We wrote the biography of Vanessa Hudgens, who became known by everyone after her friend went to a commercial that she couldn't go to, and became famous for both her songs and her acting performance.
Her full name is Vanessa Anne Hudgens, she was born on December 14, 1988 in Salinas, California. She was born to Gina Guangco, whose Filipino mother worked in office jobs, and Gregory Hudgens, whose Irish, French, and Native American father was a firefighter. Hudgens has a younger sister, an actress named Stella. Raised Catholic, Hudgens grew up on the West Coast stretching from Oregon to Southern California. Hudgens' father, whose grandparents were all musicians, passed away from cancer in February 2016.
Beginning in 1998, Hudgens has appeared as a singer in musical theaters. She has also performed in musical productions such as "Carousel", "The Wizard of Oz", "The King and I", "The Music Man" and "Cinderella". Two years after a career in stage plays and musicals, she auditioned for commercials and television shows. After her family moved to Los Angeles, Hudgens began her acting career at the age of 15. Hudgens attended Orange County High School of the Arts for a time, then continued homeschooling with teachers.
She made her acting debut as Tiffany in an episode of the 2002 sitcom "Still Standing" on CBS. Later that year, she guest-starred in an episode of the cop-style TV series "Robbery Homicide Division", which also aired on CBS. She made her stage debut as Noel in the teen drama film "Thirteen" (2003). The film was a commercial success and received critical acclaim, grossing $10 million worldwide for its production budget. Later, she played the character of Tin-tin in the science fiction action-adventure movie "Thunderbirds" (2004), based on a television series. While the film was a commercial failure, it was also heavily criticized.
In January 2006, Hudgens portrayed Gabriella Montez, who co-starred with Zac Efron and Ashley Tisdale, in the Disney Channel original TV musical "High School Musical" directed by Kenny Ortega. The film was an international success and received generally mixed reviews from critics. Additionally, the soundtrack of the film was a commercial and critical success. It was also Disney Channel's most-watched movie that year, with 7.7 million viewers in its premiere. Hudgens recorded several commercially successful songs for the film and performed a duet with Zac Efron on "Breaking Free". The single peaked at #4 on the US charts and #9 in the UK, making it Hudgens' highest peak.
She released her first studio album, "V", on September 26, 2006. The album debuted at number 24 on the charts in its first week. The following year, the album was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America. She later released two songs "Come Back to Me" and "Say OK", both of which were moderately successful in many countries.
In 2007, she reprized her role in the sequel "High School Musical 2", which aired on August 17. Its premiere attracted more viewers than its predecessor, making it the most watched Disney Channel Original Movie of all time. Released on August 17, 2007, the film received generally positive reviews from critics and audiences. The opening single "What Time Is It" had its world premiere on May 25, 2007, and the second single, "You Are the Music in Me", premiered on July 13, 2007.
Her second studio album, "Identified", was released on July 1, 2008, and sold less than her first album. Despite the drop in sales, the album debuted at number 23 on the chart. Hudgens then reprized her role in the sequel, "High School Musical 3: Senior Year," the first movie of the series to be released theatrically. The film, which opened at number one at the box office in October 2008, broke the record for the biggest opening of a musical with its first weekend earnings. Additionally, it was a huge success, grossing $252 million worldwide.
Hudgens, who wanted to focus more on acting, said that she took a break from her music career. Then she played a supporting role "Sa5m" in the musical romantic comedy drama film "Bandslam"(2009). While the film was a commercial failure, it received critical acclaim for its performance. Returning to theater productions the following year, Hudgens appeared as Mimi in the rock musical "Rent" at the Hollywood Bowl from August 6-8, 2010. Hudgens' involvement in the production received negative reviews.
In 2011, she played Linda Taylor, who co-starred with Alex Pettyfer, in the romantic fantasy drama film "Beastly", based on the novel by Alex Flinn and written and directed by Daniel Barnz. While Hudgens and Pettyfer were considered the "ShoWest Stars of Tomorrow," the film was released to mostly negative reviews. In addition, the film appeared in The Times newspaper's "50 Greatest Movies of 2010" list, ranked 45th. That same year, she starred as one of the five female leads in the psychological fantasy action movie "Sucker Punch"(2011), directed by Zack Snyder. The movie, which was released in March 2011, was considered a box office bomb with its worldwide earnings against its production budget. The film, which was also negatively received by the critics, earned a nomination for Best F/X at the 2011 Scream Awards.
The following year, Hudgens was cast as Kailani in its sequel, sci-fi action-adventure "Journey 2: The Mysterious Island" (2012), alongside Dwayne Johnson and Josh Hutcherson. The movie, which was released on February 10, 2012, earned $325 million worldwide. Additionally, the film received mixed and negative reviews from critics. She then starred in the comedy crime film "Spring Breakers", written and directed by Harmony Korine, with Selena Gomez, Ashley Benson, Rachel Korine, and James Franco. The film, which was released theatrically in March 2013, garnered generally positive reviews and featured mature themes such as drug use, violence and sexual escapism.
Later that year, she appeared with John Cusack and Nicolas Cage in Scott Walker's directed thriller "The Frozen Ground," based on the Robert Hansen case and in which she played her only escaped victim. The film, which received mixed reviews after its release, was also a box office failure. She also starred as part of a large cast in the sequel action exploit "Machete Kills" directed by Robert Rodriguez.
In 2014, Hudgens played a runaway pregnant teenage girl alongside Brendan Fraser in the independent drama film "Gimme Shelter," written and directed by Ron Krauss. While the film received generally negative reviews from critics, it did not find success at the box office. The following year, she appeared in the comedy horror film "Freaks of Nature," directed by Robbie Pickering and for Columbia Pictures. In the same year, before transferring to Broadway on April 8, she played the leading role in the musical production of "Gigi" with lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe, which opened at Kennedy Center. On January 31, 2016, Hudgens appeared on Fox's live television show "Grease Live!", based on the original Broadway musical also featured as Rizzo. She said she dedicated the performance to her father, who died of cancer the day before the special aired.
In 2017, Hudgens played the character of Emily Locke in NBC's comedy TV series "Powerless" based on DC Comics characters. That same year, she appeared in Shawn Hook's song "Reminding Me" and in its music video. Also that year, she hosted the 2017 Billboard Music Awards, which premiered on May 21, alongside Rapper Ludacris. She also appeared as a jury on the 14th season of the American reality dance show "So You Think You Can Dance" along with Nigel Lythgoe and Mary Murphy.
The following year, she appeared in the romantic comedy "Dog Days" directed by Ken Marino, with Finn Wolfhard and Nina Dobrev. In November 2018, she landed the role of both a European duchess and a temporarily switching pastry chef from Chicago in the Netflix Christmas romantic comedy film "The Princess Switch." In addition, the first film in the trilogy series, the production received generally positive reviews. The following month, she appeared with Jennifer Lopez in the romantic comedy "Second Act" directed by Peter Segal. Hudgens is back for season 15 of "So You Think You Can Dance" as the permanent judge. Around that time, she played the role of Vanessa Morales in Lin-Manuel Miranda's original musical play, "In the Heights."
In January 2019, Hudgens appeared as Maureen Johnson on "Rent: Live," another Fox live music TV show. While the special received mixed and negative reviews from critics, it was also disliked by the audience. Also that year, she co-starred with Mads Mikkelsen in Víctor Santos' action thriller "Polar," a Netflix film adaptation of the comic, to negative reviews. In November of the same year, she co-starred with Josh Whitehouse in the Netflix Christmas fantasy comedy romantic film "The Knight Before Christmas," which Hudgens produced with Brad Krevoy.
In 2020, Hudgens appeared alongside Will Smith and Martin Lawrence in the action comedy "Bad Boys for Life", the third installment in the franchise. The film grossed over $426 million worldwide, making it the third highest-grossing film of all time for January. It was also generally well received, making it the fourth highest-grossing film of 2020. In November of that year, she was featured in its sequel, "The Princess Switch: Switched Again," in the lead role and an additional third role. She also took over the production of it. At the end of the year, Hudgens also hosted the "MTV Movie & TV Awards: Best of All Time" television special.
In November 2021, Hudgens released the musical biopic "Tick, Tick ... Boom!" directed by Lin-Manuel Miranda and the Netflix film adaptation of the musical of the same name. She also starred as Karessa Johnson alongside Andrew Garfield. The critically acclaimed film was selected as one of the best films of 2021 and received many awards and nominations. Later that month, she reprized three roles and also served as executive producer in the sequel Christmas romantic comedy "The Princess Switch 3: Romancing the Star" directed by Mike Rohl.
In 2022, Hudgens hosted the 94th Academy Awards red carpet premier with Terrence J., Sofia Carson, and Brandon Maxwell. That same year, she hosted the Met Gala red carpet live broadcast for Vogue magazine with La La Anthony and Hamish Bowles. In June 2022, it hosted the 30th MTV Movie & TV Awards with Tayshia Adams.
Hudgens will voice Willow in the Netflix 3D anime-style "Army of the Dead: Lost Vegas" series, which will serve as the prequel to the 2021 zombie heist movie. Hudgens, who has worked with Zack Snyder as director and executive producer on the series, has announced that the series will air in 2022. Additionally, Lily Rabe will star in the drama "Downtown Owl", directed by Lily Rabe and Hamish Linklater and based on the novel of the same name, alongside Ed Harris, Finn Wittrock, Jack Dylan Grazer and August Blanco Rosenstein. The movie is expected to be released in June 2023. Hudgens will also star in and executive produce the trucker adventure-drama "Big Rig."
Personal life
Hudgens had a relationship with actor Zac Efron from 2005 to 2010. She later dated actor Austin Butler from 2011 to 2019. In 2021, Hudgens said she was in a relationship with Cole Tucker. The couple announced their engagement at the end of 2022. Raised as a Catholic, Hudgens now identifies as a Christian.
Hudgens was featured on Forbes magazine's richest list in early 2007 and among "Young Hollywood's Highest-Earning Stars" in the same magazine's article. In 2008, Hudgens appeared at #20 on Forbes magazine's "Highest Under 30 Earners" list. She was ranked number 62 on FHM magazine's 2008 "100 Sexiest Women" list. She appeared at number 42 on the same list in 2009. She was featured in People magazine's annual "100 Most Beautiful People" list in 2008 and 2009.
Hudgens voluntarily participates in campaigns for various charitable events. Hudgens is also a part of "Stay Against Cancer (SU2C): Change the Chances" along with other Hollywood stars. A frequent attendee of the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, Hudgens is officially referred to as the "Queen of Coachella." Hudgens is known for her boho-chic fashion style.