Trending Now: Joshua Bassett Opens Up About Overcoming Self-Doubt, Returning To The Stage, And Writing His Most Vulnerable Project Yet – Fans React

Between making his Off-Broadway debut in the iconic Little Shop of Horrors and announcing his upcoming memoir, Rookie, Joshua Bassett has kicked off 2026 at full speed.

We meet at the Westside Theatre an hour before the show starts, on a bitterly cold Thursday. As I warm up in the lobby, fans drift in and out of the box office — one excitedly scoring a front-row ticket to next week’s performance. A few minutes later, I head into the theater and spot Joshua sipping tea in the front row near the stage. He greets me with his natural charisma and, for a split second, I have to remember my name (cue SpongeBob SquarePants: “We threw out his name!”).

Settling onto the edge of the stage, we begin our conversation about returning to his theater roots, reflecting on his debut album, and writing his most vulnerable piece of work to date.Note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

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BuzzFeed: Congratulations on making your NYC stage debut in Little Shop of Horrors! How does it feel to be returning to your theater roots?Joshua: Thank you! It’s interesting because when I started this run, there were times I would forget my lines during rehearsals, and I’d start to freak out. Everyone would be like, “It’s fine, it’s fine,” but I’m used to the theater I did growing up. I had some pretty strict teachers who would always tell me, “In the professional world, you’re gonna get yelled at and screamed at.” So I had a little bit of anxiety coming back to theater, but it’s been a wonderful experience.Everyone in the cast is so kind, and supportive, and patient, and wonderful. I think something special in the theater community is this strong family vibe. Everyone looks out for each other. We’re all in tight corners; we all share a dressing room here. There are no egos — it’s all one big melting pot, and it’s a beautiful family.It’s been awesome. The crowds have been amazing, and it’s been fun to tweak my performance every night. But it was an adjustment. It’s definitely a muscle I haven’t exercised in 10 years.

Little Shop is SUCH an iconic story. What is it about Seymour that drew you to the part?I got an offer for the show, and I’d actually never seen it, but it’s one of my oldest sister’s favorite shows ever. All I knew was “Suddenly Seymour,” because every person who’s ever done theater knows that song (laughs).So I saw it, and I was drawn to the emotional range of Seymour. It’s a really fun role. You get to be a little bit bizarre and awkward and weird and quirky, and then you slowly start to unravel into this chaos. You get to watch a guy who has pretty decent intentions slowly start to blur the line between what’s acceptable and what’s not.Seeing that emotional roller coaster, I was thinking, “Oh, that’d be a really fun journey to go on. It’s almost like a Walter White-type character.”

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Little Shop has so many great scenes, but is there a moment from the show you look forward to every night?I won’t spoil anything for people who haven’t seen the show yet, but there’s a scene where an altercation happens. It’s a really fun moment to lean into as an actor.I also always look forward to “Suddenly Seymour,” just because I get a front-row seat to Joy Woods. She’s incredible. I get to sit there in amazement and watch her do her thing.Joy Woods is so talented! Do you have a favorite memory of working with her during rehearsals?We actually didn’t have a ton of rehearsals together. She had done the show before and was very busy up to the first performance. I was very nervous during the rehearsal sessions. I was like a shell of myself; I felt out of my element, and I was just freaked out.Joy came in with this confidence. She was having fun and lightened the mood. She helped me realize that there was a balance — I was taking it way too seriously, and I needed to loosen up a little and enjoy the process.At the end of the day, it’s supposed to be fun and enjoyable, you know? She definitely brought that out of me, like, “Just relax, it’s gonna be fine. Go figure out the lines. Have fun with it, enjoy it.” That was really cool. She was very good about helping me be reintroduced to the theater world.

Pivoting a bit, I want to chat a little about your debut album, The Golden Years. It’s one of my favorite albums, and now that it’s been a year and a half—

Wait, it’s really been a year and a half?Isn’t it wild? July 2024! Looking back at your debut album, what is something you are especially proud of?I love the song “Mirror.” It’s a very nuanced feeling, of growing up and not recognizing who you see in the mirror.Also, when people get tattoos of lyrics like “Look how far you’ve come” — that’s always special. I also really love the song “Biting My Tongue.” That’s a favorite of mine.Anytime a lyric resonates and gives someone a new perspective, or hope, or comfort, it’s something I treasure.

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I really like how you reference other song titles in your lyrics. Like in “Biting My Tongue” with “I’m begging you to set me free.”And “Cherry Tree” in “The Golden Years” is another! [“Dance with me under the cherry tree…”]

I love those little Easter eggs! In 2025, you also released a beautiful song, “Blue.” Can you tell me more about the inspiration behind the song?I had gone on a date or two a while ago, and I was talking to my friend about it. I was saying, “You just don’t expect it.” Like, I wasn’t expecting this to happen. Those are the best crushes, the ones you don’t see coming.I just picked up a guitar, did a voice memo, and wrote most of the lyrics without even thinking about it. I forgot about it for months, and then I was flying to Nashville, and I was like, “Oh, man, I have a session tomorrow. I should probably have something to come in with.” I went through my voice memos and found that one, and I was thinking, “There’s something special there.”The producer, Nate Miles, and I had one of the most magical days in the studio. It all poured out in one day, and what you hear is the day-one demo. Nate’s incredible. He’s very instinctive. I think I tweaked some stuff in the bridge, but it’s more or less the day-one demo. We just mastered it and sent it off.

Is there anything you can tell us about potential new music?You know, I’m always working on music. I feel like I’ve struck gold in terms of my evolution and my sound — so right now, we’re trying to figure out the next steps. But currently, my main focus is definitely on my book.You’ve described Rookie as your “most vulnerable and terrifying piece of work” to date. Where did the inspiration to write it come from?So I was “no schooled.” I was homeschooled, I say in quotation marks, but really, I was “no schooled.” I spent my childhood just being creative. When I was 14, I taught myself how to play guitar when I got grounded. I also taught myself piano and ukulele, and just started writing. The first song I ever wrote was actually to ask a girl to homecoming.I started going up to LA when I was 16. I lived in my car and started going to Hollywood events that I wasn’t invited to, but pretended that I belonged there. I realized that even the people invited feel a bit like frauds, and everyone’s kind of faking it.Eventually I got cast in High School Musical [The Musical: The Series], and there was a day before we shot the finale in Season 1. I was having a mental breakdown and Tim Federle, the showrunner, pulled me aside and asked, “What’s going on?” I was like, “I’m a fraud. I don’t know what the fuck I’m doing. You guys hired me, and I’m supposed to deliver, and I don’t think I can do it.”He told me, “Every day I show up on set, I’m worried people will find out that I have no idea what the hell I’m doing.” It made me realize, if he feels like that, then I’m fine, you know what I’m saying?

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I think I’m starting to put together why you picked the title, Rookie.The title came from this idea that I don’t really know what I’m doing. I’ve kind of gone with the ‘fake until you make it’ approach, and it’s gotten me many places. But ultimately, I say in the book, “Follow your dreams, but at the end of the day, who are you when you wake up?”You can follow your dreams, you can do all these amazing things, but there’s so much more to life than just succeeding. The first half of the book is primarily like, “Go for it! Try it. Believe you can, and you will.” The second half of the book is more about the deeper things in life and how all the success in the world can never fulfill you on the inside.I’m so excited to read it! What do you hope people take away from Rookie?That’s a great question. My friend’s dad read an early draft of the book, and he quit his job as a lawyer that day. He changed careers because he realized that he wasn’t really living out his dream. So I want people to have the courage to live their dream, and to know they are not alone — I hope that it gives hope.I wanted to end on a kind of nostalgic note. It was just the 20th anniversary of High School Musical, and I’d love to know — what was your favorite song from the films to sing?By a landslide it was, “Can I Have This Dance?” I think that’s my favorite song from the whole series, and it was great to sing it with Sofia Wylie. It was a special one, and it was a special day of filming as well.

Thank you, Joshua, for such a great chat! You can pre-order Rookie here, available on May 5.Catch Joshua in Little Shop at the Westside Theatre until March 1, and then Jordan Fisher will be joining as the new Seymour.

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