Vanessa Hudgens Bio

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Vanessa Hudgens Pictures

Vanessa Anne Hudgens (born December 14, 1988) is an American actress and singer. Hudgens began her performing career on stage in theater plays before making her screen debut in the 2003 drama film Thirteen. She has since appeared in multiple shows but she is best known for her role as Gabriella Montez in the High School Musical film series. She pursued a solo music career and released her debut album V on September 26, 2006. The album debuted at number twenty four in the U.S. and was later certified Gold. Hudgens released her second album, Identified, on July 1, 2008 in the U.S. She has since acted in the 2009 film Bandslam in the role of Sa5m, which was released in theaters on August 14, 2009,

Vanessa Hudgens: Early life and career

Hudgens was born in Salinas, California, and lived all over the West Coast - from Oregon to Southern California - with her parents, Gina (née Guangco) and Gregory Hudgens, and a younger sister, Stella Hudgens. Hudgens and her family moved to Los Angeles after she won a role in a television commercial. Hudgens's father is of Irish and Native American descent, and her mother, a native of Manila, is of Chinese-Spanish-Filipino descent. Both sets of Hudgens' grandparents were musicians.

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. Hudgens was not able to finish her high school in Orange County High School of the Arts after being home schooled after her seventh year. After home school, she went to England and studied drama and music at Kingsbrook Business and Enterprise College and graduated college. She appears in Thirteen as Noel and in Thunderbirds. She guested in television shows such as Quintuplets, Still Standing, The Brothers Garcí­a, Drake & Josh and The Suite Life of Zack & Cody.

Vanessa Hudgens: Career

Hudgens at the Melbourne premiere of "High School Musical 3: Senior Year."

In early 2006, Hudgens's breakout role has been playing the fictional character Gabriella Montez in the Disney Channel movie series High School Musical. With this performance, Hudgens and co-star Zac Efron won the 2006 "Best Chemistry" award at the Teen Choice Awards for their roles. In the movie, she contributed five songs in the soundtrack. Hudgens established a music career under Hollywood Records, citing Celine Dion and Alicia Keys as her major musical influences. On September 2006, the release of her debut album entitled V, charted on the Billboard 200 at number twenty-four on the chart, with 34,000 copies sold that week, with "Come Back to Me" the first single, and the follow-up was "Say OK". V was certified Gold on February 27, 2007 and Billboard readers chose it as the seventh best album of the year. Hudgens was named Female Breakout Singer of the year at the 2007 Teen Choice Awards. She is also ambassador to Neutrogena products.

As promotion for the album, she was the opening act for The Cheetah Girls during their The Party's Just Begun Tour. Later on, she participated in the nationwide High School Musical: The Concert tour in fall 2006, performing the songs from the soundtrack album as well as the three songs from her debut album. She sang the duet "Still There For Me" with Corbin Bleu for his debut album. Hudgens also appeared on the High School Musical 2 soundtrack. In December 2007, she sang to the president, in the White House with other singers.

Her sophomore album, Identified, was released on July 1, 2008, selling more than 22,000 copies during the first week, debuting at #23 on the Billboard 200. At the same time, she went on the Identified Summer Tour to promote her albums in the U.S. and Mexico. She also performed at the 81st Academy Awards in a musical number with other young actors and singers.

Hudgens reprised her role as Gabriella in 2008's High School Musical 3: Senior Year and appeared on the movie's soundtrack. But, she remarked that she won't be doing any musicals after that, as she stated that she wants to accomplish an acting career. On January 11, 2008, it was announced that Hudgens would star in the comedy, Bandslam. Hudgens played 15-year-old Sa5m, an awkward outsider; the film was theatrically released on August 14, 2009. Although Bandslam was commercially unsuccessful, Hudgens' performance received multiple praises from critics. David Waddington noted that Hudgens "outshines the rest of the cast, failing to fit in with the outcast narrative and making the inevitable climactic ending all the more expected." In the film, Philip French of The Guardian remarked that her acting was compared to Thandie Newton and Dorothy Parker.

She will play Linda in the film adaptation of Beastly, which is scheduled for a 2010 release. In landing the role of Linda, the film's director, Daniel Barnz remarked that she was fit for the role and the producers were glad that she got cast. Hudgens' upcoming projects include roles in Sucker Punch, which will release in 2011; she plays the role of Blondie.

Vanessa Hudgens: Personal life and public image

In an October 2007 interview, Hudgens stated that she is dating her High School Musical series co-star Zac Efron and had been since the filming of High School Musical, and was spotted spending time together filming High School Musical 3: Senior Year at Utah, according to Hudgens' interview with Cosmogirl magazine. Hudgens is a Catholic.

Hudgens was included in Forbes richest list in early 2007, it was posted in Forbes website, that Hudgens was included in Young Hollywood's Top Earning-Stars. On December 12, 2008, Hudgens was ranked #20 in the list of Forbes "High Earners Under 30". She was featured in mainstream lists and magazines which included ranking number 62 at FHM's Sexiest Women in the World of 2008 and number 42 in the 2009 list. Hudgens is also featured in Maxim' lists. She was included in People's annual "100 Most Beautiful People" 2008 and 2009 lists and hailed as 20th of the 40 Most Beautiful Hollywood Women according to Premiere.com. Complex declared her #9 in their list of "10 Hottest Multiracial Women".

Vanessa Hudgens: Philantrophy

Hudgens volunteered and got involved in numerous charitable activities for Best Buddies International. Hudgens designed Spread The Love shirts with other celebrities that costs $50 each and the proceeds went to the charity. In October 2007, Hudgens attended at the charity's fundraiser at Lucky Strike Lanes in Hollywood. Hudgens, together with Taylor Lautner accepted a $100,000 from CVS pharmacy, on behalf of the Lollipop Theater Network and Best Buddies for charity work.

Vanessa Hudgens: Controversies

Vanessa Hudgens - Nude photos

On September 6, 2007, photos of Hudgens appeared online showing: two showing her posing in lingerie and another showing 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."

OK! magazine speculated that Hudgens would be dropped from High School Musical 3 due to the photos. The Walt Disney Company denied the reports, saying, "Vanessa has apologized for what was obviously a lapse in judgment. We hope she's learned a valuable lesson."

In August 2009, a new set of pictures showing Hudgens topless emerged on the internet. These pictures are said to have been taken before the first nude photo scandal. Hudgens's representatives have yet to make an official statement. Lawyers have requested the removal of the pictures from the internet.

Vanessa Hudgens - Contract lawsuit

Brian Schall sued Hudgens last 2007 for an alleged "breach of contract"; according to the suit, Schall claims he advanced costs and expenses on Hudgens's behalf for her songwriting and recording career. In 2008, Hudgens was sued by Johnny Vieira, who claims he is owed a share of the 19-year-old's advances, royalties and merchandising revenue in exchange for his management services. Vieira accuses Hudgens of abandoning her talent team as soon as she became a commercial name in the High School Musical era. In early May 2009, the case was settled.