Not all Disney channel stars end up being as successful as Olivia Rodrigo. Only a handful of stars have started as Disney kids and then went on to achieve a remarkable career, and Olivia Rodrigo is one among them.
The singer-songwriter and actress started her career just over a decade ago in 2015. She has quickly become one of the biggest names in the music industry, captivating audiences worldwide with her emotional lyrics, powerhouse vocals, and deeply relatable storytelling.
While the Grammy-winning artist starred in the remarkably well-received High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, Rodrigo received record-breaking success with her debut album SOUR and then later GUTS. Thus, proving herself to be more than just a teenage pop sensation, there is a lot more about Olivia Rodrigo than what meets the eye. Beyond her chart-topping success and acting roles, the singer-actress has led a very interesting life and there are pretty fascinating details about her that might leave you surprised.
So whether you are a long-time fan or have only just discovered her, here we will take a deep dive into the less-known side of the All I Want hitmaker. These five facts might not only surprise you but might also leave you impressed with the talent that is Olivia Rodrigo.
5. Olivia Rodrigo started her ‘acting’ career via an Old Navy commercial
While the world would know her best as Nini Salazar-Roberts in Disney+’s High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, this Disney role wasn’t Olivia Rodrigo‘s first rodeo. In fact, the actress had been training for vocal and acting lessons since she was just a kid and landed her first ‘acting’ job in an Old Navy commercial way back in 2010.
Just 10 years old then, her role in the commercial wasn’t really an acting part but it did mark the first time Rodrigo would appear in front of the cameras (via Fresno Bee). The commercial is now available online on YouTube. After the short commercial, the singer made her acting debut in the film, An American Girl: Grace Stirs Up Success before eventually landing a part in Disney’s Bizaardvark in 2016.
After the success of the show and her winning hearts with her role as the guitarist Paige Olvera, the vampire hitmaker eventually landed her career’s best-known role as Nini Salazar-Roberts in High School Musical: The Musical: The Series.
4. Olivia Rodrigo was homeschooled until her graduation
Olivia Rodrigo seems to have been preparing for her big break since her early years. Having received singing and acting lessons since the time when her age was in a single digit, the actress and singer was homeschooled since she was cast in Disney Channel’s Bizaardvark until her graduation in the year 2021.
While juggling so many things would have been incredibly difficult, she once remarked about it during an interview with Glamour UK. When asked about how her ‘lockdown’ had been going, she stated:
You know what, I am a homeschool kid, so I’m so used to being in my house on my laptop, but with my parents. So I’ve kind of been preparing for this moment for a while and I feel very fortunate to be able to say that I’m in a really good place…. but I have been pretty productive. I am catching up on schoolwork, and I challenged myself before the quarantine started to write a song every day of the quarantine, and I haven’t missed a day yet. They’re not always great, but I think that’s a fun, creative challenge that I’ve been doing.
Moreover, she remarked that since she never had a normal high school experience, working on the High School Musical allowed her to get a similar ‘normal’ experience. In another interview with the Guardian, the Disney star expressed her apprehensions about not sounding relatable in her songs given her unconventional life. While she might feel that way, her fans certainly don’t.
3. Olivia Rodrigo is a skilled songwriter
While Olivia Rodrigo is certainly an incredibly talented singer, she is an equally accomplished songwriter who writes most of her songs. Listing singers like Taylor Swift and Lorde as her inspirations (via Rolling Stone), in her interview with the Guardian, she recalled Lorde’s Pure Heroine got her to be serious about her songwriting and singing career at the age of 12.
I remember feeling so seen: she’s taking this normal experience that we all go through and turning it into something really beautiful and artful. I always wanted to write a record like that, but never felt like I had that normal life experience.
Rodrigo also used her songwriting skills while starring as Nini Salazar-Roberts in High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, by writing several original songs for the show including the hit All I Want. Later, in an interview with PEOPLE, the singer recalled how fun and creative the process was writing songs from someone else’s perspective.
2. Olivia Rodrigo is Filipina-American
What many fans don’t know about the grudge hitmaker is that she is Filipina-American. Although born in the United States and having grown up in California, her father is Filipino-American while her mother has Irish and German Heritage.
Having grown up surrounded by Filipino traditions and food, she once revealed in an interview with the Center for Asian American Media about her Filipino heritage.
My great-grandfather immigrated here from the Philippines when he was just a teenager. He’s my grandma’s dad, and my grandpa is also Filipino as well. My dad grew up in a house where they were always making Filipino food, his grandpa always spoke Tagalog. All of those traditions have trickled down to our generation. Every Thanksgiving we have lumpia, and things like that.
During the same interview, she expressed her wish to visit the country and finally got her wish in October 2024 when she finally got to visit the Philippines as part of her Guts World Tour. In an interview with Billboard and in an Instagram post following the tour, the singer-songwriter expressed her gratitude for the opportunity and thanked all her fans for making her dream come true.
1. Olivia Rodrigo has synesthesia and hearing loss in left ear
Olivia Rodrigo is a Grammy-winning musician, a one-of-a-kind talent given her young age. Also known for her piano skills, many do not know that she is hearing loss in her left ear. During an appearance on The Hollywood Reporter’s Awards Chatter podcast, she recalled that she never knew of her disability until kindergarten while they were conducting normal tests on all the kids.
Moreoever, she suffers from synesthesia, a rare neurological condition that triggers the brain to think of a color or shape when stimulated by a sense, Rodrigo has minor, baby synesthesia which makes her see colors upon hearing songs.
So when I listen to songs I’ll like, see colors. Many songs on SOUR are purple, like ‘driver’s license’ is purple. But ‘good 4 u’ is like a purpley-blue, ‘jealousy, jealousy’ is like bright red. ‘déjà vu’ is like orange and pink and light purple. It’s like, lighter and more pastel-y.
Revealed Rodrigo in a video with Vogue. While her hearing loss might have posed a challenge, it never seems to have held her back. Instead, her unique perception of music due to her condition of synesthesia has helped her create some of the most memorable songs of this generation. It is clear that despite all the roadblocks, nothing seems to hold Olivia Rodrigo back and we can’t wait to see how she continues to evolve as an artist.
Olivia Rodrigo’s songs are available to be streamed on platforms like Spotify.
This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire
