Ashley Tisdale as
Maddie Fitzpatrick Ashley Michelle Tisdale was born on July2, 1985 in Monmouth County, New Jersey. At a young age, she started acting and by the time she was eight, she played the lead role in the Broadway musical Les Misérables, and later toured internationally with the cast of Annie. The late 1990s brought Tisdale to television limelight as she appeared as guest on series such as Smart Guy, 7th Heaven, Grounded for Life, Boston Public, Strong Medicine,
Charmed , and Beverly Hills, 90210. She also had recurring roles in the sitcoms The Hughleys, and Still Standing.
In 2005, Tisdale signed a deal with Disney, which led her to play Maddie Fitzpatrick in The Suite Life of Zack & Cody. Shortly thereafter, she was cast in Disney Channel's
High School Musical films, and rose to fame after playing Sharpay Evans. She also appeared in the Disney Channel Games 2006 and 2007.
The Media Village talked to Tisdale about her transition from playing Maddie from The Suite Life of Zack and Cody to Sharpay of High School Musical, and she said, "Maddie is a lot like me. She's a little bit sarcastic though. Sharpay is fun. I watched a lot of movies to prepare for playing her. I actually watched Mean Girls with Rachel McAdams and I liked how she portrayed her character. She was a mean girl but she had a smile on her face whenever she did it. So I watched all these other things and kind of put some things in and made it creative myself. I just loved playing the mean girl. When you're not like [a character] it's kind of fun to play."
Aside from acting, Tisdale is also a talented dancer and singer who recorded her first solo album entitled "Headstrong." The album included released tracks such as "Be Good To Me" and "He Said, She Said."