‘Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies’ Stars Introduce Their Rydell

You might end up hopelessly devoted to this Grease prequel, an origin story for the 1978 classic film’s scene-stealing Pink Ladies girl gang.

Set in 1954 at good old Rydell High School, Paramount+’s candy-colored musical series features four very different girls who unite after getting fed up with gossip and exclusion. And lucky for us, TV Insider was able to catch up with the cast of Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies in our suite at the Television Critics Association Winter Press Tour to hear more about what’s in store for the season.

The gang mastermind is brainy, well-behaved Jane Facciano (Marisa Davila) whose tipping point is when her jock ex-boyfriend lies about how far they went in the backseat of his car. Jane’s not about to let that slide. “She’s very optimistic, ambitious, and an idealist — which honestly wasn’t very welcome in the ’50s,” Davila tells us.

Also being judged for what she’s rumored to have done behind closed doors is Olivia Valdovino (Cheyenne Isabel Wells), but instead of shying away from the whisperings of her affair with a teacher, she leans into it and swaggers around the school. “She’s the tough cool girl but she uses that as a wall to cover up her vulnerability,” Valdonivo reveals.

Olivia’s brother leads the T-Birds, the “boys only” greaser gang that another Pink-Lady-in-the-making, Cynthia Zdunowski (Ari Notartomaso), wants to join. The actress tells us she was happy to see a queer character depicted in an era when teens barely had words in their vocabulary to describe their sexuality: “Being able to go back in time and have this representation that I didn’t have as a young person and that Cynthia would not have had in the 1950s I think is a really wonderful full-circle moment that I’m really proud of.”

We also learn the origin of those iconic pink satin jackets: They’re the brainchild of Rydell High aspiring fashion designer Nancy Nakagawa (Tricia Fukuhara) who early in the series is ditched by her besties after they get boyfriends. “She’s super independent but then she realizes it could be better with friends. She turns to the Pinks, and they accept her for who she is,” Fukuhara says.

Watch the full video above to hear more from the cast on their characters, where the story is headed, and their favorite musical numbers.

Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies, Series Premiere, Thursday, April 6, Paramount+

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