders. And then they’d take it all off and do basketball all afternoon and then they’d take a break and then do dance and man they just got beat up and I got to practice blowing my whistle and walking up and down the court yelling at them so, I got the easy part.

Raul: And Corbin Bleu who was on the team, he told me that he had never touched a basketball before he was in the movie.

Bart Johnson: Ya know, something I gotta say about Corbin, great kid by they way I love Corbin – great great great kid. He works, I’ve never seen anybody work so hard at basketball. He always had a ball in his hand, you can ask anybody on the cast. He always had a ball, he was always practicing his tricks and spin flips and just all these different crazy tricks, I think a few of them ended up in the movie but he got to be a really good ballplayer, so Corbin nice job buddy I hope your getting lots of basketball parts now.

Raul: Exactly, he’s doing a boxing movie now.

Bart Johnson: Is he?

Raul: Yes he is.

Bart Johnson: I guarantee you he’s gonna come out of a boxing movie like a champ. He’s gonna be another Mohammed Ali.

Raul: Well, he told me the same thing, he’d never done boxing before…

Bart Johnson: And I bet he’s attacking it to.

Raul: He said he’s doing incredible now.

Bart Johnson: I’m gonna call him, I gotta call him and ask him about that. I betcha he is.

Raul: Yeah, he told me they got me this great coach and I’ve been working 10 hours a day and I’m doing pretty well.

Bart Johnson: Yeah, yeah, and I’m telling ya they probably required 5 hours of training a day and he does 10 hours of training. He has total focus, great great focus.

Raul: Bart it’s great to meet you, you have such an impact on the youth of America because of your roll. It’s like they have more respect for their coaches because of this movie, they really do.

Bart Johnson: Well that’s an honor and that’s something that Kenny Ortega the director, who’s the best director I’ve ever worked with, that was really important to him to not have a superficial, shallow, one dimensional character. Ya know and not just be sympathetic, and not just be a pushover and not just be hard nosed but really have some depth and care about the character and care about this role. So I’m really honored to be a part of this movie.