Monique Coleman played Taylor McKessie in the 2007 and 2008 High School Musical movies. However, life was not a song behind the scenes. The hair stylists on the filming crew couldn’t even style Black hair, according to Coleman.
While talking to Insider, the 40-year-old actress reflected on the 15th anniversary of the film and recalled the crew’s failure when it came to her hair texture.
“We’ve grown a lot in this industry and we’ve grown a lot in representation and we’ve grown a lot in terms of understanding the needs of an African American actress.”
She continued, “But the truth is, is that they had done my hair, and they had done it very poorly in the front.”
Coleman revealed they had to “incorporate headbands into her character” and “just make that a part of who she is.”
RELATED: Corbin Bleu: “I Consider Myself Black When It Comes to Film Roles”
That said, she did add that she was grateful to be part of the films, “I’m really grateful to have been someone who was able to bring representation at a time where there wasn’t very much, and I’m so happy when I see this next generation of young artists and there just being so much more room for people of color.”
According to PEOPLE, a rep for Disney did not immediately respond to their request for comment.
See a clip of Monique Coleman in High School Musical below:
