You remember the blonde hair. The perfect, slightly terrifying smirk. The way she could make "Too Cool" sound like both a pop anthem and a personal threat.
When Meaghan Martin first stepped onto the screen as Tess Tyler in Camp Rock, she wasn't just another Disney Channel antagonist. She was a force. While everyone else was busy focused on the Joe Jonas and Demi Lovato romance, Martin was busy crafting a villain with actual layers—a girl whose desperate need for attention from her superstar mother drove her to be, well, a bit of a nightmare.
But then, the spotlight shifted. The posters for the sequel went up, the Jonas Brothers moved on to other things, and suddenly, the "it girl" of the 2008 Disney era seemed to vanish from the Hollywood mainstream.
What actually happened to the girl who made us all love to hate the diva of Camp Rock? Honestly, the truth is way more interesting than the "where are they now" fluff you usually see on social media.
The Brutal Reality of Filming the Sequel
If you watched Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam, you probably noticed Tess underwent a weird personality transplant. She ditched her old friends, joined the rival Camp Star, and spent most of the movie looking pretty miserable.
Turns out, Meaghan Martin actually was miserable.
In recent years—specifically around 2021 and 2022—Meaghan finally started talking about what went down on that set. It wasn't just "creative differences." She was seventeen years old, freezing in a Canadian autumn, and suffering from a severe case of mononucleosis.
"I was being berated, bullied and manipulated by men at least 2x my age," she shared on Instagram.
Imagine being a teenager, physically exhausted from a serious illness, working outdoor night shoots in the cold, and having adult producers treat you like a puppet. It's the kind of "shiny Disney" facade that makes you realize why so many stars from that era took a sharp left turn away from the industry. She’s even mentioned that the character of Tess was "butchered" in the second film, losing the nuance that made her interesting in the first place.
Choosing the West End Over Hollywood
Most actors in her position would have spent their twenties chasing guest spots on Grey's Anatomy or trying to land a CW pilot. Meaghan Martin didn't do that. She did something much ballsier: she moved to London.
She didn't just move there for the vibes, either. She went to get a Master’s degree in Classical Acting at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA).
That is one of the most prestigious (and difficult) drama schools on the planet. Think about that for a second. While the internet was wondering if she retired, she was busy learning how to perform Shakespeare and Chekhov at a professional level.
She basically traded the Disney "mean girl" trope for a life on the British stage. She co-founded a production company called 3 hearts canvas with her husband, actor Oli Higginson. They’ve produced plays like The Actor’s Nightmare at the Park Theatre in London.
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She’s also a massive name in a world most Camp Rock fans don't even track: video games.
If you’ve ever played Until Dawn, you’ve seen her. She’s Jessica. She also voiced Naminé in the Kingdom Hearts series for years. She’s built this incredibly stable, respected career in voice acting and theater that has nothing to do with the paparazzi or the Disney machine.
Will Camp Rock 3 Actually Happen?
Lately, there's been a weird amount of buzz about a third movie. Joe Jonas mentioned it on Hot Ones, and suddenly the 2000s kids went feral.
The interesting part? Meaghan Martin is actually open to it.
Even after the "berating" and the "bullying" she faced during the sequel, she told TMZ in 2025 that returning for a third film could be "healing." She’s specifically mentioned that she thinks Tess Tyler deserves "justice."
She’s right. The way Tess was left at the end of the second movie was... odd. She was the "bad girl" who joined the corporate camp, won, and then felt bad about it? It was messy. Meaghan’s take is that she’d want to come back if the story actually made sense for the character, rather than just being a cash grab.
What Most People Get Wrong About Her Career
People love a "downfall" narrative. They see an actress who was everywhere for two years and then "disappeared," and they assume her career stalled.
That’s not the case with Meaghan. She just changed the game she was playing.
- The Mean Girl Trap: She played the lead in Mean Girls 2 and Bianca in the 10 Things I Hate About You TV series. She was being typecast as the blonde antagonist or the popular girl. Moving to the UK was a literal escape from that box.
- The Professionalism: She’s often cited as one of the most hardworking people on those sets, even when she was sick.
- The Pivot: By the time she was 25, she was already more interested in producing and "proper" acting than being a pop star.
Practical Steps for Fans of the Era
If you’re a fan of Meaghan Martin and you’ve only seen her in Camp Rock, you’re missing out on about 80% of her best work.
First, check out her voice work. Her performance in Until Dawn is fantastic—it’s horror, it’s campy, and it shows off her range way better than a Disney soundtrack ever could.
Second, if you're ever in London, keep an eye on the smaller theaters like the Arcola or Park Theatre. She pops up in high-intensity plays (like the BDSM-themed Smoke) that would make a Disney executive faint.
The biggest takeaway from Meaghan's journey is that "fame" isn't a straight line. Sometimes, the best thing a child star can do is leave the bubble, go to school, and come back as a completely different artist. She isn't the "Tess Tyler" we knew in 2008 anymore. She’s a classically trained actor who knows exactly what she’s worth.
Keep an eye on the trades for that Camp Rock 3 announcement. If Meaghan signs on, it’s a pretty good sign that the script finally treats her character with the respect she’s been asking for since 2010.
Next Steps for You
To see what Meaghan's up to right now, you can check her production company 3 hearts canvas or follow her voice acting credits in recent titles like Wuthering Waves or Stellar Blade. If you're looking for that nostalgia fix, her version of "When You Wish Upon a Star" is still on most streaming platforms—it's a reminder of that powerhouse voice that Disney almost let go to waste.