Olivia Rodrigo will only recur in High School Musical: The Musical: The Series season 3. Rodrigo plays Nini Salazar-Roberts in the Disney+ series, which is expected to debut its season 3 later this year. The spinoff of High School Musical will move its focus away from the academic year to instead chronicle the experiences of its main characters as they attend Camp Shallow Lake. At the family-owned resort, which is based in California, the young cast will prepare to put on a summer production of Frozen. Keeping in line with the story change, HSMTMTS has relocated its production from Salt Lake City to Los Angeles.

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The regular HSMTMTS cast members will be joined by a number of new additions, including Meg Donnelly. The actress will play Val, a camp counselor who assists with the choreography. Hannah Montana alum Jason Earles will portray the camp’s director, Dewey, who is described as a “kill joy.” The upcoming HSMTMTS season 3 also includes Corbin Bleu, who played Chad Danforth in the first three High School Musical movies, in a meta role as himself. Ben Stillwell, Aria Brooks, and Liamani Segur are all also slated to appear in a guest capacity.

Now, with the confirmation of the guest roster in High School Musical season 3, ET Online confirmed that Rodrigo’s Nini will only recur throughout the upcoming episodes. This puts her in line with Kate Reinders, who plays Miss Jenn, and Olivia Rose Keegan as Lily, both of whom are mentioned as recurring for the season. The rest of the main actors, including Joshua Bassett as Ricky Bowen, will be back for HSMTMTS season 3 in a regular capacity.

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Rodrigo’s reduced involvement in HSMTMTS has long been the subject of speculation. In a manner that echoes Rodrigo’s success as a solo artist, Nini’s theater involvement is scaled back in HSMTMTS season 2 as she begins to focus more on her music career aspirations. Rodrigo, for her part, has enjoyed a similar trajectory. The young star’s pop career has exploded over the past year, with her debut single “Driver’s License” topping the charts worldwide and leading to waves of discussion online. Coupled with remarks from Rodrigo and showrunner Tim Federle about how Nini’s future is uncertain, the news of Rodrigo only recurring in season 3 is not particularly surprising.

Another factor is the rumored tension between Rodrigo and Bassett. The two co-stars reportedly haven’t spoken in a year, following a supposed break-up, and Bassett recently sparked further speculation when he unfollowed Rodrigo on social media. Whatever the full reasons are for the actor’s partial absence, High School Musical: The Musical: The Series concluded season 2 with Nini getting the chance to embark on a potential record deal. So, at the very least, there will be a good reason why the character won’t be showing up quite as frequently, and season 3 will do its best to avoid a jarring experience for viewers.

Source: ET Online

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Abdullah Al-Ghamdi
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Abdullah Al-Ghamdi joined Screen Rant in August 2019, focusing on movie and television news. In January of the same year, he wrote a 3500+ word piece on why Primo Colón is underrated. He considers it his finest work. When he’s not arguing for the merits of his favorite wrestler, he can be reached at: [email protected].

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