It's a long way from singing and dancing in a [movie id="338328"]"High School Musical"[/movie] (or three) to fending off creatures from outer space and a creepy boyfriend. But [movieperson id="418328"]Ashley Tisdale[/movieperson] was ready to take that leap and star in [movie id="335746"]"Aliens in the Attic,"[/movie] which hits theaters this week, days after the release of her [article id="1617233"]new album, Guilty Pleasure[/article] earlier this week.

"Bethany is really just the typical teenager," she told MTV News about her character in the flick that she describes as "The Goonies" meets "Home Alone." "She is someone who is just in love with her boyfriend Ricky and doesn't really see him for who he is. She doesn't really know what his intentions are. ... And then he starts being controlled by the aliens. Then she sees his true colors, and she sticks up for her family, and they try and fight off the aliens."

That boyfriend is played by up-and-coming heartthrob and "Step Up 2 The Streets" star Robert Hoffman, who along with several of their co-stars kept Tisdale in stitches on the set. "[Robert] would just say funny things to me," she said. "Between him, Kevin Nealon, Andy Richter and Doris Roberts, you could not keep a straight face the entire time. They're all really funny."

Tisdale admitted that she didn't quite get Hoffman's sense of humor at first. "Oh, yeah, Robert's a different story," she said. "Robert's a funny guy. You know, his personality is very different, and so people could be kind of weirded out by him at first. It was a lot of fun working with him, but we just didn't have the chemistry at first. It was awkward at first, 'cause we didn't get each other. He's a great guy, and I loved working with him, plus he takes over the movie."

Check out everything we've got on "Aliens in the Attic."

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