Exclusive: Ashley Tisdale Gives Us the 411 on Freeform’s ‘Young & Hungry’ Spinoff

Ahead of her highly anticipated return as Logan Rawlings on Wednesday’s new ‘Young & Hungry’, Ashley Tisdale dished the dirt on Freeform’s ‘Young & Hungry’ spinoff plans and how “Young & Sofia” plans to introduce viewers to the world of Clikd Media!

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This Wednesday on Young & Hungry, Sofia (Aimee Carrero) will begin a new journey after discovering her passion for the world of journalism. However, Sofia isn’t the only one about to embark on a new journey! Episode 8 of Young & Hungry‘s fourth season, “Young & Sofia,” has been designed to serve as a backdoor pilot for a Young & Hungry spin-off starring Carrero and long-time guest star Ashley Tisdale – who reprises her role as media entrepreneur Logan Rawlings.

In the episode, Sofia decides to pursue her new passion for journalism by trying to land a job at Logan’s new stomping grounds, Clikd Media. The two get off to a rough start, but Logan agrees to give Sofia the chance to prove her worth by helping her get an exclusive interview with a hot new artist.

While Sofia initially feels a bit defeated by the daunting task, her new coworkers Leo (guest star Ryan Pinkston) and Kendrick (guest star Steve Talley) soon help her realize that she can’t give up on her dreams so quickly. As a result, Sofia decides to rise to the challenge in order to prove to Logan, and herself, that she can make it the world of journalism!

Ahead of Young & Hungry‘s very special episode, Hidden Remote caught up with Tisdale to chat about her return to the scene as media entrepreneur Logan Rawlings, the pressures of working on the backdoor pilot for Young & Hungry‘s spinoff, and what’s to come for Logan and Sofia! Plus: Find out what major change is being made to Logan’s look due to her role in the spinoff!

Wednesday’s episode is designed to serve as a backdoor pilot for a Young and Hungry spinoff, which you are currently attached to star in. What can you tell us about the proposed spinoff and how this week’s episode will be used to introduce viewers to the potential new series? 

Tisdale: This week’s episode takes place at Clikd Media which is Logan’s company. The last time we saw her, Logan used to work for the San Francisco Tribute and now she is running Clikd Media which is essentially kind of like a Buzzfeed. So it’s more like a workplace comedy and we establish new characters [played by] Steve Talley and Ryan Pinkston.

As for the dynamics established between the characters, Logan is looking for a new assistant and Sofia is hoping to be that new assistant – and obviously working for Logan is really hard. So we get to explore that kind whole dynamic.

You worked with Ryan before on Clipped, so what was it like working with him again on Young & Hungry and, now, potentially this new spinoff? 

Tisdale: [It’s been] so much fun! I’m a huge fan of Ryan and we had such a great time on Clipped. To be able to bring a piece of that into this new series was really awesome. I think that’s the best part of being a producer, finding roles for your friends to play (Laughs).

At first you’re just so nervous because you know how great Ryan is as an actor, but you’re just hoping that everyone else is on the same page for the character. Luckily, when Ryan came in for the audition, everyone was like “This is he guy, this is Leo.” It was just so much fun and I love working with him. We’ve known each other since he was like 14 or 15, so it’s just really awesome to work with friends that you’ve known forever.

YOUNG & HUNGRY – “Young & Sofia” – Sofia makes her entry into the world of journalism, working for the formidable Logan Rawlings on a special episode of “Young & Hungry,” airing on WEDNESDAY, JULY 20 (8:00-8:30 p.m. EDT), on Freeform. (Freeform/Eric McCandless)

AIMEE CARRERO, ASHLEY TISDALE

Are there any former co-stars or friends that you’d love to work with on the series should Freeform pick it up? 

Tisdale: I haven’t even thought about that yet. I think that, first off, we wanted to see what we were going to do with this [episode]. If it goes to series, maybe then I will start thinking about it.

How important was it for you as an executive producer and actress to make sure that this episode hit the mark and caught viewers’ attentions within the constraints of the episode? 

Tisdale: As an executive producer, this was my first time starring in and producing a TV series so this was a definitely a challenge for me specifically but was something I was really excited to do.

I think, as a producer, I really wanted to make sure that, if we were going to do something that branches off as a spin-off, it was something very separate and different from Young & Hungry. David Holden, the creator of Young & Hungry, is such a talented and amazing writer and he was really able to create this world where fans who love Sofia get to journey through life with her and her first job.

Also, I feel like my fans, who were around 10 when [the first High School Musical came out and are now in their 20s], are going through their first jobs and really trying to find their feet too and that’s exactly the kind of journey that Sofia is going on.

(Freeform/Eric McCandless)

Today, we see so many spinoff series crossing over with the original series on a regular basis – such as on NBC’s Chicago franchise or The CW’s superhero dramas. Do you see this potential spinoff as a series that could incorporate crossovers regularly or would you describe it as more of a standalone series? 

Tisdale: I think it’s more of a standalone. I feel like [characters from Young & Hungry] might pop up now and them, but we really want to establish two different worlds.

Switching gears back to “Young & Sofia,” what can you tell us about Logan’s return in this week’s episode and how Sofia happens to stumble upon this opportunity to work for Logan?

Tisdale: I think Sofia really has a liking to become a journalist so she meets with Logan because of Clikd Media and what they’re doing over there. She goes in to meet with her, obviously she knows her from Gabi, and it kind of takes place from there. I don’t want to give too much away, but for Sofia’s first job it’s a dream job to work for Logan – even though Logan is so hard to work for.

For you, what was it like bringing Logan back into the fold and stepping back into role because, as you mentioned, it has been quite some time that we’ve seen her on Young & Hungry? 

Tisdale: It was so much fun! I think that each time we see Logan we get to know her even more and I think this time around I [began] really thinking bigger picture wise. I really wanted to establish certain things with her from the set design of the office, to the wardrobe and unfortunately we had to cut [a lot of the tattoos she originally had on her arms].

She used to have tons of tattoos on her arms and when we thought of her as a guest star, with me just popping in every once in a while, it was definitely easy to do that. [As we started thinking about] her being there and doing an actual series, those were one of the things we had to re-examine because her tattoos last a long time and are very difficult to put on in hair and makeup. (Laughs) So we lost a little bit of that and we like to say that Logan got laser tattoo removal.

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I had such a blast and she’s so much fun. I feel like people can perceive her as being bitchy and I think that she’s just someone who is really honest and to the point; she just doesn’t have enough time. I’ve worked with people in the past that were really hard to work for, but I respected them so much for they work they’d done. There was just so much that I had personally witnessed or gone through that I was able to bring into Logan.

I think that she is someone really empowering for women, but she just doesn’t really know how to go about things a certain way. She’s very honest, which is a really good quality, it’s just that sometimes she doesn’t say the right thing.

Before we go, is there anything you’d like to add?

Tisdale: I’m just really excited for everyone to see the episode this Wednesday and I hope they all like it!

Don’t miss Ashley Tisdale’s return as Logan Rawlings on a very special episode of Young & Hungry airing this Wednesday, July 20, at 8/7c on Freeform!