Every Disney girl who enters the company as a promising teen star begins as an actress in a movie or series.
Little by little, depending on its popularity, the factory tries to add to its interpretive side a musical career that many continue years later.
Miley Cyrus, Selena Gomez and Demi Lovato are good examples of those girls who entered the record industry after appearing on the youth network of said company.
The same happens with the new generations, like Dove Cameron and Sofia Carson.
But the case of Olivia Rodrigo is especially striking: only two productions with Disney and a musical success that has become number one in lists around the world, which leads him to be a promise of international pop with just 18 years of age.
Rodrigo has not stopped breaking records since he published the
Drivers License
issue
in early January.
More than 125 million views on YouTube, the song most listened to on platforms such as Spotify and iTunes and one of the most used sounds on TikTok, a social network where it accumulates 5.2 million followers.
Such is her popularity today that she has even been invited to the television space presented by Jimmy Fallon.
“I grew up watching Jimmy Fallon every night with my family.
It's an honor to make my
late night debut
on your show.
I still can't believe this is real! ”, She wrote excitedly on her Instagram account after performing an acoustic version of her single.
Rodrigo, with Filipino, German and Irish origins, has been preparing to be an artist since she was little.
He began taking acting and singing classes at the age of six, but he is clear that what he likes most in the world is composing music.
Without having yet learned to write, he was already playing around inventing songs.
He participated in various musical productions and talent shows during his school years and at the age of 13 he joined the Disney star pool thanks to a co-starring role on the series
Bizaardvark
.
In 2019 came her most important work so far: Nini, in
High School Musical: the musical: the series
, a set of episodes that narrate how some teenagers prepare a theatrical performance of the well-known Disney Channel movie at the same institute in the that the three feature films were shot.
In this production, which is expected to have a second season, she shares scenes with 20-year-old actor Joshua Bassett, with whom fans eagerly related her to repeat an idyll like that of Vanessa Hudgens and Zac Efron.
Neither has confirmed or denied the romance, something that has further fueled the theories of his fans who now consider to be reading the chapter of the breakup in their songs.
See this post on Instagram
A shared post from HSM: The Musical: The Series (@highschoolmusicalseries)
Precisely
Drivers License
talks about heartbreak and there are verses with which the fans have tied the dots.
The topic begins by saying that Rodrigo has obtained a driver's license and adds:
"As we always talked / because you were excited for me
.
"
As she said a long time ago on her social networks, Bassett taught the singer how to drive in a parking lot of a chain of fast food restaurants.
The composer speaks in another verse about a blonde girl, older than her and now dating the boy she is addressing with this song.
And there the followers have quickly thought of Sabrina Carpenter, another Disney girl, four years older than Rodrigo and, of course, blonde.
Bassett and this actress have been a couple since at least June, when they were seen together in the racial protests in the United States for the murder of George Floyd.
A love triangle that has only fueled rumors with new songs that reveal responses between the three fans for fans, although they try to deny the gossip in various interviews.
Bassett recently commented: “It's funny to see these speculations of what people think it means.
I have tried to make it clear that it is not about anyone in particular.
But people think what they want ”.
For his part, Rodrigo, who admits that his music is about personal experiences, explained to
Billboard
magazine
: "I understand that people are curious about the details or who the song is, but for me that is what matters the least."
Hollywood, the star factory that engulfs its child prodigies
The artist insists that writing music is for her a tool that helps clarify her mind in difficult moments and that "there is nothing like sitting at the piano and composing a sad song."
Rodrigo talks openly about heartbreak as does his adored Taylor Swift, who has already publicly praised his work.
"Taylor Swift is the reason I write songs," has once commented the young star, who considers the winner of 10 Emmy Awards the best songwriter of her generation.
In fact, she's open to working with her: “I'd love to just be with Taylor in the studio.
We shouldn't even be writing.
I just want to see how she does it because I think she is an absolute genius, "he revealed during an interview on Zane Lowe's show for Apple Music.
See this post on Instagram
A post shared by Olivia Rodrigo (@oliviarodrigo)
Like Swift, Rodrigo also develops an altruistic side in his spare time.
She collaborates with Geena Davis at the institute directed by the
Thelma & Louise
actress
on gender equality in the media, has participated in a campaign to encourage girls to pursue a science career and enthusiastically supports the fight against climate change.
“Proud of my generation for defending our future today and every day.
Let's continue to protest against greed and ignorance as we make positive changes in our own lifestyle.
Our planet deserves it, ”he wrote in the wake of the 2019 global climate strike. And despite not being old enough to vote in the US elections last November, Rodrigo insisted to his followers during the campaign about the importance to exercise his right at the polls and even interviewed Maisy Biden, one of the granddaughters of the current president.