Monique Coleman didn't always feel like she and her High School Musical family were in this together.
The actress, who played Taylor McKessie in all three installments of the popular Disney Channel trilogy, recently opened up about her days as the fictional East High student.
Although she experienced major highs as a character in the franchise, there was one setback with the network when it came to the third movie that she described as a form of "heartbreak."
"Disney really broke my heart because when I got to the third movie, in so many ways, I really championed the film," she told fellow Disney alum Christy Carlson Romano during the Dec. 13 episode of her Vulnerable podcast. "I really always spoke so positively, and I was a black girl playing the smartest girl in school which was a very big deal at that time. And when it came to promoting the third movie, I wasn't invited on the tour."
She continued, "And they said something about there not being enough room on the plane, and they only invited Zac [Efron], Vanessa [Hudgens], Ashley [Tisdale], and Corbin [Bleu], and Lucas [Grabeel] and I weren't included."
As Monique shared, the experience affected her more than she realized at the time.
"That heartbreak really hit me very deeply and did cause a bit of a depression because it helped me to recognize that I was overly identifying with what I was doing and not who I was," she said. "And that was what led me to take that step and say, ‘Maybe this is my five minutes of fame. Maybe this is it in some way. And if that is the case, then what am I going to do with it.'"
The Christmas Dance Reunion star went on to explain she came to the realization she wasn't going to "feel reduced to Taylor McKessie," adding that her main goal then became to show other people that no matter what, "your dreams are also possible."
And despite the bump in the road, Monique, who recently teased her cameo in season four of the spinoff, High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, said the door is still open for opportunities with the network in the future.
"I would be so open to working with Disney again," she noted. "Disney is my alma mater, I tell them all the time, I'd like to come home. Especially with Disney plus, there's so much more opportunity...I would absolutely be so open to a show on Disney. That would be very cool."
E! News has reached out to Disney for comment and has not heard back.