Vanessa Anne Hudgens ( HUJ-ənz; born December 14, 1988) is an American actress and singer. After making her feature film debut in Thirteen (2003), Hudgens rose to fame portraying Gabriella Montez in the High School Musical film series (2006–2008), which brought her mainstream recognition. Through Hollywood Records she released two albums, V (2006) and Identified (2008).
Hudgens appeared in the films Bandslam (2009), Beastly, Sucker Punch (both 2011), Journey 2: The Mysterious Island, Spring Breakers (both 2012), Second Act (2018), Bad Boys for Life (2020), and Tick, Tick ... Boom! (2021). She starred in the Netflix Christmas movies The Princess Switch (2018) and its sequels (2020 and 2021), and The Knight Before Christmas (2019), co-producing these Christmas movies.
Hudgens played the role of Emily Locke in the NBC series Powerless (2017). She made her Broadway stage debut playing Gigi in the musical revival of Gigi (2015) and had roles in two of Fox's live musical productions: Rizzo in Grease Live! (2016) and Maureen Johnson in Rent: Live (2019). In 2022, Hudgens co-hosted the Met Gala in Manhattan.
Vanessa Anne Hudgens was born in Salinas, California, and was raised in various locations along the West Coast, from Oregon to Southern California. Her mother, Gina (née Guangco), held a succession of office jobs, and her father, Gregory Hudgens, was a firefighter. She has a younger sister Stella, who is an actor and model. Vanessa was raised as a Catholic. Her father, who died of cancer in February 2016, was of mostly English descent, and her mother is Filipina and grew up in Mindanao. All of her grandparents were musicians.
Starting in 1998, Hudgens performed in musical theater as a singer, and appeared in local productions of Carousel, The Wizard of Oz, The King and I, The Music Man, and Cinderella, among others. Two years later, she began auditioning for commercials and television shows, and her family moved to Los Angeles after she appeared in a television commercial. She began her acting career at age 15, and she briefly attended Orange County High School of the Arts, followed by homeschooling with tutors.
Hudgens had her first acting role in an episode of the sitcom Still Standing, airing on CBS in 2002, in which she portrayed Tiffany. Later that year, she appeared in an episode of the series Robbery Homicide Division, airing on CBS. Hudgens made her film debut in the 2003 drama movie Thirteen, in the supporting role of Noel. The film grossed $10 million worldwide and received positive critical reviews. USA Today called Thirteen the most "powerful of all recent wayward-youth sagas". Hudgens subsequently landed a role in the 2004 science fiction-adventure film Thunderbirds, based on the 1960s television series. Hudgens portrayed the character of Tin-tin. The film was a commercial failure and was strongly criticized for "abandoning the original concepts".
2005–2008: High School Musical and music
In January 2006, Hudgens played Gabriella Montez, one of the lead roles in the Disney Channel Original Movie High School Musical. The film saw Hudgens portraying the new girl at high school who falls for the captain of the basketball team. The two later reveal a passion for singing, and audition for the school play together. Hudgens starred alongside Zac Efron and Ashley Tisdale, the former of which she was partnered up with during the auditioning process due to their "chemistry". It was Disney Channel's most-watched film that year with 7.7 million viewers in its premiere broadcast in the US, until August's premiere of The Cheetah Girls 2, which achieved 8.1 million viewers.
For the film, Hudgens recorded numerous songs which had commercial success. The song "Breaking Free", a duet with Efron, became Hudgens's highest peak on the US Billboard Hot 100 at number 4, and number 9 in the UK. Following the success of the film, Hudgens released her debut studio album, V, on September 26, 2006. It sold 34,000 copies in its first week, and debuted at number 24 on the US Billboard 200 chart. In February 2007, the album was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America. By August 2009, the album had sold 570,000 copies in the US. It was preceded by two singles, "Come Back to Me" and "Say OK", both of which were moderately successful in several countries.
In 2007, Hudgens reprised her role as Gabriella in High School Musical 2, released on August 17. The show was watched by over 17.2 million viewers in the US, almost 10 million more than its predecessor, making it the most-watched Disney Channel Original Movie of all time. Disney Channel aired a weekly program called Road to High School Musical 2, beginning on June 8, and leading up to the premiere of High School Musical 2 in August. The show offered viewers a behind-the-scenes look into the production of the movie. The opening number "What Time Is It" was first broadcast on Radio Disney on May 25, 2007, and "You Are the Music in Me" was introduced on July 13, 2007. The film was generally well received by critics. USA Today's Robert Bianco awarded the film three stars out of four, stating that High School Musical 2 was "sweet, smart, bursting with talent and energy, and awash in innocence". While critics enjoyed the film, they noted that the timing of its premiere seemed odd, premiering just when school was about to resume again whereas the film's plot involved the gang going on summer vacation.
Her second studio album, Identified, was released on July 1, 2008, in the United States. It sold 22,000 copies in its first week, 12,000 less than V. Despite the drop in sales, the album debuted at number 23 on the Billboard 200, one spot higher than V. The album was preceded by one single, "Sneakernight", which peaked at number 88 on the Billboard Hot 100. Hudgens reprised her role in High School Musical 3: Senior Year, the first film from the franchise to be released theatrically. It opened at number one at the North American box office in October 2008, earning $42 million in its first weekend, which broke the record previously held by Mamma Mia! for the biggest opening by a musical. The film finished with $252 million worldwide, which exceeded Disney's expectations.
2009–2017: Mainstream film and television
Following the completion of the High School Musical series, Hudgens said that she was taking a break from her music career to focus more on acting. She played a supporting role in a musical comedy Bandslam, which was released theatrically on August 14, 2009. Hudgens played "Sa5m", a 15-year-old awkward freshman with untapped talents. Although Bandslam was commercially unsuccessful, Hudgens's performance received praise from critics. David Waddington of the North Wales Pioneer noted that Hudgens "outshines the rest of the cast, failing to fit in with the outcast narrative and making the inevitable climactic ending all the more expected".
In 2010, Hudgens starred in the musical Rent as Mimi during August 6–8, 2010, at the Hollywood Bowl. Her involvement in the production drew negative comments, but director Neil Patrick Harris defended his decision with casting Hudgens by saying, "Vanessa is awesome. She's a friend. I asked her to come in and sing to make sure she had the chops for it. And she was very committed and seemed great."
In 2011, Hudgens starred with Alex Pettyfer in the film Beastly, based on Alex Flinn's 2007 novel Beastly. She played one of the main characters, Linda Taylor, and described her as "the 'beauty' of the story but not the stereotypical beauty everyone thinks of." Hudgens and Pettyfer were described as ShoWest Stars of Tomorrow. Beastly was released on March 4, 2011, to mostly negative reviews. The film was screened at ShoWest and drew enthusiastic reactions from the luncheon crowd of exhibition officials. The film went on to make $28 million worldwide as of 2012. Hudgens also starred as one of the five female leads in the action film Sucker Punch, directed by Zack Snyder. She played Blondie, an institutionalized girl in an asylum. The film was released in March 2011, and grossed $19 million in its first weekend at the North American box office, opening at number two. By the end of its run, Sucker Punch totaled $89 million worldwide.