'HSMTMTS' Cast Reflect on Show's Legacy Ahead of Final Season: 'Best Times of My Life' (Exclusive)

Ahead of the final season, the cast exclusively tells PEOPLE about their bonds with each other

Sitting in the middle of Miss Jenn’s drama club room on the High School Musical: The Musical: The Series set last year, the walls were vibrating with the sound of “Now or Never” from High School Musical 3: Senior Year.

As the cast sang about giving their all one last time before the clock ran out, the song signaled what's to come as months later, Disney+ confirmed the hit series is coming to an end with season 4.

Like the third High School Musical film the East High students are putting on, this season marks the end of an era.

Related: 'HSMTMTS' First Look: Cast Tease 'Full-Circle' Season 4 with OG Wildcats (Exclusive)

“In the streaming era, there's something real about the phrase ‘It's now or never,’” creator Tim Federle told PEOPLE during a set visit in December. “You never know if you're going to get another season. And so to have been lucky enough to have helped launch Disney+ alongside The Mandalorian and still be on the air after four seasons is a blessing alone.”

Not only did the show help launch Disney’s new streaming platform when it premiered in November 2019, but it quickly launched its cast into superstardom.

For Federle, there was never a doubt in his mind they would achieve anything other than that. “What I promised Disney was that if they let me hire real theater kids, they wouldn't let me down,” he said getting a little choked up. “I'm so proud of them because when the world beats them up, they still show up for me and for each other. Life is short, but when you make a TV show, hopefully, it lasts forever.”

Related: Corbin Bleu on His 'HSM' Family and Returning to East High for 'HSMTMTS' Season 4: 'I Started Crying'

Though the curtain is closing on the East High students, it’s clear the bond they forged over the past few years will stay intact.

“It's a uniquely musical theater experience that no matter how short or long the time is, you become a family,” Joshua Bassett (Ricky) said. “I'm going to know these people for the rest of my life and some of them will probably be in my wedding.”

Sofia Wylie (Gina) echoed that same sentiment, calling her costars “the best people I've ever met.”

"I have learned so much from everybody,” she added. “The joy that Dara [Reneé] brings every day, the professionalism that Julia [Lester] brings, the humor that Frankie [A. Rodriguez] has, the angel glow that Joe [Serafini] has, Saylor [Bell Curda] is my favorite human being. And of course, Josh [Bassett] brings such a wonderful leadership that I think really has affected the show in such a positive way every single day.”

Related: Sofia Wylie on How Her 'HSMTMTS' Character Inspired Her Own Style Transformation (Exclusive)

“It's really wonderful,” she continued. “I already feel nostalgic even though we haven't ended the show yet, because I know I will look back at this experience and always remember it to be one of the best times of my life.”

Julia Lester (Ashlyn) noted that the series has been “a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” not only because of the show’s unique structure but because of the cast’s incredible chemistry. “We've all been best friends since literally day one,” she said.

“I just feel like we're so lucky because we're all so different that we just work,” Dara Reneé (Kourtney) added. “This cast is just so powerful and so kind and so humble, and just everything that you would dream to work with. I just love how safe I feel about all these beautiful, kind people.”

As for what they hope the show’s legacy will be, the cast was in total agreement that they hope fans remember the importance of love and acceptance.

“I hope the show's legacy is what we have been saying over the last four years, which is 'born to be brave,'” Frankie A. Rodriguez (Carlos) said, referencing the season 1 song of the same name.

“Just putting yourself out there and just not really caring what other people think," he continued.
"Finding your community of people that are going to just love and support you and give you nothing but encouragement.”

Bassett added that being on the show has really “set the standard” for him and his costars as it marked many of their first starring roles. “Once you have an experience like this, you don't settle for anything else anywhere else,” he said.

“We're going to carry this with us in all of our careers. I hope it's not a unique environment. I hope we continue to bring that, but from what I've heard there, there's nothing quite like it.”

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Season 4 of HSMTMTS premieres Aug. 9 on Disney+.

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