Andrew Michael Edgar Seeley (born April 30, 1982) is a Canadian actor, singer, songwriter and dancer. He has recorded many songs for
the Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Disney Stud ...
. He danced as a child in
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...
until he was about preteen age and then moved to Florida.
Early and personal life
Seeley grew up in
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...
and fell in love with performing. He was once part of a boy band called Nu Ground. He was cast in Hal Prince's revival of Showboat and stayed with the production for a year. In 2005, Seeley started working with Ray Cham, an established producer and together they wrote "Get'cha Head in the Game", a song that was a nominee in the
Creative Arts Primetime Emmy category,
Best Original Music and Lyrics.
Seeley is married to actress/comedian
Amy Paffrath. The couple has one child, a daughter, who was born in 2019.
Career
2005–2010: Breakthrough films and debut album
In 2005, Seeley began working with founded producer Ray Cham and together they wrote "Get'cha Head in the Game" for Disney's quadruple platinum
High School Musical soundtrack
''High School Musical'' is the soundtrack of the Disney Channel Original Movie of the same name. Recorded in five days, it was released on January 10, 2006, and became the best selling album of that year, having sold more than 3.7 million copi ...
. This garnered them an
Emmy nomination in the
Best Original Music and Lyrics category. He also auditioned alongside
Zac Efron
Zachary David Alexander Efron (; born October 18, 1987) is an American actor. He began acting professionally in the early 2000s and rose to prominence in the late 2000s for his leading role as Troy Bolton in the ''High School Musical'' trilo ...
for the role of
Troy Bolton
The following article is a list of characters appearing in the ''High School Musical'' film series. Currently, the characters who appear in '' High School Musical'', '' High School Musical 2'', and '' High School Musical 3: Senior Year'' are lis ...
in the first ''
High School Musical
''High School Musical'' is a 2006 American musical television film directed by Kenny Ortega and written by Peter Barsocchini. The 63rd Disney Channel Original Movie (DCOM) and first installment of the ''High School Musical'' film series, ...
'' film, to which Efron won the part while Seeley acted as the character's singing voice, which was blended with Efron's voice in post-production. In addition, Seeley filled in for Efron (who could not join the tour due to a scheduling conflict with the shooting of the
2007 film adaptation of the Broadway musical ''
Hairspray'') on the North America and Latin America tours of ''
High School Musical: The Concert'', playing in 60,000 seat arenas and he can be heard on both soundtracks and ''
High School Musical on Stage!''.
Seeley's association with Disney continued and he can be heard as a featured artist on several Disney soundtracks/compilation albums including ''
Disneymania 5'', ''
Disneymania 6'', ''
Disney Channel Holiday'', ''
Radio Disney Jams, Vol. 9
''Radio Disney Jams'' was a series of CD compilations of music that was featured on Radio Disney, a children's radio network.
The first album was released in 1999, titled ''Radio Disney Kid Jams'', containing the top songs from Radio Disney's play ...
'', and ''Byou''. Drew's duet with Spanish-born Mexican singer
Belinda "Dance with Me", from the platinum ''
Cheetah Girls 2
''The Cheetah Girls 2'' (also known as ''The Cheetah Girls: When In Spain'' in the working title) is a 2006 American film and the sequel to the Disney Channel Original Movie (DCOM), ''The Cheetah Girls.'' Directed by Kenny Ortega, the ...
''
soundtrack
A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...
, was played on the Disney Channel and on Radio Disney. Drew appeared in Belinda's video of "
Ni Freud ni tu mamá". Drew also made a guest appearance on the 2008
Chipmunks CD ''
Undeniable'', singing an updated take on "Shake Your Groove Thing" with Alvin and the gang. Seeley appeared in the Hallmark Channel Movie ''Claire'' opposite
Valerie Bertinelli
Valerie Anne Bertinelli (born April 23, 1960) is an American actress. She first achieved recognition as a child actress, portraying Barbara Cooper Royer on the sitcom '' One Day at a Time'' (1975–1984) for which she won two Golden Globe Award ...
, and in the film ''Fly Kidz'', for which he co-wrote and produced the soundtrack. He also wrote and performed music for the Disney Channel Original Movie ''
Jump In!
''Jump In!'' is a 2007 Disney Channel Original Movie, which premiered on January 12, 2007. It was released on Disney Channel UK on April 27, 2007. The film, starring Corbin Bleu and Keke Palmer, revolves around a young boxer, Izzy Daniels (Bleu) ...
'' starring
Corbin Bleu
Corbin Bleu Reivers (; born February 21, 1989), known professionally as Corbin Bleu, is an American actor and singer. He made his acting debut in the 2004 adventure comedy film '' Catch That Kid''. He has since appeared in the Discovery Kids dr ...
and
Keke Palmer
Lauren Keyana "Keke" Palmer (born August 26, 1993) ( ) is an American actress, singer and television personality. Known for playing leading and character roles in comedy and drama productions, she has received a Primetime Emmy Award, five NAACP ...
.
Seeley starred opposite
Selena Gomez
Selena Marie Gomez ( ; born July 22, 1992) is an American singer, actress and producer. Gomez began her acting career on the children's television series ''Barney & Friends'' (2002–2004). As a teenager, she rose to prominence for starring a ...
and
Jane Lynch
Jane Marie Lynch (born July 14, 1960) is an American actress, comedian and author. She is known for starring as Sue Sylvester in the musical comedy series ''Glee'' (2009–2015), which earned her a Primetime Emmy Award. Lynch also gained recogn ...
in ''
Another Cinderella Story'', playing the pop star Joey Parker. Drew wrote and performed four songs in the film, and shot music videos for both versions of his hit song, "New Classic". Seeley also appeared in the Disney Channel Original Movie ''Stuck in the Suburbs'' as a hotel employee.
In the summer of 2009 he starred as Prince Eric in the Disney Broadway Musical ''
The Little Mermaid
"The Little Mermaid" ( da, Den lille havfrue) is a literary fairy tale written by the Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. The story follows the journey of a young mermaid who is willing to give up her life in the sea as a mermaid to gain a ...
'', and had a leading role in the horror movie ''
The Shortcut''. In June 2010, Seeley starred in the
Hallmark Channel
The Hallmark Channel is an American television channel owned by Crown Media Holdings, Inc., which in turn is owned by Hallmark Cards, Inc. The channel's programming is primarily targeted at families, and features a mix of television movies ...
television movie ''Freshman Father''.
2011–present: ''The Resolution'', films and television
Seeley's album ''The Resolution'' was released on April 5, 2011. In support of the album, Drew went on a national tour where he performed his own original music. He also sang a song for the Disney Channel original series ''
Shake It Up''. A duet with
Adam Hicks, "Dance for Life," premiered in the episode "Vatalihoosit It Up", backed by a routine performed by dance crew the
Jabbawockeez. "Dance for Life" was featured on the soundtrack for the show, ''
Shake It Up: Break It Down''. Seeley's song "It's Always Been You" was used as the theme of ''Crown for Christmas'', a 2011 Hallmark Channel movie.
On June 12, 2011, Seeley was reported to have joined the CW's hit teen drama series ''
90210'', but ''Entertainment Weekly'' later reported that he dropped the role due to a conflict with his schedule. In March 2012, ''
I Kissed a Vampire'' was released, in which Seeley stars alongside
Lucas Grabeel and Adrian Slade. In June 2012, he co-starred in the Lifetime movie, "Talhotblond", playing young "Tommy". Seeley has also released music videos for his song "Beautiful", and most recently "Into The Fire". Drew recorded a song for the third ''Shake It Up'' soundtrack ''
Shake It Up: I Love Dance'', called "I Do". It featured on
Walmart
Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores from the United States, headquarter ...
-exclusive editions as a bonus track. The song was also featured in the ''Shake It Up'' season 3 episode, "I Do It Up".
In 2013, Seeley began filming his role in a new film, ''Elixir'', which was renamed ''
Lovestruck: The Musical'' on
ABC Family
The American cable and satellite television network that is now known as Freeform was originally launched as the CBN Satellite Service on April 29, 1977, and has gone through several different owners (and six different name changes) during its h ...
. Seeley played the role of "Young Ryan". He played opposite
Chelsea Kane (Young Harper),
Jane Seymour
Jane Seymour (c. 150824 October 1537) was Queen of England as the third wife of King Henry VIII of England from their marriage on 30 May 1536 until her death the next year. She became queen following the execution of Henry's second wife, Anne ...
(Harper),
Sara Paxton
Sara Paxton (born April 25, 1988) is an American actress, voice artist, and singer. She began acting at an early age, appearing in minor roles in both films and television shows, before rising to fame in 2004, after playing the title role in the t ...
(Mirabella),
Tom Wopat
Thomas Steven Wopat (born September 9, 1951) is an American actor and singer. He first achieved fame as Lucas K. "Luke" Duke on the long-running television action/comedy series '' The Dukes of Hazzard''. Since then, Wopat has worked regularly, ...
(Ryan), and
Alexander DiPersia (Marco). He is featured singing his rendition of Usher's "DJ's Got Us Fallin’ in Love". In conjunction with the new movie, Seeley co-wrote and performed "Here & Now," the theme song to ABC Family's spring promotional campaign. The song was featured on Seeley's dance-pop EP released in April 2013. In 2014, Seeley performed as "Bob Gaudio" in Jersey Boys for the US tour.
Filmography
Film
Television
Web
Stage
Discography
;Studio albums
* ''~DS~'' (2006)
* ''The Resolution'' (2011)
* ''Downtime'' (2018)
Awards and nominations
References
External links
Podcast about his marriage proposal to his wife Amy*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Seeley, Drew
1982 births
Canadian male dancers
Canadian male film actors
Canadian male soap opera actors
Canadian male television actors
Canadian songwriters
Lake Brantley High School alumni
Living people
Male actors from Ottawa
Musicians from Ottawa
21st-century Canadian male actors
21st-century Canadian male singers