Lucas Grabeel, star of High School Musical and ABC Family's "Switched at Birth," gives us the inside scoop on celebrity partying and career opportunities... and the quandary of getting an agent when you start out in the entertainment industry. 

You can read Part 1 of our interview with Lucas Grabeel here:  Lucas Grabeel Interview.

Gabrielle Reilly:  You see so many celebrity's out-of-control partying pictures in the tabloids.  How much pressure is there to go out and party?  What is the general feeling about it in Hollywood?  Is it a strategy to get the press, or is that just what they do?

Lucas Grabeel:  I think a lot of that is the kind of person you are before you come out here or before you search for whatever you are looking for.  Me personally, I wasn't a big partier in high school and I wasn't hanging out with the popular people.  So when I came to LA I find myself doing the same thing.  I'm not really going to a lot of parties or rubbing shoulders, hob-knobbing.  I'm more of a home body. 

The flip side of it is a lot of people are smart by playing that game and networking.  That is what the whole industry is about.  A lot of people get ahead by being in the right place at the right time and so that means being everywhere, all the time, meeting people.  If you stay in your house then you're just waiting for the opportunity to fall into your lap instead of trying to go out and get it yourself.  I live by a slower pace. 

Gabrielle Reilly:  Laugh, I could tell, I couldn't find any party pictures of you dancing drunk on a table.  How advantageous is it for celebrities to do that?  Do they get more work because of the misconduct?

Lucas Grabeel:  I think it goes either way, they could be getting more jobs, but is it the kind of work that the person not partying really wants to do?  They could get a reality show for example.  There are countless more things that the entertainment industry is involved with now.  It used to be just movies, television and radio, but now there is all the online stuff, the reality shows and all those things. 

I'm not saying that it goes hand in hand completely.  Like if you are a partier you are going to be a reality star for being a celebrity rather than being an actor.  There is a fine line. 

Even if you want to be an actor, you have to do your fair share at being out there and visible so people know who you are because that is what translates to dollar signs.  Not for being an actor, but for being a commodity so you have a worth.  When it comes to the people at the very top who have the final say a lot of the time, that is all they care about.  So you have to have that at the back of your mind.  I'm aware of it, but I feel like I am going to focus on being the best me I can be.

Gabrielle Reilly:  For actors starting out... how did you choose your agent and how does that process actually work?

Lucas Grabeel:  It's a really messed up process.  You come out to LA and you don't have any credits because you haven't been in anything yet, but you can't get an agent or a manager without credits.  But you can't get credits without a manager or agent.  It's really hard. 

I personally lucked out when I first came to LA.  A year before I moved out to LA I was visiting, trying to see if I wanted to move out here when I graduated high school or go to college and go to New York.  I was standing in line for a smoothie and a guy came up to me and started talking to me.  He asked me how old I was and I said 18 and he said "well you look like you're about 14.  I've been in the film industry for over 30 years and I know what people are looking for, have you ever thought about being an actor?"  I was like "hell yeah, that is why I'm here."  So he became my manager a year before I moved out to LA. 

Once I graduated high school, I packed up the car and drove out.  The first week he had 3 agent meetings set up for me and I again lucked out with two of them wanting to sign me at the end of the day.  So I actually got to choose which agent I wanted.  That happens so rarely, a lot of people come out here for years and still don't find representation.   I've been with the same agent and manager for 8 years.

Gabrielle Reilly:  Is that Rod Paul?

Lucas Grabeel: Yes Rod Paul and Robert Thompson are my managers and Savage Agency is my agent. Robert Thomson was the guy who came up to me 9 years ago.  They are both great.

Gabrielle Reilly:  Yes, I've been dealing with Rod Paul and he is really lovely.  What advice can you offer for building a successful career?

Lucas Grabeel:  I don't know if I have the answer, I am still trying to build my career.  However I feel about a project, my instant gut reaction, is usually the right one though.  If I feel like the equation doesn't add up to something that will push me forward straight away, then I will ask people around me for advice.  Usually, your first gut instinct is what you should go by. 

In the beginning of any actor's career you can't be too picky.  I took any audition and any job I could get when I first started out even after High School Musical I wasn't too picky.  I like to say yes to a lot of things, that's how I ended up in Korea.   I never thought that I would ever even visit Korea, but it was a crazy wild adventure.  If I had of said no to that, I would have missed that opportunity and that is part of what made me who I am today.  You got to take it.