DISNEY star and singer Olivia Rodrigo has opened up about being a role model for young Filipina American girls.
In an interview with Bowen Yang for V magazine, the 18-year-old star of “The High School Musical: The Musical: The Series” shared her experience as a Fil-Am pop star.
“I sometimes get DMs from little girls being like, ‘I’ve never seen someone who looked like me in your position.’ And I’m literally going to cry. Like just thinking about it,” said Rodrigo.
“I feel like I grew up never seeing that. Also it was always like, ‘Pop star,’ that’s a white girl,” she added.
Rodrigo also talked about the pressure that young women face in the pop music scene.
“It’s like this thing where you’re only successful if you’re under 30. I’ve always resented that because I think I’m just going to get better with age,” she said.
“I’m just going to become a better songwriter and know what I want to say more…I think that’s actually a really fun, exciting part of being in the space that I’m really encouraged to sort of have different eras and reinvent yourself,” the singer-songwriter added.
Nonetheless, Rodrigo said she’s “really excited” about many things, including touring and writing more music.
“I’m most excited to tour. Like we were talking about before, I’m really excited to create that experience for people. And I’m really excited to write more music and suddenly I can work with anyone I want to work with now, which is so crazy and gonna be a really fun thing to explore,” she shared.
She added, “Honestly, I literally just turned 18, so there are so many normal teenage things that I’m really excited to do. There’s so much in life that I have to learn and so many experiences to be had. So I’m honestly most excited for that. I love growing up. I feel like I get happier with age, so hopefully, that’s a trend that continues.”
Rodrigo was born to an American mother of Irish and German descent, and a Fil-Am father.
In the past, she talked about the Fil-Am side of her family.
“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,” she said in an interview with the Center for Asian American Media (CAAM).
Rodrigo also revealed that she wants to go to the Philippines one day.
“I have never been to the Philippines, but I really, really want to. We still have extended family there, but I’ve never met them. That’s on my bucket list, definitely,” she said.
