It may be the dead of summer, but for the HSMTMTS cast, it's graduation season. In June, series creator Tim Federle shared the heart wrenching news that the mockumentary style show's highly anticipated fourth season would be its last.
HSMTMTS, which is short for the highly meta title High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, first debuted on Disney+ in the fall of 2019. Since its premiere, much of its multi-hyphenate cast have gone on to release their own original music, lead Netflix films, and have thriving pop careers. HSMTMTS was created for a new generation of High School Musical fans, expertly blending nostalgia with fresh, diverse faces and exciting new voices. Now, four seasons later, it's time for the Wildcats — both new and old — to take their final bow.
At the start of season 4 — which hits the streamer on August 9 — the gang's triumphant return to East High from summer camp feels, rightfully, like a homecoming. The first few episodes of the season effortlessly lay the foundation for each of the main characters' journeys of self-discovery and their individual and collective growing pains — even amidst the shenanigans that take over their high school thanks to the filming of the fictional High School Musical 4.
Stellar performances from the cast emotionally anchor the show's final chapter; Joshua Bassett and Sofia Wylie, who play star-crossed theater kids Ricky Bowen and Gina Porter, lead the cast through a season that exemplifies the beauty of growing up and wholeheartedly celebrates the power of community.
Bassett and Wylie's chemistry is undeniable. Their genuine friendship was evident throughout their entire interview with Teen Vogue, as they tried their hardest to remain formal and reflect on their characters' journeys or tease their most impactful and memorable moments from season 4. But it's hard to be serious while you're sitting next to your bestie. This may just be Joshua Bassett and Sofia Wylie's most chaotic interview yet — let us set the scene for you.
INT. ZOOM WINDOW - DAY
Joshua Bassett and Sofia Wylie call in from Los Angeles. They sit side by side in director's chairs, patiently awaiting the first question. At that moment, they are calm and composed.
Teen Vogue: So you shot this season at the end of last year. When did you find out that this was the final season, and how did that change the dynamic on set?
Joshua Bassett: I was shocked we went past one season, to be honest, but we kept going and going. [Laughs.] I was like, "This is great." Then [for] season four, once we found out that [Miss Jenn's show] was High School Musical 3, it was like, "Okay, graduation." It's hard to imagine going past that, so I think we sensed it. As things went on and the scripts kept coming out, I think we all felt like, "This is it." So lots of tears and just a beautiful time, we wrapped it up really nicely.
TV: What were you both looking forward to the most about season four once learning and helping to build the arc of your characters?
Sofia Wylie: I was excited for us to head back to East High, because [for] season three we had filmed here in L.A. and we had been at summer camp, so it felt almost like a completely different show. Even though we were the same characters [and had] the same relationships, it felt so separate. Going back to Utah and filming at East High felt like we were having our final reunion and our final goodbye.
TV: What episode shocked you the most when you read the script, and which was the most fun to film?
JB: When we first started the season, I sat down with Tim and the writers and I said, "I want a script that scares me." I was like, "I want you to write something that freaks me out a little bit." And I wasn't sure what they were going to do with that, but there was a three-page monologue in one of the episodes, and I had to read it and I was like, "Oh my gosh." So that was definitely a big chunk to take on, and then of course, the last episode was pretty like, "Wow." So I guess one of those two.
A beat.
I feel like that clip of Debby Ryan when she's like, "I sat down with the president of Disney Channel."
SW: "[I want to make] history."
JB: People are going to watch it and be like, "It's not that crazy." But no, it is crazy. (Exaggeratedly) It's crazy!
SW: (Exaggeratedly) It's insane. You have to watch! Oh, goodness. There's one episode where… I can't say what it is, but we all look nothing like what we usually look like, which was super fun to feel like we were all different characters for an entire two weeks. But then after those two weeks, when you're wearing the same thing every single day, it starts to stretch and stink, and it's just not great.
JB: Speak for yourself. [Laughs.]
SW: So I was over it, but it was so much fun to film. Similar to [Joshua], I had this one scene where it was probably the most lines I've ever had without ever being interrupted. I was able to not only come in with the written script [memorized], but I created a version in my head that I went into loosely knowing what I wanted to say. I did one version that was scripted and one that was not. It was crazy because I didn't know exactly what I was going to say, and it was so much dialogue, but it ended up working out and it was so much fun to do.
JB: I had a similar thing where I had a loose improv… but I never actually learned the lines, so I never once actually said it as written. Not once. So who knows what version [it really is].
TV: There have been a few cameos throughout the show, but this season has the most original HSM cast appearances so far. Josh, you told People that it was very emotional seeing their reactions returning to East High. Who hadn't you met that you were most excited to work with, and did they give you any advice?
JB: Please cut this part out, please. I'm begging you.
Joshua whispers behind his hand to Sofia.
I think— (Giggles)
SW: (Giggles)
JB: —meeting Alyson Reed was really a joy. (To Sofia) I'm blushing now, it's not going to work.
SW: No, they just are going to be like, "He loves her!"
JB: Yeah, I love Alyson Reed. No, I do though. Alyson Reed was wonderful and it was really cool because she was very wise, and she sat down and talked to all of us about her life story and shared a lot of really cool, important life lessons… like…?
Joshua gestures towards Sofia.
SW: (Confused) Like…?!
JB: Do you remember any?
SW: (Giggles)
JB: (Giggles)
SW: She told us this story about her and another actor that she worked with, and I don't want to divulge it because it was very personal to her, but it was really, really cool actually being able to learn about her and her life. She's done so many things. I think a lot of people know her just from the High School Musical franchise, but her career was way before that, and long after, too. She's very accomplished — her humility to sit down and talk to us and get to know us as people, I think that was one of the biggest life lessons that I learned from her, that level of humility you can always have, no matter what.
TV: Let's talk about Ricky and Gina for a second. They are almost disgustingly in love this season. I've been able to see the first three episodes—
Joshua scrunches up his face in fake offense.
JB: Woah!
TV: No, I'm a Rina stan. It's fine.
JB: Okay. [Laughs.] I was like, “Geez. Ow!”
TV: But the fans have been—
JB: "It was disgusting how in love you guys were!" Sorry. Sorry. [Laughs.]
TV: —pulling for this love connection since season one, so they are very excited to see what is in store for y'all this season. What are your thoughts on the Rina fan base? Have you seen the fan cams?
Joshua leans forward in his seat, brow furrowed. A beat.
JB: …Fan cam?
He looks to Sofia for clarification.
SW: [Laughs.]
TV: It's a compilation of basically every interaction your characters have had in one video set to music.
JB: Well, I've still never seen the show, so I've definitely not seen the fan cam, but I'm sure it's great. I don't know.
Joshua turns to Sofia.
Have you seen it?
SW: Yeah, I've seen—
JB: (Shocked) You've seen it?!
SW: Yeah, it's just edits and stuff.
JB: Ohhh, okayokayokay. I was like "The fan cam sounds so official."
SW: I've seen a lot of the edits and a lot of the tweets throughout the series, especially, I think most in season three, for sure. But I do remember it even being a thing in season one — which I was so surprised that people were rooting for that because I was not expecting it. So it's been really cool to see the arc of these two characters, and for us, we really didn't know exactly where it was going, so it's been really cool to discover it just as much as the fans have.
TV: What do you think Ricky and Gina have learned from each other after this entire journey?
JB: “Learned from each other…”
SW: You want me to go first?
JB: You got something? Yeah, please.
SW: I think Gina's learned how to feel safe and how to also not take herself as seriously, because Ricky doesn't take anything seriously, which is a wonderful quality to have. I feel like I'm similar to Gina in that way, where I can be too much of a perfectionist sometimes, and it pulls the joy out of what I can be presently doing in that moment. So I feel like that with [Joshua] too, on set. Whenever I would be stressed out about a scene, if it was with him, it would be fine because we would just joke around the whole time and it felt like we were playing rather than working. And I think that that's a quality that both [him] and Ricky have.
JB: It's funny because I have almost the opposite answer. Gina works really hard for what she wants and she's very determined. Ricky's wandering through life and Gina's like, "I know what I want." I think they complement each other in that way, that Ricky was learning that from her. But then again, I could say the same thing in my life, just looking at [Sofia] as a person. She's so healthy and so intentional with her time, and so well-thought-out in everything she does. That's something I admire and definitely learn from myself. (Smiles) Beautiful pair.
TV: What do you think the season one versions of your characters would think about their season four versions?
JB: Oh, man.
SW: They'd be like, "Heck no, that's not us." I think it would be so different. There's this one really cool episode where you get to see the difference between where the characters are and where they used to be, and that really showed me how much of a difference there has become, and how much shifts and changes in relationships and individually for each character [have happened].
JB: I don't know how to answer that question without just thinking of me four years ago… obviously our lives don't necessarily parallel the show, but still, it's wild how I never could have imagined being here four years ago. We really were so naïve and so much has happened, and I think it's the same thing for our characters. It's interesting how the unexpected is always… to be expected. [Laughs.] You can quote me on that.
TV: Will do.
JB: This is like Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya in that interview, and he's like, "Life is coming from you, not at you," but way less wise.
TV: Thinking back to those first few days for yourselves on set of season one, and then those last few days on set of season four, how do you feel the show has changed you? How have you grown?
JB: How haven't we grown? You know what I'm saying?
Joshua slaps his thigh and chuckles, trailing off.
…Sofia?
SW: [Laughing.] I think, like Josh said, I don't think any of us could have anticipated where we are today [at] the beginning of all of this. I was just a kid when I started. I was going into my freshman year of high school, and now I've graduated. So it really does feel like I've had my entire high school experience on the show with these people as my other classmates — [who] are older than me and probably should actually be in college — but it felt like we were all peers and they treated me as equals. The respect that they gave me as an individual and as an actress really helped build my confidence a lot… because I was scared. I remember going into the first season and crying after the first table read and going, “Dad, I'm the worst one here.”
While Sofia shares this memory, Joshua makes an incredulous face and turns his entire body in his chair to face her.
SW: And honestly, I probably was because I was the youngest—
JB: What are you talking about! The first thing I said afterwards was, "Sofia Wylie's the most incredible..." The first call I made—
SW: After that first table read?
JB: Yeah, after the first table read!
SW: At the first table read, I blacked out. I could not see the sheet of paper in front of me because I was hyperventilating. And I had a scene with you, it was the skate park scene.
JB: Oh, classic.
SW: And I remember you said your line, and I was like, "Shoot, I can't see what the next line is." I went home and I cried because I was like, "I failed. They're going to recast me." But I was just scared. No matter what my ability was, I remember just being scared, and that was [at] the forefront. I still feel scared sometimes, but I know that I can get through that. Before, I didn't think I could.
JB: Wow. That's a perfect segue into my answer, which is I learned how to trust the process. I think that's a big theme in the show, “trust the process,” [like] Miss Jenn says. You hear that, and it doesn't really resonate until you go through something tumultuous and you get on the other side and it's all okay, and you're like, "I should have just trusted the process." In every single season, there was some version of, "I don't know how we're going to... I don't know if... I'm not sure about..." And then you get to the end, you're like, "Okay, all is well. You just gotta take it a step at a time and really trust the process." That's been a huge lesson for me.
TV: Let's talk about the music really quickly. Which song from this season was your favorite to record or perform?
SW: That is a question I don't believe we're allowed to answer — until the soundtrack is released, we're not allowed to say.
JB: But, well, there is something that I can kinda say. There's a photo of me holding a guitar with puppies, so I won't say anything about it. All I'll say is that was probably my favorite. And there's one [at] the end [of the season] that is forever in my heart.
SW: Oh, yeah, and I cried — is that the one [where] I cried every single time?
JB: Yeah.
SW: I cried every single time!
TV: These are great teasers.
JB: You just have to tune in. August 9th.
Joshua and Sofia both point directly into the camera.
SW: Disney Plus.
JB: Is it the 9th? Yeah, August 9th, right?
TV: It's the 9th. So this season is inevitably about goodbyes. How did you each say goodbye to your characters, and how did the cast and crew say goodbye to each other?
JB: They let us take our clothes home. It's funny, I didn't realize… I wore a Ricky shirt to Coachella and everyone was like—
SW: (Dramatic gasping) You went to Coachella?!
JB: —"That's episode one Ricky." I was like, "How did I not connect the dots?" Yeah, I went for like 30 minutes. Well, like three hours. But, anyways. Yeah… no, that was a silly answer. What was the real question?
Joshua looks to Sofia.
JB, SW: (In unison, nodding) How did we say goodbye.
A beat.
JB: Go ahead. I'm throwing you under the bus—
SW: Every time you don't want to—
JB: No, I know, I know.
Another beat.
JB, SW: (Giggles)
SW: No, go ahead.
JB: Please. I don't have an answer. Do you have something?
SW: Yeah, for sure. I mean, that is one of the ways: We all got to take our clothes home. So that was a pretty final moment. If we weren't anticipating the end [already], we were like, "Okay, they're letting us take the clothes. It's time." But it was crazy to go through the racks of clothes. They had stuff from the first season, from my first fittings of clothes I never even wore as Gina, but were possible Gina outfits. Seeing how much [her] aesthetic changed, it followed Gina's mood and personality as the show went on. I think that was a great way, honestly, to say goodbye, just taking a piece of her home with me.
But also we all cry all the time, whenever there's a wrap. Even if it's not wrap day, we're always all crying on the show because of how much we love it and how much joy is connected to it. Since it was so bittersweet to end, a lot of us were just crying and holding each other and looking into each other's eyes, telling each other how much we loved each other. And especially the Utah crew, they're amazing. It was really sad to say goodbye to them, but we did.
JB: I think in one of the later episodes, we were shooting a scene on the stage in the East High Auditorium.
Joshua shoots a panicked look at Sofia.
I can say that, right?
SW: Mhm.
JB: Yeah, cool. PHEW. But we were shooting on the stage, and I just remember having a moment. It was where we knew it was the last time we'd be in East High, and I was like, “wow,” just thinking back to that end of episode one in season one when I come in for the audition and I was in the exact same spot on stage. I was having these flashbacks. I was like, “Oh my gosh, I don't even recognize that person anymore.” It's just crazy… It was very emotional and every day, people are crying for different reasons. It's been the ride of a lifetime. But I don't know how I'd say goodbye to Ricky. I still haven't said goodbye. Me and Ricky are one. He's going to be with me forever.
SW: He'll always be with us.
JB: He is me. Come on. You and Gina are the same.
TV: I love that your characters will stay with you forever in a certain sense, that's really beautiful. And I know Gina is a junior and Ricky is a senior, but what do you think their senior superlatives would have been in the yearbook?
JB: That's the "most likely to..." right?
SW: Yeah. The way we both never had superlatives. [Laughs.]
JB: We're like, "Superlative?"
SW: "What is that?"
JB: We're both homeschooled, so.
Sofia continues in a garbled accent.
SW: Umm, I think Ricky would probably have, “Most likely to jump off a high place…”
JB: Why are you saying it like that?
SW: Like, you know… like he's adventurous… something reckless.
JB: (With exaggerated French accent) "Most likely to jump off ze high place."
Suddenly, they slip into an inside joke.
SW: Antoine is keeping—
JB: Antoine, yeah! Gina's is, “The coolest… in the school?" I'm just kidding. I don't have an answer.
SW: Gina would be "Most likely to… become… a… star."
JB: (Sarcastically) Wow. I couldn't have said it better myself.
SW: I'm so biased towards Gina. "Most likely to become the best, to run the world!"
JB: Yeah. No, it's true. And Ricky is, "Most likely to just keep skating through life." You know what I'm saying?
TV: The fans, they want a college spinoff. Would you be open to that?
Joshua and Sofia lean back in their chairs, grinning, and put their hands up in a shrug.
JB: Listen, call Bobby Iger.
SW: What would that be? “College: The Musical, the Series.” [Laughs.]
JB: Easy.
They erupt in laughter.
JB: You can totally can this interview and we will not be offended, by the way.
TV: No, you're giving me gold. Thank you.
JB: Okay, good.
TV: I know we talked about how you haven't really said goodbye to your characters yet, but what is one thing that you learned from Ricky and Gina, each of you, that will stay with you forever?
SW: You take this one first.
JB: Oh, man. Boy.
SW: You got this.
JB: Do I? …Something I learned from Ricky is that you don't have to have it all figured out to go for it. A lot of times we think, "I couldn't audition for that thing. I couldn't do that thing. I've never done theater, I don't know what I'm doing. I couldn't do that." And Ricky's attitude is just like, “I'll figure it out. I'll figure it out.” I think that that actually taught me a lot.
I mean, I still remember in season one when we were shooting that last episode, and it was the big “I love you” scene with Ricky and Nini. The day before, I was having a panic attack and Tim [Federle] pulled me into a side room and he's like, "What's going on?" I was like, "I don't know what I'm doing. I'm a fraud, and now I have to perform and deliver and I don't think I can do it." And he was like, “Every day I show up to work, I don't know what I'm doing. I'm terrified everyone's going to find out that I am figuring this out as I go.” That assurance of: “Oh my gosh, that's right. I don't have to have this all figured out. We're all faking it. We're all figuring it out as we go.” Then just going for it there, I think that's shaped so much of my life and how I see things.
SW: That's so good.
JB: Hey, thanks.
SW: No, that was really good. I was like, "Oh, okay!" (Snaps fingers repeatedly) No, that's so true. Definitely, I feel like that's something that I've learned as well, not necessarily from Gina, but just from this whole process. But specifically from Gina, I think something I've learned is… to have the balance.
Joshua and Sofia start laughing then break out into song, specifically “Balance” from the show's season 3 soundtrack.
JB, SW: “I got the balance, I got the balance!”
JB: (Loudly) B-A-L-A-N-C-E-E!
SW: “N-C-E-E?”
JB: Did I say E?
JB, SW: (Slowly) B-A-L-A-N-C-E.
JB: Oh, I was like, "Why'd I think it was [an extra] E?"
SW: Anyways. Good.
Sofia pats Joshua's leg.
JB: Yeah, thanks.
SW: Everything needs to have a balance. You have to have ambition, but you also need to be able to laugh at yourself. That's a trend that's followed me in my life these past four years specifically — there have been these crazy highs and these crazy lows, and I'm just trying to find that neutral in between. That is the most beautiful place to be in, but it's the hardest place to be in. I think that's where Gina's trying to find, and that's where I'm trying to find, too. I think it'll be a constant journey. It's not something that I've necessarily become an expert at yet, but I think my whole life will be that journey of trying to find the balance. [Laughs.] I can't ever say it without thinking—
JB: (Loudly) B-A-L-A-N-C-E!
