Gabriella Montez is one of the two protagonists of the 2006 Disney Channel Original Movie High School Musical. She is an academic genius, who is a new transfer student at East High School, but despite her interest for science, she has a hidden love and talent for singing and auditions for the Winter Musical. She is also the love interest of Troy Bolton and is best friends with Taylor McKessie.
Background[]
Personality[]
Gabriella has a strong sense of who she is, which is manifested in her choosing to join theater for the pure enjoyment of it regardless of what others may say. Her ultimate basis for making decisions seems to be that of what she deems best for herself as an individual, exemplified by how she broke up with Troy Bolton in High School Musical 2 because she no longer saw fit for her the changes in the work environment she was in. This independence and quiet force of character was also shown when she chose to attend Stanford early at the expense of missing the last theater production of her high school batch-- a decision she neither took lightly nor felt was easy.
Although she doesn't like to be the center of attention, Gabriella's shyness seems to dissipate when she loses herself in a song and lets herself live in the moment. She urges Troy to enjoy the present rather than worry about the future in the second film. She seems happiest when enjoying the current moment, whether it's dancing with Troy on the school roof or taking funny pictures for the yearbook. She is quicker than her boyfriend to take the opportunity to audition for musicals.
Though thinking about the future tends to bring her down on account of reluctance to let go of what is presently good and working, she realizes that she can't run away from the future forever. She develops a clearer insight of what she wants for herself throughout the series and has the ability to read accurately Troy and his motives.
She finds it hard to make decisions concerning college and such, because her dominant Fi makes it difficult for her to be decisive and give practical factors higher priority than personal factors. Taylor scolds her for wanting to give up the opportunity to go to Stanford early so that she can be with Troy, whom she sees as clouding Gabriella's judgment. Nonetheless, she is shown to be an excellent student with good organizational skills and self-reliance. Gabriella is very smart and she was Valedictorian.
Physical appearance[]
Gabriella is a beautiful teen-aged girl with curly dark brown hair that reaches several inches past her shoulders. She has a medium skin tone. She is average height. She often wears dresses or nice looking outfits.
In the second film, her hair is now shoulder length and she has a deeper tan.
In the final film, her hair has grown long again.
Biography[]
She transferred schools regularly due to her mother's job. She was at a high school in or near San Diego at one point, given a newspaper article Sharpay prints out in High School Musical is from the fictional San Diego Times. Given he has never appeared and the one time Gabriella spoke of him was fondly, it is implied that her father has passed away.
Appearances[]
High School Musical[]
Gabriella in the original film.
Extraordinarily beautiful and academically-gifted, she meets Troy at a family bar during their winter break and they are forced to sing in the New Year's Eve party at the Ski Mountain Resort. They instantly feel a connection with one another, and, as fate would have it, they end up attending the same school, East High School. There, they become close friends, and eventually begin dating. When the two meet up at the auditions for the winter concert, they try out for the callbacks and do a duet of a song called Breaking Free.
Since Troy, being the basketball star of East High and not known to have a passion or talent for singing, and Gabriella, the shy, nerdy new girl with a liking for chemistry, start singing, there is a large amount of social unrest at the school, as more people begin revealing their passions that conflict with the stereotypes they have been placed into.
However, despite numerous attempts to break the duo apart, they end up singing the duet and encouraging others to break from the norm in favor of following their dreams. Following the performance, the two become a very successful couple, though not without their occasional conflicts. Eventually, Sharpay Evans is jealous of Gabriella because of how popular Gabriella is becoming in the school, which Sharpay sees as a threat to her own popularity--she is also jealous of Troy and Gabriella's relationship, the former of whom Sharpay has a crush on.
High School Musical 2[]
In the second film, Gabriella has maintained her romance with Troy, and the couple, along with their friends, get jobs at the Lava Springs Country Club for the summer. Seeking revenge, Sharpay lures Troy away from Gabriella and his friends, showering him with various luxuries, including promising college opportunities. After Troy repeatedly breaks his promises and backs out of his commitments, Gabriella breaks up with him, only for the couple to reunite.
High School Musical 3: Senior Year[]
A Stanford-bound Gabriella is uneasy about the fast pace her life has taken. Before graduation, Gabriella briefly considers taking classes at the local university for a year and going to Stanford when she is ready, much to the dismay of Taylor and Mrs. Montez. Troy urges Gabriella to accept an early orientation.
Gabriella goes to Stanford but must drop out of the school musical (allowing Sharpay to fill the lead role) and miss prom. Wanting his last dance at East High to be with Gabriella, Troy drives to Stanford and the two share an intimate prom of their own. He convinces Gabriella to return to East High for opening night of the musical and for graduation. Gabriella will attend Stanford and study law. She put her house up for sale before she graduated high school.
Gallery[]
Promotion[]
.jpg "High School Musical 2 Promotional (1).jpg (86 KB)")
.jpg "High School Musical 2 Promotional (2).jpg (113 KB)")
.jpg "High School Musical 2 Promotional (3).jpg (277 KB)")
.png "GabriellaMontezHSM3 (1).png (730 KB)")
Screenshots[]
High School Musical[]
Miscellaneous[]
Trivia[]
- The late Naya Rivera was considered for Gabriella Montez, before Vanessa Hudgens was cast. Degrassi actress Cassie Steele turned down the role.
- Coincidentally, Hudgens and Steele were both half-Filipina
- She and Troy Bolton were listed in MsMojo's Top 20 Disney Characters Who Are actually the Villain, ranking at number 15.
External links[]
References[]
