Olivia Rodrigo, Joshua Bassett and their Disney+ co-stars preview season 2 with ET.
The countdown for the return of High School Musical: The Musical: The Series is on!
Disney+'s musical comedy series kicks off its second season in less than two months, but ET has your exclusive first look at the official cast photos for the new season, featuring all your favorite East High Wildcats (and some intriguing teases!), to tide you over until then.
Series stars Olivia Rodrigo, Joshua Bassett, Sofia Wylie, Matt Cornett, Dara Reneé, Larry Saperstein, Julia Lester, Frankie Rodriguez, Joe Serafini, Kate Reinders and Mark St. Cyr are all camera-ready in their new glam shots for season 2.
"I am excited for the fans to see season 2 of the show because I think they will get to see our characters' growth and trajectory in a deeper way," Rodrigo, whose song "Drivers License" is one of 2021's biggest hits (already), told ET. "I also can't wait for them to hear this really special song I wrote for an episode.”
"This season is truly remarkable," Bassett told ET. "As much as it’s been hard filming during the global pandemic, I’m definitely sad to go because it’s so special. So it’s a bittersweet thing, but honestly it just means we’re that much closer to the rest of the world getting to see it. I’m so excited."
Bassett teased a high-energy performance in the premiere that he performed live. "I was constantly out of breath because I was running around the entire time," the 20-year-old actor and singer hinted, adding that the newest HSMTMTS chapter features "more singing, more dancing and more drama."
"I think that anyone who has seen season 1 and thought, 'That was pretty good!,’ will think that season 2 blows season one out of the water," he said.
Wylie previewed her character's journey in the coming season, saying Gina goes through "a lot of growth."
"She's still trying to figure out who she wants to be at East High and what it means for her if she stays or not. There are a lot of new character dynamics that we get to see this season, and I had so much fun being able to act more closely with some of my fellow castmates," the actress explained. "I'm also so excited for people to see an episode that I had the pleasure of performing a solo in! ... There's a specific performance from one of my castmates that made me bawl my eyes out! The talent of everyone I get to work with is just mind blowing to me sometimes."
Click through for ET's exclusive gallery, featuring the new official HSMTMTS cast photos for season 2.
In the 12-episode season 2, the East High Wildcats, who are preparing to perform the Disney classic Beauty and the Beast as their spring musical, "face off against rival school North High to win a prestigious and cutthroat student theater competition," according to Disney+'s official synopsis. "Wigs are snatched, loyalties are tested and ballads are belted."
Derek Hough, Asher Angel, Dear Evan Hansen's Andrew Barth Feldman, Roman Banks and Olivia Rose Keegan join as new characters.
High School Musical: The Musical: The Series premieres season 2 on Friday, May 14 on Disney+. For more on HSMTMTS, watch below.
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