Jason Schmidt Talks Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies, Exploring His Character’s Layers, and New Music

Jason Schmidt is one of the breakout stars of 2023! A natural-born performer, Jason is electrifying audiences with his grounded and nuanced performance as Buddy in Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies.

The musical comedy takes place four years before the original Grease, before rock ‘n’ roll ruled and before the T-Birds were the coolest in the school. Four fed-up outcasts dare to have fun on their own terms, sparking a moral panic that will change Rydell High forever.

Jason shines as Buddy, the golden boy of the school whose journey in the series is about discovering who he really is.

Pop Culturalist was lucky enough to speak with this rising triple threat about Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies, exploring the many layers of his character, and the new music that he’s working on.

PC: You discovered your passion for storytelling on the stage. At what point did you realize that you wanted to pursue it professionally?
Jason: I was a freshman in high school. I thought I was going to quit before the show. I did Les Mis at the community theater near me. Going into high school, I decided that I wanted to focus on basketball, school, and stuff like that. I thought I might play for a D3 or D2 school. I did this show because my mom essentially forced me to. She was like, “No, no. Just one more time. It’s a great show. I promise you’ll enjoy it.” I was like, “Okay. Fine. You’re my mom. I don’t really have a choice.” I did it, and then I met my future mentor/audition coach who is now one of my best friends, and a whole bunch of kids my age who ended up going into this profession.

I really got to see the impact that the arts can have. Les Mis is a very emotional show, even with a bunch of high schoolers doing it. We had people leaving the theater crying and coming up to us and telling us what seeing the show meant to them. I always wanted to make a difference somehow. Seeing that, it felt very clear that this was something I could do to make a difference, if done right.

From there, I went to my mom and told her that I wanted to do this for the rest of my life. She was like, “Well, I also don’t know about that.” [laughs] She was an accountant, but she hopped on board a few years later. She was really on board when she was on board.

PC: Who or what has had the biggest influence on your career?
Jason: It’s my family and friends around me. Also, my mentor, Matt Seiler, in high school was huge. He set me off on the right path. We had a lot of talks about what being an artist looks like. It got me set on the path of wanting to do stuff that meant something, and I’ve been very grateful to be a part of projects that do really mean something.

Even something like Grease is super fun and upbeat and has these beautiful themes throughout. Buddy’s journey has so many beautiful themes throughout. I think a lot of people could learn a lot from the character as well as I have. My younger self would have learned so much from Buddy.

But yeah, the people around me that are really close to me in my life continue to be my biggest influences.

PC: Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies hits Paramount+ on April 6th. This is your biggest TV role to date. How did you initially come across this script? What was it about Buddy that resonated with you?
Jason: It was sent to me by my agents. I was still in college about a year and a half ago. I was taking classes when I got the audition. What resonated with me about Buddy is he makes the bold choice, the tough decision to be honest about where he’s fallen short, and he’s brave enough to try to move forward and be better than that. That was something that I struggled with in my younger years and still struggle with today.

That bravery impressed me, especially with a character that so easily could fall into the tropes of the time or the type of character he is in these types of shows. The care that the writing and creative teams took with this character was so cool. They really care about this character and made him this fleshed-out human being that has this beautiful arc throughout the first season. Arcs are such a special thing, and not everyone gets something as big as Buddy’s arc, so I’m grateful for that.

PC: In addition to the incredible work that you’ve done on the stage and screen, you’re also a singer-songwriter. How much does music play a role when you’re preparing for a new project? If you could one of your own songs that best describe Buddy’s arc in Season 1, which would it be and why?
Jason: Wow, that’s a great question. Music plays such a huge role. As an actor, I have a whole playlist on Spotify that I listen to as I’m getting ready for the day. It brings tone and feelings so easily. The way I organize my music in my normal life is I have “spring 2022”—those are the songs that I was listening to during that time period. Every song that caught me, I put on that playlist. If I go back to one that really hits me, it’s “fall 2020”. I was in college, and it was a very specific few months of my life. When I go back and listen to that playlist, it transports me there. Having that playlist helped prepare me for Buddy because he goes through the same thing.

Then, a song for Buddy, I have one of my most recent EPs called “Intrusive Thoughts”. That would be Buddy’s first season arc. It’s about having hurt somebody and what happens after. It’s having all these intrusive thoughts running through your brain about what you could have done better, how you messed up, and how maybe you’re a bad person. I think Buddy could have written that song based on his experiences.

PC: The series is set in the 1950s, which is known for its iconic fashion. You shared a beautiful post on social media about how much this experience has meant to you. What was it like getting to put on that Letterman jacket for the first time? How helpful were the wardrobe and costumes as you stepped into this era?
Jason: It was the final step in the character. You put on these costumes. You feel how the high-waisted pants made them feel and the tighter shirts and some of the patterns that were maybe itchier, things like that, that they wore because that’s what they did back then.

The Letterman jacket was so special. It’s the same Letterman that they wore in the Grease movie. There’s a sweater that John Travolta wore. We have a sweater that’s similar. It was so cool. It put into perspective what a legacy we’re a part of.

PC: You’ve brought so much nuance to Buddy’s journey in Season 1 as he struggles with the pressures from his father, the impact he and his words have on the rest of the school, and finding his place outside of sports. As an actor, how did you create this space for yourself to dive into his vulnerabilities?
Jason: I feel super grateful. The writing did so much of it for me. If the writing is good, it’s really not hard to dive into that nuance. There was this beautiful arc laid out for me already. From there, it was all about staying open and allowing myself to be taken by the journey to respect Buddy as this full person and give him this emotional depth and see that he really cares about everything.

PC: You’re such a standout on this show. Is there a particular episode or scene that you’re excited for audiences to see?
Jason: There are a few. There are some beautiful scenes in this show. I’m most excited for episode seven; it follows Buddy in the T-Birds path throughout that time period. I have a song in that episode and some big, big emotional scenes. I’m excited for the world to see that.

PC: You’re having a banner year with Grease, The Outsiders: A New Musical, and the release of your new EP, Intrusive Thoughts. What inspired this four-song collection?
Jason: I’ve been writing music for about two years. For me, it’s a lot of wanting to get it out there. I’m currently working on an album. I have 20 to 25 songs that I’ve written, some by myself and some with my dad who writes music with me.

I wanted to put out a four-song release, and it ended up being called Intrusive Thoughts. I felt like every song encapsulated this intrusive thought that I had at that period of time. It’s what I couldn’t say to those people in those moments.

PC: If you had to choose one song that best encompasses who you are as an artist across the two EPs that you’ve released, which would it be and why?
Jason: That’s awesome. There are three that come to mind. There’s “Hey Hailey” and “Sunday Morning Love” from the Intrusive Thoughts release and “Little Blue World” from the Meet Me at Midnight release. “Hey Hailey” has the spunk and the energy that I want to continue to bring to my music going forward in the future. With “Sunday Morning Love”, I found the pocket where my voice can sit really well in a song. I wrote that with my roommate from college who’s the one who inspired me to start writing music in the first place. We got there freshman year and he was about to release his first album. I was blown away that, at such a young age, he was able to write and release his own music, even though he didn’t have a lot of listeners at the time. It was about the writing for him.

He inspired me to continue to write and to start writing. I released music even though there was nobody listening to it and all that stuff. There’s something special about the writing. I’ll write forever even if no one listens to it or if I release it. I’ll be writing for the rest of my life because it’s something that I love. It’s therapeutic for me. He started me out on that path, and I’m so grateful for that.

Then, “Little Blue World” was a special song for me. It brought me peace at the time that I wrote it. It was the first song that really felt therapeutic to me, that I was like, “This is me releasing something that I’ve kept inside me for so long, and I’m able to release it by writing this song.” That one is super special, too.

PC: Is there anything you can tease about the album, what it may sound like, or the message that you’re hoping to get across?
Jason: Absolutely. It’s going to be a lot along the lines of “Hey Hailey” and “Sunday Morning Love”. Those are two different styles, but I think there’ll be both of those styles in the album. Overall, it’s just a culmination of the first three years of my songwriting. It’s going to be the best picks from all of those years. It’s going to be special for me because I’ve been building towards it, and I’ve been wanting to release an album for a while. It’ll be fun. It’ll be emotional and heart-wrenching. It’ll be vulnerable, and there’ll be songs that will be hard to release, but when I release them, I’ll be grateful that I did.

PC: You’re such a dynamic storyteller. Is there a dream role that you’ve love to bring to life on the screen?
Jason: I would love to play Jack Kelly from Newsies. That’s the role that I wanted to do in high school. I feel like I owe it to my high school self to do it at some point. Then, I would love to be in the Marvel Universe. I’m such a big fan. That’s a dream. Cyclops from X-Men.

PC: You’re also an advocate for mental health. Have you always known that you wanted to use your platform to bring awareness to this cause?
Jason: That came pretty early in my life. I had a best friend growing up who struggled with a lot of mental health issues, and so that became a very big thing for me. Watching him go through that and watching the help he wasn’t able to receive in his high school journey, the way his peers treated him because they didn’t understand what he might have been going through, it became important to me to make sure that everyone is seen and feels heard and has the help that they need to receive.

To keep up with Jason, follow him on Instagram. Watch Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies on Paramount+.

Photo Credit: JSquared