E.J. Caswell

## Elton John Caswell

* Season 4
* Season 3
* Season 2
* Season 1

**Elton John** **"E.J." Caswell** was one of the main characters and second male lead in the Disney+ original series *High School Musical: The Musical: The Series* for the first three seasons. He is the son of Cash Caswell. He is Ashlyn Caswell's cousin. He is Val's childhood best friend from summer camp who he met at Camp Shallow Lake. He was a senior at East High School in Season 1 and Season 2. He is a college freshmen in Season 4. In Season 1, he was cast as Chad Danforth and understudy of Troy Bolton in East High School's fall production of *High School Musical*. In Season 2, he was cast as Gaston in East High School's spring production of *Beauty and the Beast.* In Season 3, he becomes the director and was cast as Sven in Camp Shallow Lake's production of *Frozen*. In Season 4, he was asked to played Coach Bolton briefly in East High School's fall production of *High School Musical 3: Senior Year.* He is also a graduate of East High School's Class of 2020. He is portrayed by Matt Cornett.

## Background

E.J. is a ambitious entrepre-nerd who brings homemade props to auditions. Don’t cross E.J. if you get something he wants — like a starring role, opposite “his” girl Nini. The son of two high-powered corporate lawyers, E.J. is supremely confident but secretly prone to anxiety attacks when anything goes off-plan*.* A future producer more than an actor, E.J. calls the Steve Jobs biography his “bible” and keeps a copy on his nightstand. Voted “Most likely to report another student for cheating on a test.”

### Personality

E.J. is a very ambitious, talented, smart, popular, athletic and confident. EJ never does anything to half-effort. At the beginning of the series E.J. can come off as self-absorbed and expectant. He cares a lot about what other people think of him. After he is exposed for taking Nini’s phone, he starts to lose Instagram followers. EJ also loves being seen as popular and does so many extracurriculars to maintain his popularity and increase his chances of being accepted to his dream college. He often does "the wrong things for the right reason" as Ashlyn, his cousin, says to Nini after she breaks up with him. What she means by this is that E.J. loves Nini, but he doesn't cope with that very well. He surely wants the best for her nonetheless, though. Towards the end of the first season, E.J. seems more kind and honest. In the Season 1 finale E.J. buys Gina a plane ticket so that she didn't have to miss the show. That is when people finally start seeing him as a good guy when he was all along. EJ learns to not care as much about being the best and instead tries to develop deeper relationships with the fellow theatre kids. He just wants what's best for everyone and he really tries. Over time he becomes very caring. According to Jamie Porter his mother said that he is very charming.

EJ also cares deeply about making his parents proud of him, which is another reason he tries so hard at everything he does. EJ desperately wants to go to Duke because his parents met there and he feels like he needs to be a part of that legacy to not disappoint his parents. That’s why it is such a crushing blow to him when he is rejected by Duke. However, EJ has learnt not to be too attached to outcomes and to take each day as it comes. At the same time, EJ wants to succeed on his own merit and doesn’t feel right about attending Duke after his father has to call in favors.

### Physical Appearance

EJ is a tall, muscular white guy with teal eyes and short dark brown hair styled in a quiff. In Season 3, E.J. has more floppy medium lengthened brown hair.

### Talents

* Acting
* Filming
* Singing
* Water-polo

## Biography

### Early Life

Elton John Caswell was born sometime in early 2002 to Mrs. Caswell and Cash Caswell who are both high-powered corporate lawyers. At some point during E.J.’s childhood he discover his love for sports and later discover his love for acting the first time he went to Camp Shallow Lake. E.J. started going to Camp Shallow Lake when he was young which is where he met his childhood best friend Val. [2]

In the fall of 2016, he started high school at East High School. E.J. first met Nini Salazar-Roberts in Drama Club during her freshmen year of High School when he was a Sophomore. E.J. thought Nini was cute when he first met her but, he didn't know who she was. The summer before his senior year of High School E.J. went to the same Summer Theater Camp with Nini which is when they first started talking.

### **Season One**

#### The Auditions

On the first day of his Senior year, E.J. sits with his new girlfriend Nini Salazar-Roberts and her best friend Kourtney Greene at lunch. He is determined to get the lead, Troy in *High School Musical*. He ends up becoming the understudy for Ricky and is cast as Chad Danforth.

#### The Read-Through

At the Read-Through, E.J. is annoyed at the fact that Ricky and Nini get to sit by each other, so he tries to change the seats but his cousin, Ashlyn tells him to change it back. During the Read- Through, he believes that Ricky is texting Nini so he asks Ashlyn to steal her phone for him, but she refuses. At the end, Gina grabs Nini's phone for him and puts it in his bag and insist they work together.

#### The Wonderstudies

E.J. gets ahold of Nini's phone and listens to a voicemail Ricky sent her. He then deletes the voicemail. After realizing is mistake, he asks Ashlyn to help him come up with a song to sing for Nini to apologize, but she makes him write it instead. He sings *A Billion Sorry's* to Ashlyn to see if the song is good or not. After getting into a fight with Ricky at a rehearsal, he yells at him to stop sending "thirsty" voicemails to Nini. At the end of the episode he notices Nini glaring at him after she speaks to Ricky.

#### Blocking

E.J. tries to talk to Nini, and reveals that he poisoned Emily Pratt at Camp in order to get Nini the lead. She ends up breaking up with him. Since Ricky is not at rehearsals, E.J. has to fill in for him and sing *What I've Been Looking For* very awkwardly. While at school, Gina confronts him and says that she has a plan. E.J. says that seniors do not follow sophomores around and leaves. That night, he tries to text Nini but realizes that she blocked his number. Then he arrives at Gina's house to learn about the "plan" she texted him about where Gina tells E.J. that he is taking her to the Homecoming Dance.

#### Homecoming

E.J. arrives to Homecoming with Gina, asking her what the actual plan is but she keeps leaving him in the dark. He then finds out that there was no plan and he begins to argue with her. Gina pours punch over his head and storms away. He feels bad for Carlos because he is dancing by himself.

#### What Team?

E.J. tries to confess all of the terrible things he's done while dating Nini because he believes that the show is over and that Miss Jenn will be fired because his father is on the committee and he knows how things work. He later goes over to Big Red's house to come up with a way to save Miss Jenn. The drama club puts on a performance and saves Miss Jenn. At the end of the episode E.J. notices Nini staring at Ricky and Gina hugging each other.

#### Thanksgiving

E.J. is ready to get out of school because he loves Thanksgiving so much. During break he begins to reveal all of the bad things he's done in his life to start fresh. In doing so, he loses hundreds of Instagram followers.

#### The Tech Rehearsal

While moving props to the new theater, E.J. learns about Miss Jenn's file box, which Carlos says contains the reasons why everyone got their part. He ends up stealing the box to learn that Miss Jenn thinks he "Lacks emotional connection to the material". During the Tech Rehearsal, he begins to dramatically act out a scene with Carlos to try to prove that he has a connection to the material. He apologizes to Carlos.

#### Opening Night

On opening night he is seen constantly on his phone with Ashlyn being annoyed with him that he is not in the moment. He performs "Stick to the Status Quo" and "Getcha Head in the Game" as Chad. At the end of the episode, Ricky quits the show and tells him that he needs to go on as Troy in his place and he agrees.

#### Act Two

E.J. takes on the role of Troy and tells Nini to go with it because Ricky told him to do so. At the beginning of the "Breaking Free" performance, he sees Nini and Ricky look at each other and he decides to take a step back from Nini and let go of the role of Troy. Gina thanks him for buying her a plane ticket to make it back for opening night.

### **Season Two**

#### New Year's Eve

On New Year's Eve, E.J. arrives at Ashlyn's house sad because he knows this is his final semester at East High. he reveals that he is applying to Duke and that he is a shoe-in since his entire family has basically gone there.

#### Typecasting

E.J. decides not to audition for the Beast in Beauty and the Beast because he wants to focus on graduation and Duke as well. He auditions for and was cast as Gaston. After auditions E.J. and his friends Ashlyn Caswell, Big Red, Carlos Rodriguez, Gina Porter, Kourtney Greene, Ricky Bowen and Seb Matthew-Smith all go to Salt Lake Slices to celebrate.

#### Valentine’s Day

E.J. arrives to school in all black and tells Ricky Bowen that this is his first Valentine's Day being Single.

#### The Storm

E.J. doesn't showed up to Rehearsal because he's upset that he just got rejected from Duke. He speaks to Mr. Mazzara about how he felt like he let everyone down and he grows closer to Mr. Mazzara.

#### The Quinceañero

After joining the AV Club, he works with Mr. Mazzara to create a special birthday video for Carlos. After Gina's performance, he comforts her and asks her how she is feeling. Later that night Mr. Mazzara asks him a question. E.J. ignores Mr. Mazzara's question and realizes he has feelings for Gina when he finds himself staring at her across the room.

#### Yes, And...

During the Drama Club's weekend retreat, E.J. partners up with Gina for the exercise. Then Miss Jenn asks E.J. what he would ask his character Gaston future self. E.J. replies that he would ask Gaston if he could learn to love anyone after Belle mirroring his own life wondering if he could learn to love anyone after Nini.

#### The Field Trip

E.J. becomes the host of the East High Morning Show and he asks Gina if she could be his co-host and she says yes because she is the only friend of his that agreed to do it. Later that day the Drama Club go on a little field trip to North High School to get back their Beast mask that North High stole. Gina is on look out duty while the rest of the East High Drama Club looks for their Beast mask that North High stole. When Gina is on look out, she meets a random North High Guy who hits on Gina asking her for Snap Chat. Then E.J. swoops in pretending to be Gina’s boyfriend by putting his arm around her and calls her “Babe” to get the North High Guy to leave her alone.

#### Most Likely To

It's career day at East High and E.J.'s dad, Cash Caswell, arrives at school as a guest speaker and reveals that E.J. got into Duke. E.J. begins to feel reluctant. That night, he goes to his cousin's house to talk to Ashlyn, but instead runs into Gina. He speaks to Gina about how he feels like he didn't earn his place at Duke. After listening to Gina talk to him about how she thinks he is a great person who is trying his best, he tells Gina that she is one of the bravest people he knows. He hangs out with Gina for the rest of the night and she ends up falling asleep next to him on couch while they are watching TV. When he leaves he puts his Duke sweatshirt on her to keep her warm. He then goes to his dad to tell him that he is not going to Duke.

#### Spring Break

Over spring break, E.J. hung out at his cousin, Ashlyn's house and annoyed her. He checked up on Gina while she was at the airport waiting for her flight. Him and the drama club put together a video to show North High that they were still focused on the competition. When he found out Gina's flight was canceled, he drove to the airport to pick her up and he brought her a granola bar.

#### The Transformation

E.J., Ricky Bowen, and Carlos Rodriguez went to Big Red's house to come up with an idea for the Beast's transformation. While there, he reveals that he has feelings for Gina. Back at the school that night, E.J. works up the nerve to ask Gina out for risotto and she says yes.

#### Showtime

On opening night for *Beauty and the Beast*, E.J. speaks to Mr. Mazzara about how it is his final opening night at East High. He supports Gina through the entire show as they talk about their date they are going on after the show. After the drama club performs *Something There*, E.J. runs into Gina’s older brother Jamie Porter out in the hallway where he officially meets Gina’s brother Jamie. At first E.J. is excited to meet Gina's older brother not just because he is a famous Music Producer it was due to the fact that Jamie is related to Gina instead. Jamie tells E.J. that him and his mom are so happy that Gina has E.J. as a "big brother figure" in her life which makes E.J. upset causing him to second guess everything.

#### Second Chances

After the show Mr. Mazzara tells E.J. that he got a call from CalTech that he got a offer for CalTech Robotics doctorate program and he was recommended by E.J.'s father, Cash Caswell the financial advisor at CalTech. After what Jamie said to E.J., he ends up canceling the date with Gina, even though it hurt him too. He goes to Salt Lake Slices with the drama club and says that out of all of the sports trophies he's won, he would trade it all for their friend group that they have. Right before E.J. heads out he tells his cousin Ashlyn that he thinks Gina sees him as a big brother figure due to what Gina's older brother Jamie Porter told him. Then Ashlyn goes up to Gina and tells her about her most recent conversation with E.J. before he left the afterparty. Gina looks at Ashlyn very confused why E.J. would think that she sees him as a older brother figure. Gina chases after E.J. as he is heading out to his car and tells him that he got "bad intel" which causes E.J. to turn around. Gina asks E.J. if he would be her first kiss which causes E.J. to drop his backpack and smiles at her. They both run into each other arms and share their first kiss (offscreen).

### **Season Three**

#### Happy Campers

It's summertime and E.J. is excited to take his girlfriend, Gina Porter, and his best friends Ashlyn Caswell, Kourtney Greene, and Carlos Rodriguez to his second, second home, Camp Shallow Lake. A camp that he attends every summer. He is really excited because he knows who the secret celebrity will be at the camp. He drives the gang to camp and introduces them to one of his childhood friends, Maddox. That night, they go to the amphitheater to see the reveal that they are doing Frozen: The Musical. At the end of the episode Dewey Woods tasks him with becoming the director of the musical after Corbin Bleu bailed on the camp. Although caught off guard, E.J. promises Gina that nothing is going to ruin their perfect summer together, when Ricky Bowen arrives to camp interrupting them.

#### Into the Unknown

It's auditions time and E.J. doesn't want to tell everyone that he his directing the show because he is nervous. He talks to his long time friend, Val, and she decides it's best for her to cast the show. E.J. gets overwhelmed during auditions with people continuously asking him what to do. He encourages the new kid, Jet, to audition. After auditions, he tells Gina that he knows she is going to be Anna and they race to the pool together. That night he fights Ricky with a pillow.

#### The Woman in the Woods

E.J. finds out that his childhood friend Val cast him as Sven even though he is directing the musical. Then E.J. went to The Honeycomb cabin to talk to his girlfriend Gina Porter. He surprises Gina with flowers he handpicks for her and congratulates her on getting the lead. E.J. is stressed about Corbin Bleu returning to camp tomorrow and he wants the first read-through of Frozen to be perfect. All of his friends want him to hang out with them and have fun, but he snaps on them and tells them that he is far too busy to be doing anything but working on the musical.

#### Camp Prom

At the beginning it is seen that Ricky in having Three full pizza in order to complete his bucket list where E.J. came and told them to take camp prom very seriously. He also states that the camp follow 1970s theme in prom. Later on, in their dorms, the boys were talking and Carlos was helping E.J with the makeup. The boys kinda guessed that this 1970s theme is maybe because of the Susan Fine getting married but E.J then clarifies that it is just a camp tradition.

During the prom, EJ was seen busy with studying for the Opening Night for next day. He was pretty stressed out. Gina was looking so excited to dance with her first ever boyfriend, but EJ kept on delaying. He was busy with checking whether theatre kids remember their lines or not. Gina was not even happy with the EJ's behaviour.

When the last dance ended, Gina came to EJ who was still busy. EJ was so worried about the Opening Night that he was not even aware about last dance ended and tries to make up by putting a song but Gina stopped him. She told him that they had two different nights and that they had completely different summer. Gina breaks up with EJ.

##### After Camp

At some point after camp, E.J. decides to live his own life so he cuts off his dad and goes to college where he lives on campus. E.J. starts working 4 jobs while also being a full time student and finds himself in a great place in college where he is living his own life by doing what makes him happy instead of trying to live up to his father’s expectations.

## Relationships

### Family

**Cash Caswell (father)**

E.J. doesn't have a good relationship with his father all his life his father wanted E.J. to go to his alma mater Duke University that many members of the Caswell Family attended. In The Storm, when E.J. gets rejected from Duke he tells Nini Salazar-Roberts about it and admits that he is scared to tell his father about how he got rejected from his alma mater. In Most Likely To, on Career Day E.J.'s father comes into E.J.'s class as the Guest Speaker. Then E.J.'s father gives him a Duke Sweatshirt that his father gave to him when he got into Duke and tells E.J. that he made some calls and got Duke to change their mind. Later that night E.J. goes into his father's office and stands up to him by telling him that he is not going to Duke. In No Drama, E.J. admits in a confessional that his father is okay with him taking a Gap year. Then later that day E.J. gets a letter from his father when he is at camp telling him that he is not okay with E.J. taking a Gap year and he is sending him to Caswell Success Training School in St. Louis when he comes home from camp.

**Mrs. Caswell (mother)**

**Debbie Caswell (aunt)**

**Dennis Caswell (uncle)**

**Ashlyn Caswell (Cousin)**

E.J. and Ashlyn are first cousins on their father's side because both their fathers are brothers. E.J. is shown to have a good relationship with his cousin Ashlyn. He often goes to Ashlyn for relationship advice.

See also Ashlyn and E.J.

### Friends

**Val** **(childhood best friend)**

E.J. first met Val at Camp Shallow Lake when they were young. E.J. and Val grew up together and are childhood best friends.

See Also E.J. and Val

**Maddox (childhood friend)**

See also E.J. and Maddox

**Emily Pratt (friend)**

**Seb Matthew-Smith (friend)**

**Carlos Rodriguez (friend)**

See also Carlos and E.J.

**Kourtney Greene (friend)**

See Also: E.J. and Kourtney

**Big Red (friend)**

See also Big Red and E.J.

**Nini Salazar-Roberts (Friend/Ex-Girlfriend)**

See also Nini and E.J.

**Gina Porter (best friend/ex-girlfriend/former frenemy)**

E.J. first met Gina during auditions for East High School's fall musical *High School Musical* at the beginning of his Senior year in The Auditions. E.J. wasn't friends with Gina at first. One day during rehearsal Gina steals E.J.'s girlfriend Nini's phone and gives it to him to help him out in The Read-Through. In Blocking, E.J. agrees to team up with Gina. In Homecoming, E.J. takes Gina as his Homecoming Date to make Nini Salazar-Roberts jealous. Gina gets mad at E.J. and pours punch on E.J.'s face at the Homecoming dance. After Homecoming, E.J. goes up to Gina during Picture Day for the Poster of East High School's fall musical *High School Musical* asking her what the plan is.

See also E.J and Gina

**Ricky Bowen (Friend/former frenemy)**

See also Ricky and E.J.

### Love Interest(s)

Gina Porter (Ex-Girlfriend)

Nini Salazar-Roberts (Ex-Girlfriend)

Val (Possible Girlfriend in Season 4, though not currently confirmed by show's writers)

## Appearances

### Season 1

* The Auditions **(Appears)**
* The Read-Through **(Appears)**
* The Wonderstudies **(Appears)**
* Blocking **(Appears)**
* Homecoming **(Appears)**
* What Team? **(Appears)**
* Thanksgiving **(Appears)**
* The Tech Rehearsal **(Appears)**
* Opening Night **(Appears)**
* Act Two **(Appears)**

### Season 2

* New Year's Eve **(Appears)**
* Typecasting **(Appears)**
* Valentine’s Day **(Appears)**
* The Storm **(Appears)**
* The Quinceañero **(Appears)**
* Yes, And... **(Appears)**
* The Field Trip **(Appears)**
* Most Likely To **(Appears)**
* Spring Break **(Appears)**
* The Transformation **(Appears)**
* Showtime **(Appears)**
* Second Chances **(Appears)**

### Season 3

* Happy Campers **(Appears)**
* Into the Unknown **(Appears)**
* The Woman in the Woods **(Appears)**
* No Drama **(Appears)**
* The Real Campers of Shallow Lake **(Appears)**
* Color War **(Appears)**
* Camp Prom **(Appears)**
* Let It Go **(Appears)**

### Season 4

* High School Musical 4 (mentioned)
* HSM v. HSM (absent)
* A Star is Reborn (absent)
* Trick or Treat (absent)
* Admissions **(Appears)**
* Trust the Process (mentioned)
* Night of Nights **(Appears)**
* Born to Be Brave **(Appears)**

## Songs

### Season 1

* Start of Something New/E.J. Version
* A Billion Sorrys
* What I've Been Looking For
* Get'cha Head in the Game
* Stick to the Status Quo/Performance
* Breaking Free
* We're All In This Together
* Truth, Justice and songs in our key

### Season 2

* Something in the Air
* High School Musical 2 Medley
* Belle
* The Mob Song
* Gaston
* You Ain’t Seen Nothing
* Second Chance

### Season 3

* What Time Is It/Start the Party Mashup
* The Ballad of Susan Fine
* Love is an Open Door
* It's On
* This is Me
* Everyday

### Season 4

* Speak Out
* Love You Forever
* Born to Be Brave (Finale)
* High School Musical(performance)

## Filmography

 Season 2 | Spring of 2020
 Season 3 | Summer of 2020
 Season 4 | Fall of 2020

## Quotes

"She thinks I'm a Chad?"

“He’s already ruined this for me.”

“You stepped up. You always do. And, if I’m being honest, it’s uh, you know…admirable”

“It’s my first Valentine’s Day without a girlfriend, and it stings a little, but I’m taking it in stride.”

"May I have this exercise?"

"I've won a bunch of trophies over the years, you guys...but I'd trade it all for this group right here tonight.

"Are you ready?"

"I see a guy who cheated at water polo and a guy who bribed Miss. Jenn to play Troy"

"I'm an idiot for stealing your phone!"

"It has been a pleasure having the name, but I didn't get into Duke on my own,"

"Dad can't you for once say you are proud of me. It isn't that hard, just "Hey EJ I am proud of you""

## Trivia

* He is the co-captain of the Water-Polo team.
* He is the Senior class Treasurer.
* He has a 4.3 G.P.A.
* His parents are both high corporate lawyers and used to be on the school board.
	+ His parents aren't very present in his life which is why E.J. acts the way he does. They didn't even show up to opening night.
* His favorite holiday is Thanksgiving.
* He has a sensitive side, which he only shows to Ashlyn, Gina, Nini, and Ricky.
* E.J is secretly prone to anxiety attacks when things start to fall apart.
* According to his Audition Application he took 4 years of voice lessons.
* He was the only main character that was a Senior at East High School in Season 1 and Season 2.
* His dream College was Duke but, he got rejected from Duke in The Storm.
	+ Both him and Ashlyn Caswell’s fathers and their grandfather both went to Duke.
	+ In New Year's Eve, his New Year’s resolution was “I resolve to remember everybody fondly when I go to Duke.”
	+ In The Storm, he reveals to Nini that his paternal grandparents met at Duke and his parents met at Grad School there.
	+ In The Storm, he reveals to Nini that he got into one state school.
	+ On Career Day, his father Cash Caswell told him that he got into Duke after making some calls to get him accepted. He later realized that he doesn't want to go to Duke because he didn't earn it.
	+ In No Drama, he reveals that he is taking a gap year and his father is cool with it. Then his father sends him a letter when he is at camp saying that he is not cool with him taking a gap year so after camp is over, he is sending him to Caswell Successful Training School in Saint Louis.
* He joined the AV Club after he got rejected from Duke then he became President of the AV Club.
* His favorite song from *Beauty and the Beast* is "The Mob Song."
	+ He was the only one that was excited to do "The Mob Song" in the dance-off at North High School.
* He is scared of getting rejected.
* He was Gina Porter's first kiss and first boyfriend.
* He has been going to Camp Shallow Lake for years where he met his childhood friends Maddox and Val.
* He was originally into sports before he discover his love for acting and theater at Camp Shallow Lake just like Troy Bolton from the original films.
* He has played Danny Zuko from *Grease*, the Dentist from *The Little Shop* and Harold Hill from *The Music Man* at Camp Shallow Lake.
* In The Woman in the Woods, it was revealed that he can play the guitar.
* Only Ashlyn knows his real name, but E.J. refuses to tell anyone else.
	+ In The Real Campers of Shallow Lake, it was revealed that his full name is "Elton John Caswell" by his cousin Ashlyn Caswell.
	+ This also explains why his nickname at Camp Shallow Lake is 'Rocket Man', since that is the name of one of Elton John's signature songs.

## References

1. ↑ The Real Campers of Shallow Lake
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Happy Campers
3. ↑ The Woman in the Woods
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 [1]
5. ↑ Showtime
6. ↑ The Quinceañero
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 (13) Matt Cornett, Terry Hu, and Kyra Tantao Talks Talks Disney Original Movie "Zombies 3" - YouTube
8. ↑ Selene W. interviews Matt Cornett, Dara Renee, Frankie Rodrigues, Julia Lester (HSMTMTS) - YouTube
9. ↑ Admissions episode shows Ricky and EJ speaking at college, where EJ smiles while talking about Val, how she's been great and helping him through alot since starting college. Ricky also seems surprised and impressed by this.
10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 What Team?
11. ↑ Thanksgiving
12. ↑ New Year's Eve
13. ↑ Most Likely To
14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 The Field Trip
15. ↑ Second Chances