Everyone wants to know. As Olivia Rodrigo‘s musical career continues to blow up, fans have questioned what that means for her future on High School Musical: The Musical: The Series.
The California native has played Nini Salazar-Roberts since the series debuted on Disney+ in 2019. After the first season premiered, Rodrigo rose to stardom when her single “Driver’s License” went viral in January 2021. Four months later, her debut album, Sour, dropped to resounding success.
At the time, the actress opened up about how her music was inspired by her dating life. “I totally understand people’s curiosity with the specifics of who the song’s about and what it’s about, but to me, that’s really the least important part of the song,” Rodrigo, who previously sparked romance rumors with her HSMTMTS costar Joshua Bassett, told Billboard in January 2022. “It’s resonating with people because of how emotional it is, and I think everything else is not important.”
As Rodrigo’s career continued to blow up, viewers wondered if that meant the singer was leaving HSMTMTS. After being billed as a series regular for the first two seasons, Rodrigo became a recurring cast member for season 3.
On screen, Nini started to move away from her interest in high school theater as she attempted to build a professional music career in Los Angeles. “It feels like these last few years have been leading up to something big,” the character said in the trailer for season 3 before deciding not to attend summer camp with her friends.
The show’s creator, Tim Federle, previously admitted that Rodrigo’s music career would impact her role as Nini. “It’s hard to imagine High School Musical without Olivia, but Olivia is also experiencing a level of success and fame and opportunity that I would never want to stand in the way of,” he told Entertainment Weekly in August 2021. “I want the show to succeed, but the actors who make the show are always more important to me than the product.”
Federle noted that his priority was making sure Rodrigo was “happy” amid the show shake-up. “I’d love for her to keep making the show, but at the end of the day I’m there to be both the head cheerleader of my series and also read the moment and say, ‘Wow, what Olivia is going through feels so unprecedented that I just want to support her in all of her dreams,'” he added.
Ahead of season 3, the screenwriter elaborated on how the story lines were altered to reflect Rodrigo’s limited availability.
“From a pure logistical standpoint, the idea of Olivia doing the entire season and doing her tour was immediately looking impossible,” he told EW in July 2022. “But she was and is such an important part of the DNA of the show that it also didn’t feel right to not give an explanation for where the character of Nini went. That was thing one: how do you make both things work, schedule-wise?”
Federle added: “Thing two is, Olivia is amazing, but I really think this whole cast is amazing. … I guess it’s a little bit like a wedding where it’s like, ‘We’re not losing a daughter, we’re gaining a leading lady.’ That’s how this season felt.”
Scroll down for everything the cast and crew have said about Rodrigo’s possible departure:
After confirming her HSMTMTS return, Rodrigo opened up about the challenges of balancing her acting and music careers. "I think it's really hard to split time between the two and there are very few artists who do that efficiently, because acting is based on being a good liar and presenting a version of yourself that's believable, and being a songwriter is the complete opposite," the performer explained to The Guardian in May 2021. "It's like, here are all of my deepest, darkest secrets, and I want you to know me so personally." Disney+
In July 2022, Federle teased how the writers chose to adjust Nini's story amid Rodrigo's offscreen stardom. "I think she's ready to explore the world outside the halls of East High," he told Entertainment Tonight. "And Olivia herself was having such a monumental explosion in the music industry that it felt like the right thing to, frankly, work with Olivia to say, 'How do we get you out there into the world with us taking a little bit more of a backseat?' Which we were all proud to do to support her." He continued: "And so this season it's about trying to give her character a proper sendoff while also leaving room for other characters to really step into the fray and step into the spotlight. And personally, it's a joy to see Olivia's music explode in such a big way. It was so fun to have her back and reminisce on the beginning." Disney+
While discussing season 3, Federle hinted at a possible ending to Rodrigo's character on the show. "It's so funny, we are early enough in the season 4 writers' room that I'd be lying if I told you I had an exactly right answer for that. I would never say never to Olivia, and I would never use the word last, because I hope the show goes on and on and on and we get like a [Grey's Anatomy] Patrick Dempsey on the beach with Ellen Pompeo moment 17 seasons later," he told EW about Rodrigo's departure, referring to Dempsey's McDreamy reuniting with Pompeo's Meredith six years after the actor left the show. "But yeah, I think it's probably a fairly safe bet to say that, for now, we have so many cast members who we love and who we're serving, that I think there's no immediate plans for Nini to be a huge part of the show going forward. But the world has a way of surprising me and I never say never." According to Federle, the series took a different turn as Nini's role became smaller. "That's OK. Any show that's about the power of music — it's so corny to say this, but this is me — and the way that making music with people you love can change your life and change the world, for this to have occurred, for Olivia, all I can do is sit back and be like, 'If the worst thing that ever happened to me is that the star of my show became the biggest pop star in the world and had to chase that, then that's a pretty damn good bad thing to happen to me.' I'm so proud of her," he added. Disney+
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