Bandslam - Cast and Characters

Cast and Characters

• Aly Michalka as Charlotte Barnes, popular ex-cheerleader and senior at the high school that Will attends. We are told later in the film that her ailing father does not approve of how she only runs with the "Populars" in school. Charlotte makes a vow to forsake the populars and run with the geekier teens like Will and Sa5m in hopes that this good behavior will cause her dad to get well. She terms this an "experiment". Her efforts to start a new band ("I Can't Go On, I'll Go On"), include making Will the manager and coach of the eight musicians that make up their newly formed group. Old boyfriend, Ben Wheatley, surfaces several times in the movie attempting to woo Charlotte back.
• Gaelan Connell as Will Burton, the male protagonist of the film. Will is an avid fan of David Bowie and writes regular emails to that particular gentleman. Will is also a music enthusiast and well acquainted with the mechanics of well produced, pop music. After relocating to New Jersey and a new high school, he finds himself managing Charlotte's new rock band. They hope to compete in the East Coast, "Battle of the Bands" contest called "Bandslam." He lives with his single parent mother.
• Vanessa Hudgens as Sa5m (the 5 is silent). She is Will's first friend at his new school in Lodi, New Jersey. She talks in a monotone and slowly because she says that "emotion is overrated" and she used to stutter when she was young. She develops a relationship with Will, but "breaks up" with him when she is stood up for a date and discovers that Will was at an event with Charlotte. We discover later that she is a gifted singer. After she reconciles with Will, she is appointed the new lead vocalist in their band. She recognizes long before Will that Charlotte is "hard wired" to run with the high rollers. Sa5m suspects that Charlotte's "experiment" might have wider scope in that a higher intelligence could be controlling their actions ("Charlotte times a trillion").
• Lisa Kudrow as Karen Burton (Will's single parent mother). She is concerned with Will's involvement with other kids at school because they pick on him due to the fact that his dad was sent to prison. She is a good mom and tries to protect him from the likes of Charlotte.
• Scott Porter as Ben Wheatley, the boastful and show-off lead vocalist in the original band,"Glory Dogs", which is now competing against Charlotte's new band, "I Can't Go On, I'll Go On". He is Charlotte's ex-boyfriend as well. In the later part of the movie, he reconciles with Charlotte and also becomes friends with the rest of the "I Can't Go On, I'll Go On" band. He serves as the main antagonist of the film.
• The film's fictional band, "I Can't Go On, I'll Go On" members include:
  • Charlie Saxton as Bug, the bassist.
  • Ryan Donowho as Basher Martin, the drummer.
  • Tim Jo as Omar, the guitarist.
  • Lisa Chung as Kim Lee, the keyboardist.
  • Elvy Yost as Irene Lerman, the cellist.

David Bowie officially began talks in early February. Bowie has a vital role in the film as Will Burton's idol, to whom Burton frequently writes e-mails. He makes a short cameo in the end of the movie. Liam Aiken was originally chosen to play Will, but for unknown reasons, it was given to Gaelan Connell. Actually, when Connell auditioned for "Will", he was recommended to try out for the cellist part since he plays cello. Director Todd Graff watched his cello audition, and decided to give him the starring role as "Will." Originally, Vanessa Hudgens wanted to play the role of Charlotte, but she was cast for the role of Sa5m on January 12, 2008. Hudgens sang "Rehab" for her audition. In order to pursue the role, Hudgens watched The Addams Family and tapped into Wednesday's character.