When he arrived on the set of High School Musical: The Musical: The Series to film the shows second season last year, Joshua Bassett felt determined to send laughter, joy and relief to viewers grappling with pandemic fatigue.

Its safe to say he and his cast mates have delivered. For Season 2, High School Musical: The Musical: The Series has upped the ante both visually and dramatically. The Disney+ series which puts a mockumentary twist on 2006s High School Musical , which starred Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens follows a group of young thespians at Utahs fictional East High School.

This time around, the teen troupe is at work on a production of Disneys Beauty and the Beast , though that tale as old as time cant compare to the behind-the-scenes drama taking place on the show. Offstage romances abound, most notably between skateboarder-turned-leading man Ricky Bowen (played by Bassett) and theater devotee Nini Salazar-Roberts (Olivia Rodrigo ).

In Season 1, Ricky did a lot of running away from his problems, and I think in Season 2, hes really trying to face his fears, Bassett, 20, told HuffPost. Even though hes trying his best, he falls on his face, but really does have the best intentions. Hes still a teenage boy whos figuring this whole high school thing out.