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Vanessa Hudgens
Vanessa Anne Hudgens is an American actress and singer. Hudgens rose
to prominence playing Gabriella Montez in the High School Musical series.
Hudgens has also appeared in various films and television series for the Disney Channel.
She had her feature film debut in the 2003 film Thirteen,
a teenage drama in which Hudgens had a supporting role.
She had mainstream success following the release of the High School Musical trilogy,
and her relationship with co-star Zac Efron was heavily publicized.
Her appearance in the series helped make her a household name. Songs
from the films also charted worldwide, with the song "Breaking Free"
peaking inside the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100. This led to Hudgens releasing her debut album,
V, on September 26, 2006 which entered the Billboard 200 at number 24,
and was later certified gold. Her second album, Identified, was released on July 1,
2008 in the United States. Since the release of her albums and the High School Musical franchise,
Hudgens has focused on her acting career. She has appeared in the films Bandslam, Beastly,
Sucker Punch, Journey 2: The Mysterious Island, Spring Breakers, and Machete Kills.
She has also played the title role in the Broadway musical Gigi in 2015,
and the role of Rizzo in Grease: Live in 2016.
Early life
Hudgens was born in Salinas, California, and lived with her parents along the West Coast,
from Oregon to Southern California. Her mother, Gina, held a succession of office jobs,
and her father, Gregory Hudgens, was a firefighter. She has a younger sister, Stella Hudgens,
who is also an actress. She was raised as a Roman Catholic. Her father was of Irish
and Native American descent, and her mother, a native of Manila, Philippines,
is of Filipino descent. All of her grandparents were musicians.
2002–05: Career beginnings
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. Two years after her career in stage plays and musicals,
she started auditioning for commercials and television shows, and her family moved
to Los Angeles after she won a role in a television commercial. Her acting career started
at the age of 15, and she briefly attended Orange County High School of the Arts, followed
by homeschooling with tutors.
Hudgens had her first acting role in an episode of the sitcom Still Standing,
in which she portrayed Tiffany. Following her appearance on the series,
she guest starred in an episode of the series Robbery Homicide Division, airing on CBS in 2002.
2003 saw Hudgens making her theatrical debut in the 2003 drama film Thirteen,
in which she had the supporting role of Noel. The film, which revolved around teenager Tracy trying
to fit in and getting caught up in the wrong crowd, was somewhat of a commercial success,
grossing $10 million worldwide. Despite its minor commercial success,
the film received positive critical reviews. It has an 82% "fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes,
and USA Today called Thirteen the most "powerful of all recent wayward-youth sagas".
Hudgens subsequently landed a role in the 2004 science fiction-adventure film Thunderbirds,
based on the television series of the same name. Hudgens portrayed the character of Tin-tin.
The film was a commercial failure and was strongly criticized for
"abandoning the original concepts".
2006–08: High School Musical, V and Identified
 [^]  In 2005, Hudgens was cast as Gabriella Montez,
one of the lead roles in the Disney Channel Original Movie High School Musical.
The film saw Hudgens portraying the new girl at high school who falls
for the captain of the basketball team. The two later reveal a passion for singing, and audition
for the school play together. Hudgens starred alongside Zac Efron and Ashley Tisdale in the film,
the former of which she was partnered up with during the auditioning process due to their
"chemistry". The film, released on January 20, 2006, was both a critical and commercial success.
High School Musical was Disney Channel's most watched film that year
with 7.7 million viewers in its premiere broadcast in the US,
until August's premiere of The Cheetah Girls 2, which achieved 8.1 million viewers.
In the UK, it received 789,000 viewers for its premiere, making it the second most watched program
for the Disney Channel of 2006. On December 29, 2006,
it became the first Disney Channel Original Movie to be broadcast on the BBC. For the film,
Hudgens recorded numerous songs which had commercial success. The song "Breaking Free", a duet
with Zac Efron, went on to become Hudgens' only Top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 to date,
when it peaked at number 4 on the chart. The song also reached number 9 in the UK,
her highest chart entry in the country. Following the success of the film,
Hudgens began work on her debut album. The project, later revealed to be titled V,
was released on September 26, 2006. The album sold 34,000 copies in its first week of release,
and debuted at number 24 on the Billboard 200 chart in the United States. In February 2007,
the album was certified gold by the RIAA. As of August 2009,
the album has sold 570,000 copies in the U.S. It was preceded by two singles, "Come Back to Me" and
"Say OK", both of which were slightly successful in numerous countries.
Both singles received heavy promotion on Disney Channel, with the music videos
for both premiering on the channel.  [^]  In 2007,
work on the second film in the High School Musical series began, and Hudgens was confirmed
to be returning for the sequel. High School Musical 2 was released on August 17, 2007.
The premiere was seen by a total of over 17.2 million viewers in the U.S.
which is almost 10 million more than its predecessor,
making it the highest-rated Disney Channel Movie of all time.
Disney Channel aired a weekly program called Road to High School Musical 2, beginning on June 8,
2007, and leading up to the premiere of High School Musical 2 in August.
The show offered viewers a behind-the-scenes look into the production of the movie.
The world premiere of the opening number "What Time Is It" was on Radio Disney May 25, 2007,
and similarly "You Are The Music In Me" premiered on July 13, 2007.
The film was generally well received by critics, gaining a score of 77/100 at Metacritic,
while it received a generally mixed response of 50% on Rotten Tomatoes.
USA Todays Robert Bianco awarded the film three stars out of four, saying High School Musical 2 was
"sweet, smart, bursting with talent and energy, and awash in innocence".
While critics enjoyed the film, they noted that the timing of the movie's premiere seemed odd,
premiering just when school was about to start up again,
while the movie's plot involved the gang going on summer vacation. High School Musical 2 won the
"So Hot Right Now" award at the Nickelodeon Australian Kids' Choice Awards 2007,
in which High School Musical castmate Zac Efron hosted with The Veronicas. In 2007,
Hudgens began work on her second studio album, partly due
to the success of the High School Musical franchise. Her second studio album, Identified,
was released on July 1, 2008. It sold 22,000 copies in its first week of release, 12,000 less
than that of her previous effort. Despite the drop in sales, the album debuted at number 23,
one spot higher than V. The album was preceded by one single, "Sneakernight",
which was her lowest performing single in the US to date.
It was a success on the Hot Dance Club Songs chart in the US, where it peaked at number 8.
Following the commercial failure of the album, it was announced that Hudgens had parted ways
with Hollywood Records. Hudgens went on
to reprise her role as Gabriella in the 2008 sequel High School Musical 3: Senior Year,
the first film from the franchise to be released theatrically. It opened at number one
at the North American box office in October 2008, earning $42 million in its first weekend,
which broke the record previously held by Mamma Mia! for the biggest opening by a musical.
The film finished with $252 million worldwide, which exceeded Disney's expectations.
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