High School Musical boss teases queer storyline for Joshua Bassett: ‘He’s got things to figure out’
Joshua Bassett. (Amy Sussman/WireImage)
High School Musical: The Musical: The Series is gearing up for its third season on Disney+ – and maybe a queer romance.
The show follows the meta universe of students at East High School putting on a production of High School Musical and entering the world of teen theatre.
The third season will follow the kids as they go to summer camp and put on a Frozen musical extravaganza. In the trailer we also see LGBTQ+ icon JoJo Siwa make an appearance.
Speaking to Digital Spy about the possibility of a queer storyline, boss Tim Federal said: “One of the joys of a long-running show is that you get to explore all facets and all aspects of all of these characters.
“So as a queer storyteller myself, I feel a real responsibility to try to tell the truth about the experience of young people today, which is so much more fluid and accepting and exploratory than I think it was when I was a youth.”
He specifically pointed toward one character, Ricky Bowen played by Joshua Bassett. “I think particularly for Ricky this season, he’s got some big things to figure out,” Federal shared.
He continued: “He ends up going to summer camp, feeling like: ‘It’s going to be a summer of fun, and I’m not getting involved romantically. My last entire year has been the obsession of trying to figure my romantic life out.’
“And as so often happens, the best-laid plans go up in smoke when someone important distracts you. So I think he’s definitely on a big arc this season.”
Bassett himself is part of the LGBTQ+ community after his casual coming out video went viral last year.
In the video he gushes over Harry Styles, saying: “I think he’s just a nice guy, doesn’t say too much, when he talks, it matters. He’s just cool – who doesn’t think Harry Styles is cool? Also, he’s hot, you know? He’s very charming, too. Lots of things.
Before nonchalantly adding: “This is also my coming out video, I guess.”
