Lucas Stephen Grabeel ( ; born November 23, 1984) is an American actor and musician. He began his career playing Ethan Dalloway in the Disney Channel films Halloweentown High (2004) and Return to Halloweentown (2006), before gaining recognition for his role as Ryan Evans in the High School Musical film series (2006–2011).
Grabeel's other film credits include Alice Upside Down (2007), The Adventures of Food Boy and Milk (both 2008). He appeared as a young Lex Luthor and Conner Kent in the superhero television series Smallville (2006–2011). In 2011, Grabeel released his debut extended play, Sunshine, and began playing Toby Kennish in the ABC Freeform drama series Switched at Birth, appearing until 2017.
Grabeel has also provided voice acting roles for various animated series, including Deputy Peck in Disney Junior's Sheriff Callie's Wild West (2014–2017), the title character in Netflix's Pinky Malinky (2019), Kyle/Mist in My Adventures with Superman (2023), and various roles in Family Guy (2010–2021).
Early life Grabeel was born in Springfield, Missouri, on November 23, 1984, the son of Jean () and Stephen Grabeel.Ozarks son continues Hollywood climb , News-Leader.com, September 13, 2005; Retrieved April 6, 2009 Before transferring to and graduating from Kickapoo High School in Springfield in 2003, he attended Logan-Rogersville Elementary, Middle and High School. He also played drums for a local church and initiated a men's a cappella singing group at Kickapoo called No Treble. At school, he found passions in the guitar and the accordion while also enjoying dance. While in Rogersville, Missouri, he regularly attended Harmony Baptist Church, where he was a part of the children's and youth groups.Lucas Grabeel, AtJesusSide.com, Retrieved April 6, 2009.
Career 2004–08: Beginning and High School Musical
In 2004, he starred in his first film role as Ethan Dolloway in the third installment of the Halloweentown series Halloweentown High. He reprised this role in the series' fourth installment Return to Halloweentown. Grabeel has made television guest appearances in TV series such as Boston Legal, 'Til Death, and Veronica Mars. During these stints, Grabeel also worked a day job as a Blockbuster store clerk.
In 2006, he was cast in the role of Ryan Evans, the fraternal twin brother of Sharpay Evans (played by Ashley Tisdale), in the Disney film High School Musical. He reprised his role in the television sequels High School Musical 2 and High School Musical 3: Senior Year. In 2007, he joined co-stars Vanessa Hudgens, Ashley Tisdale, Corbin Bleu and Monique Coleman on the 51-date High School Musical: The Concert. In early 2009, Billboard believed that Grabeel and Tisdale's track "I Want It All" should be nominated for an Oscar in the Best Original Song category however, the song did not make the final shortlist.And The Best Song Oscar Nominees Should Be...., Billboard, January 21, 2009; Retrieved April 7, 2009 During his time in High School Musical, Grabeel (along with his co-stars) had a total of six tracks chart in the Billboard Hot 100.Fergie Scores Third Solo No. 1 On Hot 100, Billboard, August 30, 2007; Retrieved April 7, 2009We're All In This Together – The Billboard Hot 100, Billboard, February 11, 2006; Retrieved April 7, 2009What Time Is It – The Billboard Hot 100, Billboard, November 8, 2007; Retrieved April 7, 2009
He (along with co-stars Efron and Tisdale) became one of the first artists to debut in the Billboard Hot 100 with two simultaneous new entries in one week.Chart Beat – High School Musical Charting, Billboard, February 2, 2006; Retrieved April 7, 2009 While with Disney Channel, Grabeel also participated in the first ever Disney Channel Games and co-captained the green team along with Ashley Tisdale, Mitchel Musso, Miley Cyrus, Emily Osment and Kyle Massey. A year later, he returned to repeat his captaincy of the green team with Dylan Sprouse, Miley Cyrus, Monique Coleman and Brandon Baker. Other film projects Grabeel was involved with include the animated film, At Jesus' Side, where he voiced a dog named Jericho.AtJesusSide Cast, AtJesusSide.com, Retrieved April 7, 2009. He also filmed the independent film, Alice Upside Down,Alice Upside Down, Alice Upside Down the Movie (Official Website), Retrieved April 6, 2009. as the character of Lester McKinley, based on the "Alice book series" by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor. Aside his involvement in the High School Musical soundtracks, Grabeel has recorded a song called "You Know I Will" for the soundtrack of The Fox and the Hound 2 and also recorded his own version of the Michael Bolton track "Go the Distance", from Disney's Hercules, for DisneyMania 5.
In 2007, Grabeel co-wrote and recorded a song called "You Got It"Lucas Stephen Grabeel (writer) – You Got It, ASCAP.com, Retrieved April 6, 2009. which was released in the iTunes Store on August 19, 2007,Lucas Grabeel – You Got It – Single, iTunes, Retrieved April 6, 2009. while its accompanying music video was released on his official website. Grabeel also recorded another original song called "Trash Talkin'" which was released November 15, 2008, on YouTube.Lucas Grabeel – Trash Talkin' (Fan Upload), YouTube.com, Retrieved April 5, 2009. In 2008, he also appeared in the film Milk, a biopic about the slain gay rights activist Harvey Milk. Grabeel played a friend and supporter of Milk, photographer Danny Nicoletta. He also appeared in the 2008 Walt Disney Pictures film College Road Trip as Scooter, which features other Disney stars Raven-Symoné, Brenda Song, and Margo Harshman. He also stars in the independent film Lock and Roll Forever alongside Oreskaband.Sony does Japanese 'Musical', Variety, October 30, 2007; Retrieved April 6, 2009. Grabeel also guest starred in an episode of The Cleveland Show.
2009–present: Switched at Birth and other projects Early in 2009, Grabeel was voted Most Likely to Do Big Things in 2009 by MTV and had an exclusive interview with them. He mentions the release of another music video for his track Get Your Ass On.Our Male Pop Rookies Plan Music-Industry And Hollywood Takeover In 2009, MTV, January 13, 2009; Retrieved April 6, 2009. He also mentioned his latest film project, Dancing Ninja, where he played the lead Tokyo Jones alongside David Hasselhoff.Dancing Ninja, Internet Movie Database, Retrieved April 7, 2009. In May 2009, he portrayed the role on stage of Matt in the Harvey Schmidt and Tom Jones musical, The Fantasticks with Eric McCormack and Harry Groener at UCLA's Freud Playhouse.The Fantasticks, Reprise.org, Retrieved April 6, 2009. Grabeel also sings in the iTunes show I Kissed a Vampire, in which, he stars. In early 2009, he appeared at the Southland Theatre Artists Goodwill Event (S.T.A.G.E.), an AIDS charity event, in Beverly Hills performing George and Ira Gershwin's "I Can't Be Bothered Now".The Brothers Gershwin: George & Ira – The 25th Annual Southland Theatre Artists Goodwill Event (S.T.A.G.E.) , Stage LA, Retrieved April 6, 2009.Recording of 'I Can't Be Bothered Now', YouTube.com; Retrieved April 6, 2009. He also recorded and released a new track titled '135n8' in early 2014 with the music video being uploaded to his YouTube account.
In 2011, Grabeel appeared in the tenth season of Smallville as young Lex Luthor as well as Conner Kent, a hybrid clone of Luthor and Clark Kent. In 2007, he filmed the film The Adventures of Food Boy with Brittany Curran, as the lead, Ezra Chase. From 2011 to 2017, Grabeel starred in the ABC Family drama Switched at Birth, in which he played the brother of one of the two girls that were mistakenly switched at birth in the hospital. Zap2it.com, Retrieved June 27, 2011. In March 2012, I Kissed A Vampire was released in the US, where Lucas stars alongside Drew Seeley and Adrian Slade. In January 2014 he provided his first-ever voice over role for an animated series, Deputy Peck on Sheriff Callie's Wild West. He has also played the character of Gustav in Dragons: Defenders of Berk. In 2019, Grabeel appeared in High School Musical: The Musical: The Series as himself.
Other ventures In 2007, Grabeel founded a production company called 14341 Productions. His role within involves overseeing many projects from writing to directing and executive producing. The company has produced projects such as the short films The Real Son, Smoke Break; the music videos for "Get Your Ass On" and "You Got It". They produced a television pilot called Regarding Beauregard which was Grabeel's directorial debut. They also created a 17-minute short film, Chuckle Boy, as well as a short film called The Dragon in 2009.14341 , 14341.com, Retrieved April 6, 2009. Their work debuted at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival.Lucas Grabeel & 14341 Productions Interview, Popstar.com, February 9, 2009; Retrieved April 7, 2009.
Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes 2005 Dogg's Hamlet, Cahoot's Macbeth Charlie / Gertrude / Ophelia 2007 Alice Upside Down Lester McKinley 2008 The Real Son Freddie Deasnman Short film Smoke Break Sir Anthony Childsworth Short film At Jesus Side Jericho (voice) A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information. Lock and Roll Forever Donni High School Musical 3: Senior Year Ryan Evans College Road Trip Scooter The Adventures of Food Boy Ezra Chase Milk Danny Nicoletta 2009 Chuckle Boy Daniel Aranyo Short film 2010 Dancing Ninja Nikki 2012 I Kissed a Vampire Dylan Knight 2013 Chocolate Milk Stan Short film 2014 Dragon Nest: Warriors' Dawn Gerrant (voice) Pilot Season Luc Short film 2018 Little Women Laurie Lawrence2023Max & MeJessie (voice)
Television Year Title Role Notes 2004 Halloweentown High Ethan Dalloway Television film 2005 Boston Legal Jason Matheny Episode: "The Ass Fat Jungle" 2006–2011 Smallville Young Lex Luthor, Superboy 3 episodes 2005–2006 Veronica Mars Wanna Score Boy / Kelly Kuzzio 2 episodes 2006 Return to Halloweentown Ethan Dalloway Television film 'Til Death Pete Pratt Episode: "Pilot" High School Musical Ryan Evans Television film 2007 High School Musical 2 Television film 2009 Glenn Martin DDS Singer (voice) Episode: "Deck the Malls" I Kissed a Vampire Dylan Main role 2010 The Cleveland Show Nerd #2 (voice) Episode: "Love Rollercoaster" CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Guillermo Seidel Episode: "Field Mice" 2010–present Family Guy Chadley / Various characters (voice) 24 episodes 2011 Sharpay's Fabulous Adventure Ryan Evans Television film Special Agent Oso Uncle Eric (voice) Episode: "Snapfingers" 2011–2017 Switched at Birth Toby Kennish Main role 2012 Robot Chicken Justin Bieber (voice) Episode: "Robot Chicken's ATM Christmas Special" 2013–2018 DreamWorks Dragons Gustav (voice) 12 episodes 2013 Pound Puppies Percy (voice) Episode: "Cuddle Up Buttercup" 2014–2017 Sheriff Callie's Wild West Deputy Peck (voice) Main cast 2014 Phineas and Ferb Ropey-Face (voice) Episode: "Doof 101" Chopped Himself Episode: "Chopped Tournament of Stars: Actors" 2015 Doraemon Big G (voice) Episode: "Big G's Big Show" 2016 High School Musical: 10th Anniversary Himself Special 2016–2019 Elena of Avalor Jiku (voice) 6 episodes 2017–2018 Spirit Riding Free Julian (voice) 6 episodes 2019 Pinky Malinky Pinky Malinky, additional voices Main role 2019, 2023High School Musical: The Musical: The Series Himself 2 episodes 2020 The Disney Family Singalong Special 2022 Spirit Rangers Chad (voice) Episode: "Not Your Opossum Mascot" 2023 My Adventures with Superman Kyle / Mist, additional voices 2 episodes 2026 Submarine Jim Jim (voice) Main role
Discography
Extended play Title EP details Sunshine Released: June 22, 2011 Formats: CD, digital download Label: Road Dawg
Singles As main artist