Venessa Hudgens

Birth name   :  Vanessa Anne Hudgens
Born              :  December 14, 1988
Genres          :  Pop, dance
Occupations :  Actress, singer

Personal Life

Vanessa Anne Hudgens born December 14, 1988 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. In 2009, she earned critical acclaim for her role in the film Bandslam. She has also appeared in the film Journey 2: The Mysterious Island alongside Dwayne Johnson and Josh Hutcherson. She is set to appear in films such as Spring Breakers alongside Selena Gomez, and Machete Kills, directed by Robert Rodriguez.

In addition to acting, Hudgens released her debut album V on September 26, 2006 which entered the Billboard 200 at number twenty four, and was later certified Gold. Her second album, Identified, was released on July 1, 2008 in the United States.

She was born in Salinas, California, and has lived with her parents throughout the West Coast from Oregon to Southern California. Her mother Gina (née Guangco),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 Hudgens is of mixed cultural background, as her father is of Irish and Native American descent, and her mother, a native of Manila Philippines, is of Chinese-Filipino-Spanish descent. All of her 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. 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.