Monique Coleman has claimed her ‘High School Musical’ character frequently wore headbands because the styling team had done her hair “very poorly”.
The 40-year-old actress played Taylor McKessie in the trio of Disney Channel films between 2006 and 2008, and has said the reason why her character was so often seen wearing a statement headband was because the hair stylists working on the movies were inexperienced when it came to styling Black actors and actresses.
Monique said the stylists did such a “poor” job with her hair that she ended up suggesting they "incorporate headbands into her character" and "just make that a part of who she is" because they didn't have time to fix her hair in time for filming.
She added: "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.
"But the truth is, is that they had done my hair, and they had done it very poorly in the front."
And despite the hair blunder, Monique is “really grateful” she was able to play a character that has become a role model for Black teens and children watching the movie trilogy.
She explained: "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 colour.”
Monique is particularly pleased her character lived outside of the damaging stereotypes surrounding Black characters on screen.
She told Insider: "Taylor is such a dynamic character and the smartest person at school and all of that at a time where, often, Black girl characters tended to be the ones who had an attitude or to be sassy. And I appreciated that that wasn't why people loved Taylor. They loved her because she was smart and supportive.
“So knowing that this generation got to look up to her really is special for me."
