LONDON: The actress said she identified with her lonely teen character in her new film Bandslam since she was herself quite shy when in high school.

"When I was growing up I was kind of a loser. I didn’t really have many friends,” The Daily Telegraph quoted her as saying.

"I was just really shy. I grew up doing musical theatre and I was hiding behind the characters,” she added.

The 20-year-old further said that she did not want to keep doing the same kind of roles and that her latest movie was definitely different from her role in the High School Musical franchise.

She said: "I’m not content doing the same thing over and over again. I just want to grow as an actor and try to do as many different things as I can. I feel like I’m trying new things in my career and I just want to continue to have fun. For me, acting is a blast and I get to play and I’m having a great time.’’