Vanessa Anne Hudgens (born December 14, 1988) is an American actress and singer. She made her debut in 2003 appearing in the Hollywood films Thirteen and Thunderbirds, before reaching fame in 2006 after appearing as Gabriella Montez in the Disney Channel film High School Musical hit series. Hudgens began a music career and released her debut album, V, in 2006. Her sophomore album, Identified, was released July 1, 2008. She is currently a Neutrogena spokesperson, the face of Sears and Ecko footwear.

Early life

Hudgens was born in Salinas, California, the daughter of Gina (née Guangco) and Greg Hudgens. She has a younger sister, Stella Hudgens. Hudgens’s father is an American of Irish and Native American descent, and her mother, who grew up in Manila, is a Filipino-born of Filipino, Spanish, and Chinese descent.Hudgens has been home-schooled since after her seventh-grade year at the Orange County High School of the Arts.

Starting at the age of eight, 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.She got her first gig when her friend couldn’t go to an audition for a commercial and asked if Hudgens could go.

Career

Hudgens debuted in Thirteen as Noel and appeared in the 2004 film Thunderbirds as Tintin and appearances include guest roles on Quintuplets, Still Standing, The Brothers García and The Suite Life of Zack & Cody (episode title - Forever Plaid), as Corrie. Hudgens also appeared on Drake & Josh, playing Drake’s girlfriend, Rebecca.

2005-2006: High School Musical

Hudgens’ largest role among teenage audiences has been starring in the Disney Channel movie series High School Musical and High School Musical 2, starring as the beautiful, shy, intelligent student Gabriella Montez. She auditioned for Gabriella with the song “Angels” by Robbie Williams. Hudgens and Efron had won “Best Chemistry” award at the Teen Choice Awards for their roles. The first High School Musical spawned a hit soundtrack, a worldwide concert tour, a show at Walt Disney World, and even a book series that helped Hudgens land in Forbes magazine’s list of top-earning stars under 21.” In the list, the 18-year-old Hudgens was No. 7 with estimated earnings of $2 million.Hudgens started concentrating on her music career by signing a record deal with Hollywood Records in 2006 as the start of her solo career, but first covered the song “Colors Of The Wind” for Disneymania 5 album in that same year. Hudgens auditioned for the role of Julie in Final Destination 3, but lost it to Amanda Crew.

Hudgens launched a worldwide tour with the rest of the cast of High School Musical in fall 2006, performing the songs from the soundtrack album as well of three songs from her debut album, which was released on 2007.A DVD and an album named High School Musical: The Concert were released in 2007, featuring only one of the three songs performed by Hudgens from her debut album in the tour.

2006-2007:

Hudgens’ debut album, entitled V, was released in early September 2006. V debuted on the Billboard 200 in early October 2006 at number twenty-four on the chart, with 34,000 copies sold that week.A music video for her first single, “Come Back To Me”, debuted after the world premiere of The Cheetah Girls 2 in late August. The official music video for her second single, “Say OK”, was first shown following the premiere of Disney’s Jump In!. In August 2007 at the 2007 Teen Choice Awards, Hudgens was named the Choice Breakout Singer - Female.Hudgens promoted the album when opening for The Cheetah Girls during their The Party’s Just Begun Tour. The album has been certified Gold in the U.S. for reaching 500,000 copies shipped. The album was re-released in a limited Deluxe Edition format, released only in Japan.The album was certified Gold for shipments to retailers of 500,000 copies. The album was nominated as #7 on “Album of The Year” by Billboard Readers’ Choice.Hudgens sang the duet “Still There For Me” with Corbin Bleu for his debut album.

Hudgens also appeared on the soundtrack of High School Musical 2, performing several songs such as “Gotta Go My Own Way”, “You Are The Music In Me” and “What Time Is It?”. In the end of 2007, she had performed “The Christmas Song” along with Katharine McPhee and Ne-Yo for “Christmas In Washington” event.

2008-present: Identified and future projects

On January 11, 2008, The Hollywood Reporter announced that Hudgens would star in the comedy, Bandslam , alongside Gaelan Connell, Alyson Michalka, and Lisa Kudrow. Hudgens will play 15-year old Sam.

Hudgens’s second album was Identified. The first single from this album, “Sneakernight”, premiered on Radio Disney on April 11, 2008. The song was used as part of her deal with Red by Marc Ecko. On the first week of the release of her album, Identified sold more than 22,000 copies, 12,000 less than her debut album. Though the album had poor sales its first week, Identified received generally positive reviews from music critics. The album was released a week before the United States in Japan featuring three exclusive-bonus songs.

Hudgens launched on July 31, 2008 her first solo tour called “Identified Summer Tour” in order to promote her two albums, performing some of the most popular songs from her debut album and others from her sophomore album. The tour reached Mexico too and she appeared in the Neutrogena Fresh Face Concert. As of October 2008, she has officially closed the concert tour.

Hudgens reprised her role as Gabriella for the third time in High School Musical 3: Senior Year. She also will appear on the High School Musical 3 soundtrack, performing songs such as “Can I Have This Dance” and “Walk Away”. Also, the song “Can I Have This Dance?” was released as a promotionl single from the soundtrack, with the song being released on iTunes but was later removed.She also presented an award in the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards along with the rest of the HSM cast. Hudgens and the cast of HSM 3 launched a European promotional tour to promote the movie.Vanessa made only $2 million for the film, reportedly due to the photo scandal that hurt her image.

Products and endorsement

In 2007, Hudgens signed a promotional deal for the Eckō Red footwear in which she had two commercials for it and had “Sneakernight” as her first single for her sophomore album, Identified which she endorsed the sneakers in the video.Sears has teamed up with Hudgens to give teens and tweens the confidence to go back to school in style. Beginning in July and led by the theme, “Don’t just go back. Arrive.” Hudgens is featured in an integrated marketing campaign, including print ads, long-format video, television spots, digital, and sweeps that included a private concert at a school with Vanessa performing.

The long-format video was shot by Grammy award-winning director Joseph Kahn, who is renowned in the world of music videos for his work with Britney Spears, Eminem, Mariah Carey, U2, Destiny’s Child and Black Eyed Peas, among others. “I like to make a fashion statement by changing up my look with different styles,” explains Hudgens. “Sears is a great place for those heading back to school this year because you can find an entire wardrobe of fun ‘looks’ to suit any mood or fashion sense. Plus, since the clothes are so affordable, you can easily switch styles and really get noticed when you arrive back at school.”

Hudgens is also currently a Neutrogena spokesperson. “Vanessa Hudgens has an energetic, dynamic personality that will truly complement the spirit of Neutrogena. We are pleased to welcome her to our team”, says Neutrogena President, North America, Jim Colleran. As a new spokesperson for Neutrogena, Hudgens will be featured in both national TV and print campaigns. She joins fellow Neutrogena spokespersons Kelly Preston, Susie Castillo, Gabrielle Union, Hayden Panettiere, Julie Bowen, Kristin Kreuk and Paola Rey, each of whom will continue in their role as Neutrogena representatives.In September 2008, she had appeared in the Neutrogena Fresh Face Concert.

Image and personal life

Hudgens confirmed, in an interview with Teen Magazine as of October 2007, that she is dating her High School Musical series co-star Zac Efron. In an interview, Hudgens’ publicist stated that her music video for “Say OK” was their official “come-out” as a couple. At 2008, she was ranked as FHM’s 62nd Sexiest Woman and Maxim’s number 12 in their 100 Hot List. She was included in People magazine’s annual “100 Most Beautiful People” list in May 2008. She was also voted Bop Magazine’s 7th Hottest Star as Hot Breakout Star’. As of 2008, she had been a covergirl for Teen Vogue, CosmoGirl and Lucky Magazine. She had also took photoshoots with on-and-off-screen boyfriend, Zac Efron and High School Musical co-star Ashley Tisdale for Elle Magazine, Glamour Magazine for the May issue and InStyle for October.

On September 6, 2007, controversy erupted after provocative photos of Hudgens surfaced online. Two showed her posing in suggestive lingerie, and another showed her nude. A statement from her publicist claims that the photo was taken privately and it was “unfortunate” that they were released on the Internet.Hudgens later apologized, saying that she was “embarrassed over the situation” and regretted having “taken [those] photos.”Disney Channel spokeswoman Patti McTeague indicated that Disney will still be working with Hudgens, stating, “Vanessa has apologized for what was obviously a lapse in judgment. We hope she’s learned a valuable lesson.” After the scandal blew out, she quoted, “I’m much better now. But truthfully I don’t like talking about it. It was something that was meant to be private, and even though it isn’t anymore, I’d still like to keep it as private as I can. It was very traumatic, and I am extremely upset it happened. I hope all my fans can learn from my mistake and make smart decisions. But I wouldn’t have been able to get through it if it wasn’t for my family, friends, and fans, who supported me all along the way”.Despite early speculation that Vanessa Hudgens would be dropped from High School Musical 3 due to her nude photo scandal, she wasn’t booted out from High School Musical 3. Although it was reported by OK! Magazine that Vanessa would be replaced by Adrienne Bailon or Sabrina Bryan from the Cheetah Girls in High School Musical 3, Access Hollywood confirmed that the cast was still in negotiations and Vanessa would not be cut from High School Musical 3. Vanessa’s representative quoted, “Totally untrue. It is an old rumor,” the representative told Access, “OK! Magazine never bothered to check the fact with me, but they did call Disney who said it wasn’t true, but yet OK! ran it anyway. Apparently, OK! Magazine was having a slow news day.”

Previously, Hudgens was sued by music producer Johnny Vieira who claims she reneged on a deal to share her earnings with him after he helped make her a star. In the lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, Vieira accuses Hudgens and father, Greg Hudgens, of breach of contract and fraud, seeking more than $27 million in damages. Hudgens’ record label, Hollywood, also is named as a defendant in the suit. But Vieira says he was dumped from Hudgens’ management team soon after she was cast in HSM. According to the suit, they subsequently reached a settlement under which Hudgens agreed to pay Vieira a percentage of her earnings from her first three albums under her solo recording contract with Hollywood Records. However, “it became clear that Hudgens and her new ‘team’ … all directed by her father … would take every possible opportunity to deprive Vieira of the benefits to be derived from the settlement agreement,” the lawsuit says. Hudgens’ publicist could not immediately be reached for comment. A Disney spokesman said the company had not had a chance to review the lawsuit.”

Films

 Studio albums

* 2006: V
* 2008: Identified

DVDs

* 2007: High School Musical: The Concert

Live albums

* 2007: High School Musical: The Concert

Soundtracks

* 2006: High School Musical
* 2007: High School Musical 2
* 2008: High School Musical 3: Senior Year

Concert tours

* 2006-2007: High School Musical: The Concert
* 2008: Identified Summer Tour

Awards and nominations