American singer and actress Vanessa Hudgens was famous as a teen idol because of her role in High School Musical movies. In 2006, she took a lead role in the movie franchise as Gabriella Montez and followed by starring in several movies. Vanessa also had albums, including Identified (2008) which debuted in the Billboard 200. After playing in the well-known High School Musical movies, she continued playing in top movies and dramas.
The multitalented artist, Vanessa Anne Hudgens was born on December 14, 1988 in Salinas, California as the first child. She spent her childhood in San Diego and Los Angeles. Vanessa got the performing talent from her artistic grandparents which made her enjoy performing on stage since her early age. Before getting into movie industry, she was accepted in an audition for a commercial and in a sitcom Still Standing (2002). In 2003, she began acting as a supporting role in the box office movie Thirteen. She also played in Thunderbirds in the following year. When the first High School Musical movie premiered in 2006, Vanessa rose to fame along with other cast members, Ashley Tisdale and Zac Efron. It became one of the most-watched movies in the US and UK.
After appearing in the successful High School Musical movies, Vanessa started her singing career with a debut album V (2006). The album was certified gold, fueled by the hit single “Come Back to Me”. She was even recognized by Teen Choice Awards for Choice Breakout Singer Female in 2007. It followed by the second effort Identified in 2008 which reached number 23 on the Billboard 200 chart. Her second album unfortunately failed commercially, making her choose to depart from Hollywood Records and focus on her acting career.
She was critically praised for her performance in musical-romantic-comedy Bandslam (2009) and then came back to theater through Rent. In 2012, she appeared in American crime movie Spring Breakers along with top actors, including James Franco, Ashley Benson, and Selena Gomez. She continued showing her acting skills in several movies, such as Gimme Shelter (2013) and The Frozen Ground (2013). Vanessa also appeared in comedy series Powerless (2017), being the judge on So You Think You Can Dance for season 14 and 15, and co-starring in Netflix’s Polar in 2019. The Knight Before Christmas (2019) and Bad Boys for Life (2020) were another two Netflix movies in which Vanessa also worked with.