'High School Musical: The Musical: The Series' showrunner Tim Federle says he 'didn't lose a night of sleep' over Olivia Rodrigo's decreased involvement in the series

• Season three of "High School Musical: The Musical: The Series" premiered on Disney+ on Wednesday.

• Insider spoke with showrunner Tim Federle about the talented cast, including Olivia Rodrigo, and new guest stars.

• Federle said that season three is a "return to the 'High School Musical' OG vibes."

"High School Musical: The Musical: The Series" — the most meta TV show to grace Disney+ thus far — is finally back for its third season.

The show, which premiered in 2019, follows a group of fictional high school students (more importantly, high school theater kids) who attend East High, where the original "High School Musical" was filmed. Each season, it follows the cast as they navigate their personal relationships and put on a production, ranging from "High School Musical" itself in the first season to "Frozen: The Broadway Musical" in the third.

Showrunner Tim Federle spoke with Insider about its talented young cast members, music superstar Olivia Rodrigo (who plays Nini Salazar-Roberts) scaling down her involvement in the series, the third season's stacked slate of guest stars, and the process of incorporating "Frozen" into the show.

Insider: I've been keeping up with the series since 2019, and you've spoken before about the parallels between Nini's journey on the show and Olivia Rodrigo's real-life career. She's back this season now as a guest star – what's it like navigating Nini's character, and Olivia's involvement on the series, in light of her music career post-"Sour?"

Tim Federle: Olivia is so gifted, and it has genuinely been so exciting to watch the world embrace her music and sing her songs at concerts and dress like Olivia when they go to her concerts. There are so many talented young people in the cast of "High School Musical," and I only saw it as a good thing. I was like, "Olivia wants to tour the world, and we should honor that." 

Because guess what? Sofia Wylie is also amazing. And Dara Reneé, who actually writes a song in season three that you haven't heard yet, is also amazing. And Julia Lester — all of these women are so gifted. And I say that because I did not lose a night of sleep over the idea that Olivia would not do every episode. In fact, I helped orchestrate it, because my sense was to allow her to explode her music. And it allows someone like Sofia Wylie to take center stage.

And that's thrilling for me, because when you drown out all the noise of show business, the most exciting and gratifying thing about this job is watching these young people step into their power. Sofia was 14 years old when she was hired for this show, and for her to now be 18 and center of the poster and anchoring these major stories with such gravitas, and humor, and musical power, is thrilling.

It's so exciting to see Sofia and her character Gina really take center stage this season. She's got this love triangle going on, some rom-com vibes, and amazing braids. What was it like crafting Gina's story this season?

Federle: So fun. What I did with the writer's room in season three was, we welcomed in all of the principal actors one at a time for an interview. And it was like, "Okay, so Sofia Wylie, what do you want to do this season?" And she was like, "I want pastels. I want braids. I want softness. I want rom-com. I want a lyrical dance."

Sofia really had a point of view on this character. And at the end of the day, while I have instincts about what an audience might want, I also recognize these young actors are the faces of the show and they put so much of themselves into it that we really build the characters together — the writers, the directors, and no one perhaps more important than the actors themselves. Sofia very much inspired for me the kinds of stories she wanted to play.

You also have a ton of new faces this season, from Corbin Bleu, to finally getting Jason Earles on camera. He's been around on the show since season one, right?

Federle: Jason's been our acting coach since season one, and he is an anchor and a mentor and a rock. And sometimes it feels like we're the only two adults on set and we kind of roll our eyes and laugh. The entire show is like a very high stakes summer camp, and Jason and I are kind of the head counselors in a lot of ways, along with our producing director Kim McCullough and a host of other leaders.

But Jason himself is such a legendary comic actor, and I remember Dara Reneé in season one walked onto set and was like, "What is Hannah Montana's brother doing here? I'm so intimidated. I wasn't intimidated before." And I was like, "No, no, no, he's here to help." So to get Jason's comedy chops in the show is such a blast.

And our show is so meta that later in the season, we even have a Jason Earles joke. More than anything, this season is fun and a real return to the "High School Musical" OG vibes.

And Corbin, oh my god. Speak about OG vibes! I mean, Corbin is the biggest gentleman and class act on the planet. He is so kind. You know, so many star actors, you yell cut and they run to their trailer. But he's hanging out with the cast, talking about life, giving the kids in the show advice, he's just the coolest. We love Corbin.

You also have JoJo Siwa on this season, which rules. How did that come about?

Federle: A lot of the showrunner job is in the background, either putting out fires or trying to create some sizzle. And for a couple of years, I've been working on connecting with JoJo meaningfully, because I'm a big fan. I'm a former dancer, I admire everything she stands for.

When JoJo came out so proudly and beautifully, I connected with her incredible longtime manager Caryn Sterling, and I was like, "I wanna write JoJo something that's authentic and real that the audience maybe hasn't seen from her before, that's a real statement to that fan base that is so massive."

And JoJo walked onto our set, like the gravel-voiced legend she is, and she was so gracious and fun. She is so fun, but really wanted to be directed. She's so good with notes, like dancers are, and didn't push back on anything. I think she is a beautiful person inside and out, who brings so much vibe to the series in her appearance this year.

You won a GLAAD award for this series, which is wonderful. Even since season two last year, things have changed a lot in the United States for queer students and queer kids. There's always been such a focus on queer characters and relationships in this series — what does that mean to you? What's on your mind when crafting these stories?

Federle: If you're not old enough to vote yet, sometimes the only way you can feel like you have a voice is to see somebody who's a little bit older who is bravely living the life you dream of. So for our audience, some of whom are under 18, they get to see Carlos and Seb kiss and it's celebrated, or on this season, they get to see the stories we're going to tell about burgeoning and growing identity, which I think is so native to this next generation and certainly our audience.

I think it's really important to tell optimistic, joyful, beautiful stories about identity and good representation. I've said this quote before, but good representation does not cancel out bad legislation, and I know, and I've talked to the queer actors on my series, and queer writers on the series, and queer directors on the series. All of us have heard from so many young people who say thank you, because they associate "High School Musical," especially the original trilogy, with fun and good vibes, and it's corny and it's lovely, and it's such an escape.

For us to be able to gently take it next level in terms of representation is powerful for young people. And we want to keep telling those stories proudly.

If the original "High School Musical" had been made today, it would potentially be different. 

Federle: Ryan would be a different character, or the storytelling would have gone a different way. "Zombies 3" just premiered and had the most incredible performance from Terry Hu, a nonbinary actor who gives such an arresting, funny performance, and it was beautiful.

There's a great quote about how writers are "in the wish-granting business" by Christopher Vogler, who is a kind of famous writing leader and coach in the Hollywood world. And especially when you work for Disney, you want to grant the wishes of an audience who I think watches this content for optimism and joy. It's one of the reasons we really, in season three, dug back into "let's have fun."

I have to ask about how this season's incorporation of "Frozen," the Broadway musical, came about. What were the logistics of that, and how much general access do you have to assorted Disney IP with this show?

Federle: Less than people think. It's a very complex system. Tom Schumacher is a mentor of mine. He runs Disney's theatrical production arm. Because the Broadway division of Disnety has presented "Frozen" and "Beauty and the Beast" and various shows under their auspices, I have some access to that because Tom is such a mentor. But there are a lot of shows the fans pitch me, like "Tangled" and "Encanto" and incredible musicals from the Disney catalog, that we have far less access to than people would think, and so there's some limits.

With "Frozen," it's such a season of sisterhood. While there's romance in this season, I also think there's a strong vibe of found family. I just love that "Frozen," while it contains a romance, is ultimately a love story of two sisters who have each other's backs, which is very much a journey the women on the season go through as well. So "Frozen" was just so fun, and by the way, bop after bop.

And when you hear "Let It Go" sung, when you hear some of the songs from the Broadway production that we are lucky enough to get to present that weren't in the animated film — they're bangers, and it's really fun to hear this talented cast sing them.

This interview has been lightly edited for clarity and length. 

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