Olivia Rodrigo answers that burning question about Season 3 of ‘High School Musical’
Olivia Rodrigo is coming back — but not with another album (at least not right away). The Grammy-nominated pop musician will be returning for Season 3 of “High School Musical: The Musical: The Series,” the hit Disney+ TV show that made her a star in 2019.
Rodrigo, who was announced Thursday as Time’s Entertainer of the Year, will return for one more season of the show, the magazine reported, and possibly continue acting beyond that. Disney did not respond immediately to a request for confirmation and further details.
“Songwriting is the thing I take most seriously in my life,” Rodrigo told Time. “It’s the most personally gratifying too.”
“Right now, we are in a real-life DMV, which definitely has some interesting vibes to it,” Olivia Rodrigo said during her NPR Tiny Desk concert.
Rodrigo, 18, had showcased those skills on “HSMTMTS” before breaking out in January with the single “Drivers License.” Her debut studio album, “Sour,” cemented her place in pop music and recently scored a Grammy nomination for album of the year.
The teen pop sensation is nominated for seven Grammys, including best new artist, as well as song and record of the year for “Drivers License.”
“I’d be lying if I said there wasn’t any pressure,” she said. “But I sometimes remember: This happened 10 months ago. You don’t have to have it all figured out yet.”
“I guess you didn’t mean what you wrote in that song about me,” Olivia Rodrigo sings in “Drivers License,” which is breaking streaming records left and right.
On “High School Musical,” Rodrigo plays Nini Salazar-Roberts, an underdog theater kid who books the lead role of Gabriella Montez in her high school production of the titular show-within-a-show.
She has penned multiple songs for the series, including Season 1’s “All I Want,” Season 2’s “The Rose Song” and a romantic duet called “Just for a Moment,” which she co-wrote with her co-star and rumored ex-boyfriend, Joshua Bassett.
“High School Musical: The Musical: The Series” came after Rodrigo starred in the 2015 American Girl movie “Grace Stirs Up Success” and on the Disney Channel series “Bizaardvark,” which brought her and her family to L.A.
The third season of “High School Musical” is set to begin production in January, just a few months before Rodrigo hits the road for her highly anticipated world tour — tickets for which go on sale Friday.
The Season 1 finale of “High School Musical: The Musical: The Series” was the start of something new for Nini (Olivia Rodrigo) and Ricky (Joshua Bassett).
After her blockbuster year, many fans wondered if Rodrigo would choose to leave “High School Musical” and prioritize her thriving music career. In July, the show’s creator, Tim Federle, seemed to leave the question of Rodrigo’s future involvement in the series open-ended.
“Look, I have so much respect for Olivia as a songwriter and as a human and what her own dreams are,” he told Hollywood Life shortly before the series was picked up for a third season.
“I love ‘High School Musical’ with Olivia. I think Olivia is a massive part of our success, but I think Season 3 is sort of a TBD in terms of where Nini’s journey would go.”
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