Vanessa Hudgens

Vanessa Anne Hudgens, born December 14, 1988, is an American actress and singer. She made her feature film debut in the 2003 drama Thirteen before gaining widespread fame portraying Gabriella Montez in the Disney Channel Original Movie High School Musical in 2006. Alongside her performance in the film series, she pursued a recording career through Hollywood Records, releasing her debut studio album V in 2006 and her follow-up album Identified in 2008.

Hudgens was born in Salinas, California, and was raised across various locations along the West Coast, from Oregon to Southern California. Her mother, Gina, held office jobs, and her father, Gregory Hudgens, was a firefighter. Her younger sister, Stella, is also an actor and model. Raised Catholic, Hudgens came from a musical background in which all of her grandparents were musicians. She began performing in musical theater in 1998, appearing in local stage productions of Carousel, The Wizard of Oz, and Cinderella. After appearing in a television commercial, her family relocated to Los Angeles, where she briefly attended the Orange County High School of the Arts before continuing her education through tutors.

Her early television career included guest roles on the sitcom Still Standing and the drama Robbery Homicide Division in 2002. Following her supporting role in Thirteen, she appeared as Tin-tin in the 2004 science fiction-adventure film Thunderbirds. Her major breakthrough arrived with High School Musical, which became a commercial success and featured her on popular tracks such as "Breaking Free." She reprised her role as Gabriella in High School Musical 2 in 2007 and in the franchise's 2008 theatrical release, High School Musical 3: Senior Year.

Following the completion of the High School Musical films, Hudgens paused her music career to focus on acting. She played supporting and leading roles in films such as the musical comedy Bandslam in 2009, the romantic drama Beastly in 2011, and Zack Snyder's action film Sucker Punch in 2011. She went on to appear in the science fantasy film Journey 2: The Mysterious Island in 2012, followed by roles in Spring Breakers, The Frozen Ground, and Machete Kills in 2013.

Hudgens expanded her work in theater and television over the following years. In 2015, she made her Broadway debut playing the title character in a revival of the musical Gigi. She performed in two Fox live musical broadcasts, playing Rizzo in Grease Live! in 2016 and Maureen Johnson in Rent: Live in 2019. On television, she starred as Emily Locke in NBC's comedy series Powerless in 2017 and served as a judge on the reality dance show So You Think You Can Dance.

In recent years, Hudgens has taken on both acting and producing roles. She starred in and produced the Netflix holiday film The Princess Switch in 2018, as well as its two sequels in 2020 and 2021. Her film projects during this period include Second Act, Dog Days, Polar, The Knight Before Christmas, Bad Boys for Life, and the 2021 musical drama Tick, Tick... Boom!. In 2021, she voiced Sunny Starscout in the animated film My Little Pony: A New Generation, and in 2022, she starred in Asking for It and co-hosted the Met Gala.