‘Prom Pact’ addresses platonic relationships — and ’80s films

“They want to make sure that all the kids can experience something like a prom,” says actor Milo Manheim, who attended one – AND went to prom at his actual high school.

Among those he met there – Peyton Elizabeth Lee, who stars in “Doogie Kamealoha, M.D.” Flash forward five years and the two are in “Prom Pact,” a look at the crazy events that surround a high school’s biggest formal event. Key to the Disney movie: promposals – those wild ways teenagers invite others to the dance.

At North Seattle High, the film’s location, students use ‘80s films, music and trends as their way of inviting others. Director Anya Adams was keen on filling the background with promposals but didn’t want them to be overt.

“They’re like Easter eggs,” Executive Producer Julie Bowen says. If a viewer has limited pop culture exposure, they may not get them.

“A lot of it was about music,” Adams says. “Layering it throughout was just fun.” And, yes, they let others come up with the ideas (which range from Robert Palmer’s “Addicted to Love” to “Back to the Future”). A production assistant had done one and he was able to recreate it for the movie.

“Prom Pact” also doesn’t cave to ‘80s rom-com traditions. Although Lee’s character is best friends with Manheim’s, they’re not a couple.

“There’s a common misconception that if a girl and a boy are friends there must be some sort of romantic undertones,” Lee says. “This movie is special because Ben and Mandy do have this strictly platonic friendship. Getting to see that kind of love on screen was really fun.”

Manheim originally auditioned to play the school’s star basketball player – a role he had played before. When they suggested he read for Ben, the best friend, he was out of his element. Instead of sitting back in social situations, Manheim is usually in the thick of things. “I love to make a fool out of myself,” he says. “This was a completely different character.”

To play the jock, Adams hired Blake Draper, an Australian actor who not only hadn’t been to prom, he also didn’t know much about basketball. “I couldn’t even dribble a ball,” Draper says. “Back in Australia, basketball is a big sport, but I was more into Australian-rules football and cricket.”

To look like he had his head in the game, Draper called on his older brother who is “a basketball fanatic. I remember getting that first audition. I just had this weird feeling that if I didn’t play basketball every single day for hours, the universe wouldn’t gift me with this role.”

Luckily, when he landed the role, Draper had Manheim as a back-up coach. “Milo is fantastic at basketball,” Draper says.

The two worked together – and talked about that elusive celebration known as prom.

“We don’t have prom in Australia,” Draper says. “So I didn’t get one – I got to live it out on the film set. And I’m a massive sucker for the ‘80s. To be able to live out prom in the ‘Prom Pact’ world and this ‘80s set was one of the greatest things ever.”

Manheim agrees. “It was my favorite prom out of all the proms I’ve been to,” he says.

For Lee, the film was an opportunity to show a girl following her academic dreams. “That’s like my life,” she says. “I’m in college right now, but I’m also doing other things. There’s something very empowering about seeing someone on TV doing something that you want to do and feeling like it’s possible because of that.”

In the film, Lee’s character is wait-listed for Harvard University. To better her chances, she tutors Draper’s character, whose father just happens to have ties to the school. That drives a wedge between her and her best friend but it also reveals plenty about the athlete she’s tutoring.

Bowen likens “Prom Pact” to “Pride and Prejudice”: “She’s very (much) about her career and her goals…but the heart does matter, too. The idea of a young woman being a feminist and falling in love? Yes, that can happen.”

For Manheim, “Prom Pact” reflects other aspects of his life, too. “One of the biggest themes is just friendships and maintaining them. It’s really refreshing to have a woman/man friendship that doesn’t turn into anything…it’s just what it is. That’s how it is in my real life.”

“Prom Pact” airs on the Disney Channel and Disney+. More adult content will be softened for the Disney Channel version.