Vanessa Hudgens, or Gabriella Montez as she may be better known in certain circles, is an actress that few people can say they’ve never heard of. She may not have reached the league of names like Meryl Streep, Dame Judy Dench, or Angela Bassett just yet, but this woman has had an incredibly interesting career that certainly isn’t over yet. She’s a BETMGM brand ambassador, a singer and a dancer, an actress who has played an exciting cross-section of roles, and a savvy businesswoman to boot. We know all these things about her, but who is Vanessa Hudgens behind all the glitz and glamor, and what has she been up to in the decades since High School Musical made her a household name? Join us as we check out the actress’s career and some interesting facts about her.
The Beginning
To really learn about someone, you have to know where they came from as well as what path they’re on! So, who is Vanessa Hudgens? Well, she’s a California girl with hard-working parents who loved the stage from when she was old enough to walk and talk. A December Sagittarius, Hudgens was never going to be the kind of girl who stayed in one place for too long. It was clear to her family from the first time she stepped into her arts school (she was later home-schooled) that Vanessa was destined for big things. Her first role as Noelle in the critically acclaimed film Thirteen was just the first of many roles that would get her noticed in the film community.
Her first big role as Gabrielle in High School Musical in 2006 was just the break she needed. Starring opposite her one-time boyfriend Zac Effron led Vanessa into the realm of superstardom that many dream about but few ever actually get to experience. The squeaky-clean, fun-loving Disney film created an image of Vanessa as a sweet young woman with an angelic voice. This image helped kick off her recording career, but it was one that she wouldn’t be willing to cling to for the rest of her career. Though her albums did well in the grand scheme of the music business, they did not do as well as Hudgens had hoped, so she turned her attention entirely to film and TV, which is where she really began to take flight.
The Move to Film and TV
Though her career started out in film, Vanessa Hudgens took a brief side-step into the life of a recording artist. We believe that she made the right choice in stepping back towards film and television because Vanessa has since embodied many characters that have stayed clear and crisp in the minds of her many fans. Her 2009 film Slamband isn’t that big a departure from her High School Musical days, but it was the first step down the road to the fulfillment of her dreams. Luckily she didn’t have to wait long to land a role that was such a departure from her Disney days that fans and critics alike would sit up and take notice.
The lavish costumes and elaborate dream sequences of Sucker Punch took fans on a trip into the mind of the main character, Baby. Vanessa played one of several other escort dancers that populate Baby’s dream world, while in reality, they all live in an asylum where life is less than ideal for them. More interesting, slightly unusual films were in Vanessa’s future, though she may not have known it when she starred opposite The Rock in Journey 2: The Mysterious Island, but Spring Breakers was just about the corner. The story of four friends who rob a restaurant to get the money they need to go on a wild bender of a Spring Break saw Vanessa take on a far more assertive and strong-willed character than ever before.
Her next film came in 2013, Gimme Shelter. Vanessa had to reach down deep and put her skills to the test for her role as a pregnant, homeless teenager and then as an exotic dancer in The Frozen Ground. At this stage, all her fans could see that Vanessa Hudgens was shaping up to be a much more versatile actress than people initially thought she would ever become! Taking a break from film to try out TV for a while, Vanessa starred in a short-lived series called Powerless. Though it was based on stories from the DC Universe, the show was not overly well received.
In 2018, Vanessa turned back to feature films with Dog Days. After that, Vanessa landed a supporting role in Second Act starring Jennifer Lopez and then on to the old Hollywood special of playing two twins in one film, The Princess Switch. This Netflix film would open valuable doors for Vanessa Hudgens: she would next star opposite Mads Mikkelsen in Polar. Netflix offered up more work for Hudgens in the form of The Knight Before Christmas, a happy-go-lucky festive film.
Recently
In 2020, Vanessa appeared in Bad Boys for Life, starring Will Smith and Martin Lawrence. Since then, Vanessa has appeared as an actress, singer, and voice actress in numerous projects, including a sequel to The Princess Switch. She has also starred in a reality film about her spiritual journey into witchcraft and ghost hunting, Dead Hot. There are currently rumors about our girl teaming up with Zach Braff for an indie film, but nothing is substantial enough yet to really know how that will pan out.
Wrap Up
Vanessa Hudgens’ career has been a wild ride of incredibly different and, in some cases, incredibly demanding roles. We can’t wait to see what the next years of her career will bring for both the actress and her fans all over the world. Here’s to another two decades of exciting Vanessa Hudgens projects!