Vanessa Hudgens Bio

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Vanessa Hudgens Pictures

Vanessa Anne Hudgens (born December 14, 1988) is an American actress and singer. She is 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. She reprised her role as Gabriella Montez in High School Musical 2 and High School Musical 3: Senior Year. Hudgens released her second album, Identified in July 1, 2008 in the U.S. She will be Sa5m in the film Bandslam, in theaters July 31, 2009. She has two upcoming films: Beastly in 2010, and Sucker Punch! in 2011.

Vanessa Hudgens: Early life

Hudgens was born in Salinas, California, the daughter of Gina (née Guangco) and Gregory Hudgens. Hudgens's father is an American of Irish and Native American descent, and her mother, who grew up in Manila, is of Filipino, Spanish, and Chinese descent. Hudgens was 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 made her feature film debut in Thirteen as Noel and appeared in the 2004 film Thunderbirds as Tintin, appearing alongside Brady Corbet in both. Her television appearances include guest roles on Quintuplets, Still Standing, The Brothers Garcí­a, Drake & Josh and The Suite Life of Zack & Cody.

Vanessa Hudgens: Career

Vanessa Hudgens - Breakthrough

Hudgens's breakout role has been playing Gabriella Montez in the Disney Channel movie series High School Musical. Due to the good reception from the premiere of the TV movie, Hudgens and 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, which includes her solo, "When There Was Me and You". The soundtrack became the top-selling album of 2006. Hudgens also appeared in the Disney Channel Games 2006. Hudgens launched her solo music career by signing a record deal with Hollywood Records after her cover of "Colors Of The Wind" for Disneymania 5. Citing that Celine Dion and Alicia Keys are her musical influences, were the reason why she pursued a music career. On September 2006, the release of her debut album entitled V,.charted on the Billboard 200 in early October 2006 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. Hudgens was named Female Breakout Singer of the year at the 2007 Teen Choice Awards.

Hudgens on set of High School Musical 2

As promotion for the album, she was the opening act for The Cheetah Girls during their The Party's Just Begun Tour. Later on, due to the success of her breakout movie, High School Musical, 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 singles from her debut album. A performance of the concert was released in 2007 in DVD and album form. 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 Katharine McPhee and Ne-Yo.

Vanessa Hudgens - Mainstream success

Due to her breakout role in the High School Musical series, she was featured several mainstream magazines, including CosmoGirl, Lucky and Self. In 2008, she was ranked as FHM's 62nd Sexiest Woman and Maxim' lists. She was included in People's annual "100 Most Beautiful People" 2008 and 2009 lists.

Her sophomore album, Identified, was released on July 1, 2008, selling more than 22,000 copies during its first week. The first single from this album was "Sneakernight". At the same time, she went on the "Identified Summer Tour," to promote her albums in the U.S. and Mexico.

On January 11, 2008 it was announced that Hudgens would star in the comedy, Bandslam. Hudgens plays 15-year-old Sa5m, the 5 is silent, explained as an awkward outsider; the film will have a mid-summer 2009 release. Hudgens reprised her role as Gabriella in 2008's High School Musical 3: Senior Year and appeared on the movie's soundtrack. She also performed at the 81st Academy Awards in a musical number with other young actors involving the theme of Young Hollywood. Hudgens' upcoming projects include starring roles in Sucker Punch, which will release in 2011, where she plays the role of Blondie, which she explains as the "tough one" and the film adaptation of Beastly, which is scheduled for a 2010 release. Hudgens told Brazilian's Caras Magazine that she is planning to write songs on her new album based on her experiences.

Vanessa Hudgens: Personal life

In an October 2007 interview she said is dating her High School Musical series co-star Zac Efron and had been since the filming of High School Musical. She bought a house in 2008 costing $2.75 million. On December 12, 2008, Hudgens was ranked #20 in the list of Forbes "High Earners Under 30".

Vanessa Hudgens: Controversies

Vanessa Hudgens - Nude photo scandal

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."

Vanessa Hudgens - Lawsuit

Brian Schall sued Hudgens last 2007 for an alleged "breach of contract", that according to the suit, Schall claims he advanced costs and expenses on Hudgens' behalf for her songwriting and recording career. Hudgens was later 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. Hudgens was ordered to pay Vieira's attorneys $1,500 in fees. The case was settled on May 2, 2009 out of court on unreleased terms.