Biography

Vanessa Anne Hudgens was born December 14, 1988 in Salinas, California. She grew up in San Diego, and at 5"4, is 19 years old. Vanessa's background appeals to a variety of ethnic groups and cultures, like Native American, Irish, Filipino, Chinese, and Spanish... no wonder she's so pretty! Eight of Vanessa's grandparents were musicians. Stella Hudgens, Vanessa's younger sister, is also an actress.

When Vanessa was 8 years old, she began performing and singing. She appeared in local productions such as Evita, Carousel, The Wizard of Oz, The Music Man, The King and I, and Damn Yankees. Vanessa starred on the big screen in Thirteen , where she played Noel. Thirteen was nominated for an Oscar in 2003! The following year, Vanessa started working on Thunderbirds, which also came out in theaters.

Vanessa has guest-starred on Quintuplets, Still Standing, Cover Me, The Brothers Garcia, The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, and Drake and Josh, as Drake's girlfriend. But, her career finally exploded when she starred in HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL as Gabriella Montez. She and Zac Efron won the "Best Chemistry" Award at the 2006 Teen Choice Awards! Vanessa has also appeared on swim wear commercials for Old Navy!

In June 2006, she signed a recording contract with Hollywood Records. Her album, "V", was released in September 2006! She performed at the Cheetah Girls concert that traveled from coast to coast and was a big hit. Just a few months later, Vanessa went on tour with her buddies from HSM. Going nationwide, Vanessa has definitely wowed her fans!

Vanessa got even bigger when the sequel to the HSM Phenomenon came out, High School Musical 2, Sing It All or Nothing! She has now admitted to dating co-star, 20 year old, Zac Efron. They are now considered "Zanessa" by their fans after being seen on a romantic trip to Hawaii in May of 07! She also recently signed on as a spokes model for Neutrogena and RED by Mark Ecko! You can spot her in film & print ads, and she has already done a commercial for each of the campaigns so far!

On September 6, 2007, controversy erupted after nude photos of Vanessa surfaced online. A statement from her publicist claims that the photos were 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".[12] 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."

No matter what, all of her fans will continue to support her in whatever she does and she handled the situation very well. It made many people respect her even more and she is a very strong women who has showed us, in the words of one of her BFF'S, Miley Cyrus, [a.k.a. Hannah Montana], Nobody's Perfect!