Did Olivia Rodrigo just give a nod to her character from High School Musical: The Musical: The Series in the year of 2024?
On Tuesday, Oct. 1, the 21-year-old pop star posted an advertisement for Sony’s new LinkBuds headphones (which come in purple, BTW) via Instagram. Fans immediately noticed that her outfit in the video looks *very* similar to what her former HSMTMTS character, Nini Salazar-Roberts, used to wear.
Dressed in a striped sweater with her hair slicked back in a bun, Olivia races after a woman who dropped her sunglasses, all while listening to her own music on her purple LinkBuds. Finally, she reaches the woman, who ends up also being Olivia — but dressed in her long-haired, pop star attire.
Fans flocked to the comments, pointing out that it seems like the clip has the singer-songwriter paying homage to her former Disney character.
One commenter wrote: “omgggg nini met olivia !!!” while another posted on X, “close enough welcome back nini salazar-roberts.”
ICYMI, the “obsessed” singer played Nini in the Disney+ series for three seasons. She said goodbye to her character during season 3 in order to focus on her music career, just before the fourth and final season premiered in 2023.
During an interview with Variety, HSMTMTS showrunner Tim Federle revealed why Olivia’s character didn’t make it into the finale.
“I felt really confident about that ending and Olivia is so busy with her songwriting career,” he told the outlet. “At this point, we are introducing so many new people, the OG characters and we wanted to bring back other really important characters. I kind of felt like, with only eight episodes, it just becomes cameos as opposed to real stories. The offer was extended to her insomuch as Olivia knowing from me that she can always come back. But it was never really seriously discussed because there were new relationships we had to write for.”
Prior to HSMTMTS, Olivia starred in a handful of other acting projects, such as the American Girl Doll movie Grace Stirs Up Success, a guest appearance on New Girl and the Disney Channel show, Bizaardvark.
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