‘HSMTMTS’ Star Frankie A. Rodriguez On Carlos’ Chaotic ‘Real Housewives’ Twist & More

Corbin Bleu wanted the drama… Carlos gave him drama. HL spoke EXCLUSIVELY with Frankie A. Rodriguez about Carlos putting a ‘Real Housewives’ spin on Shallow Lake, recreating “Fabulous,” and more.

The future of the Frozen production and Disney+ documentary at Shallow Lake was in jeopardy, and Carlos had to come in for the save. During the August 24 episode of High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, Carlos enacted his plan for The Real Campers of Shallow Lake to help kick the drama up a notch.

Carlos took the role of the “Instigator” and plenty of drama was exposed along the way. HollywoodLife asked Frankie A. Rodriguez if Carlos was fully aware of what he was stirring up, especially with E.J. and Ricky. “I don’t think so. I think he had a mission, which was to bring more drama to the show,” Frankie told HollywoodLife. “I think he was pulling from his inspiration and all the hours watching The Real Housewives, so I think that was the goal. I mean, he gets it at the end that he messed up.”

While practicing their fake slaps, things get heated between Ricky and E.J. to the point where Ricky slaps E.J. for real. “I’d never read a script faster,” Frankie admitted. “I was like, this is incredible, but I was gasping just like you were. I love the double meaning of the storyline that’s actually happening, and then the pretend storyline of this Real Housewives thing.”

Ironically, Carlos had Ricky play the “Jilted Ex” who still had feelings for Gina. During Ricky and Gina’s rehearsal of “What Do You Know About Love?” from Frozen, Carlos and Kourtney exchanged a look that said there’s definitely more going on here with Ricky, Gina, and E.J.

“Obviously, that happens again when you’re in high school and doing shows. It’s always the love interests that fall in love, you know what I mean? I think everybody clocks in at a different point in the rehearsal process, so for those two, I think it was definitely that moment,” Frankie said.

At the end of the episode, Ricky admitted to Carlos that he wasn’t really pretending to crush on Gina. Carlos told Ricky that he had a feeling that was the case. Unfortunately, Ricky’s little confession was caught on tape by Channing.

The drama at Shallow Lake has never been higher. Has Carlos opened a can of worms he can’t shut? “You know, I think that all things are solved at the reunion, right? So you kind of build up and hope that it’s all going to work out for the best and that everybody will in the end be friends again. But of course, we got to amp up the drama,” Frankie pointed out.

Opening night of Frozen is around the corner. Frankie teased that “there are surprise appearances, there are surprise performances, there are surprise costumes. Of course, it can’t all go right. There has to be some drama somewhere, so I think people can expect a lot of surprises.”

Carlos’ love Seb, who was needed on the farm in the summer, will be visiting his friends at Shallow Lake. Frankie revealed that the Carlos and Seb reunion is “going to be a fun one. We get to do some fun stuff.”

In the fourth episode, Frankie had the honor of recreating Sharpay’s “Fabulous” from High School Musical 2. Frankie told HollywoodLife that leading the musical number was a “dream come true” for him after “manifesting” the moment for the last 15 years. “When Tim [Federle] told me I was going to get to do ‘Fabulous,’ I kept thinking he was joking until I actually saw it in the scripts, and I was like, ‘Oh, he wasn’t joking.’ It was so much fun and to get to sing that song with Dara [Renee] and be just frolicking in the pool was definitely a day I’ll remember.” New episodes of HSMTMTS drop Wednesdays on Disney+.