About this episode
Everybody welcome Dara Reneé! From her breakout role on High School Musical: The Musical: The Series to Descendants: The Rise of Red , Dara opens up about growing up on set, navigating mental health, and the journey to owning her power. It’s a hilarious, emotional, inspiring ride through Broadway dreams, Disney magic, and the deep inner work it takes to truly love yourself. Episode Breakdown: 00:00 – Intro and catch up! 04:00- Dara’s here! 05:00 – Being homeschooled, raised by a single mom, and growing up backstage. Dara shares her early years of performing (and Beyoncé karaoke) 8:30 - Early Broadway auditions 10:15 – Auditioning for HSMTMTS with no agent, no reel, and no clue she was about to book her breakout role 19:30 - One year later: Freaky Friday reboot and still no HSMTMTS 20:45 - Working on “Black-ish” 25:00 – Origins of HSMTMTS and auditioning for every role except Courtney 27:45 - Callbacks with Olivia Rodrigo, Joshua Bassett, and Sofia Wylie and booking the show! 31:30 - Dara’s relationship with Olivia Rodrigo 32:30 - Kylie Cantrall and wanting to be the best big sister in the business 34:00 - OG High School musical lore 36:30 - Overcoming anxiety both in real life and on-screen 39:00 - Dara’s actual mom playing her mom on TV 40:30 - How HSMTMTS evolved over the 4 seasons 43:30 - Working on Descendants: The Rise of Red 45:00 - The infamous Josh Colley fire alarm story 48:30 - Favorite moments from Descendants 52:00 - Dara’s acting process 53:00 - Upcoming Descendants/Zombies tour! 58:00 - Game time: blind ranking disney channel theme songs! Follow Dara Reneé: Watch Descendants: The Rise of Red and stream her music everywhere. Follow @dararenee on social for all the sparkle. Follow the Hosts: @AnthonyGargiula @ JonathanTilkin @CounterMelodiesPod Listen and Watch: https://pods.to/countermelodies Credits: Executive Producer / Showrunner / Editor: Louis Gargiula Consulting Producer: Renée Colvert