'HSMTMTS' showrunner says he doesn't want a 3rd season to 'stand in the way' of Olivia Rodrigo's 'success and fame'

• The "HSMTMTS" showrunner said he won't keep Olivia Rodrigo from finding success outside the series.
• Tim Federle spoke to Entertainment Weekly about the future of Rodrigo on the spinoff series.
• He said that he would love for Rodrigo to stay but he just wants "to support her in all of her dreams."

"High School Musical: The Musical: The Series" showrunner Tim Federle told Entertainment Weekly that he wouldn't want to bring Olivia Rodrigo back for a third season if it would "stand in the way of" her success.

Federle spoke to EW about the launch of Rodrigo's music career and how this may impact her role on the "High School Musical" spin-off show.

"It's hard to imagine 'High School Musical' without Olivia, but Olivia is also experiencing a level of success and fame and opportunity that I would never want to stand in the way of," he said. "I want the show to succeed, but the actors who make the show are always more important to me than the product."

Federle then sighed before adding: "I want Olivia to be happy. I'd love for her to keep making the show, but at the end of the day I'm there to be both the head cheerleader of my series and also read the moment and say, 'Wow, what Olivia is going through feels so unprecedented that I just want to support her in all of her dreams.'"

The series' second season ended on Friday and it is yet to be renewed for a third. Federle said there were "a lot of stories" he would like to tell if the series gets renewed for more seasons.

Rodrigo has starred as one of the lead characters, Nini Salazar-Roberts, since the series premiere in 2019. After the first season, Rodrigo started releasing her own music. Her first album, "Sour," debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and had the biggest opening week of any album so far this year.

In the second season of "HSMTMTS," Rodrigo's character coincidentally has a similar path to her real life, with Nini starting to branch away from high-school theater to build a professional musical career.

Federle said this was just an "eerie parallel," explaining that the creators came up with Nini's storyline months before Rodrigo's record-breaking debut single "Driving License" was released in January.