Spoilers ahead for the Season 3 premiere of High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, “Happy Campers.”
While summer is halfway over, the break is just beginning for the Wildcats on Disney+’s High School Musical: The Musical: The Series. The third season just had its premiere, following the group to a summer camp that includes a celebrity guest. Original HSM star Corbin Bleu appears in this season as himself, though a slightly different version where he's a bit is egotistical. But the actor was actually excited about playing an "ass."
In an interview with CinemaBlend’s own Sarah El-Mahmoud, Corbin Bleu spoke all about playing an “ass” in High School Musical: The Musical: The Series. In the premiere episode, he was less than willing to help out with the camp’s musical. Instead he noted to Jason Earles’ camp director character that although he is directing the documentary about the show that will be on Disney+ (very meta), he is not going to spend his time directing the actual musical. And Bleu was excited about poking some fun at himself:
It's so fun. It's so much fun to be able to play yourself, one to be able to make fun of yourself, just to make light of yourself, and, I also like that I get to play like a bit of an ass, version of myself. I think because there are times even in real life where you think, ‘I wonder what would happen if I just said no, or if I said this person, or if I just like, did you have those weird instincts? And you're like, no, I, I can't actually do that in real life. And that actually just sort of live those experiences is, is really, really fun.
One would think that with someone appearing on a show as themselves, they would be themselves, so it was definitely a surprise, though funny, to see Corbin Bleu in a role fans would not expect. It should be interesting to see how it plays out in the rest of the season and how else Bleu will surprise fans.
Bleu also revealed that, like many shows and movies, not everything was in the script. Although he didn’t get into too many details about it, he did admit that there were some lines that were improvised, which even proved more how well of a jerk he can play when he’s very likely nice in real-life:
We did have moments [where we could improvise]. I will say that's one great part about not only the, the cast, but our directors and Tim, you know they were very open to moments of improv or throwing in a line or throwing in a bit usually on a, on a second or third take, you can just throw something out there, and it turns out that that's actually a really funny moment that that sticks.
Corbin Bleu is the third High School Musical star to appear in the series, following both Kaycee Stroh and Lucas Grabeel, who appeared in the first season. While Grabeel guest starred as himself, Stroh actually played a member of the school board. Considering how much the original movie seres means to people, it was a pleasant surprise, regardless.
Speaking of appearances, fans have been hoping that two more HSM stars will return to the halls of East High. Vanessa Hudgens and Zac Efron both recently visited the real East High in Salt Lake City, Utah, at different times, and Efron also expressed interest in returning to the HSM franchise. So perhaps this could be the start of something new?
Meanwhile, with the third season officially underway on Disney+, HSMTMTS has already been renewed for a fourth season. The music and nostalgia will continue on, but whether Olivia Rodrigo will return is up in the air. Her character, Nini, has been downgraded to a guest role this season due to Rodrigo being so busy taking over the pop music world. So it’s unknown if that will stick for Season 4.
New episodes of High School Musical: The Musical: The Series drop Wednesdays on Disney+ with a subscription! Be sure to also check out the best shows on Disney+ in the meantime.
