Celebrity Biographies
Vanessa Hudgens Biography And Net Worth
Vanessa Anne Hudgens is an American actress and singer. After making her feature film debut in Thirteen (2003), Vanessa Hudgens rose to fame portraying Gabriella Montez in the High School Musical film series (2006–2008), which brought her significant mainstream media success. The first film’s success led Hudgens to acquire a recording contract with Hollywood Records, with whom she released two studio albums, V (2006) and Identified (2008).
Who is Vanessa Hudgens?
Vanessa Anne Hudgens is an American actress and singer. After making her feature film debut in Thirteen (2003), Vanessa Hudgens rose to fame portraying Gabriella Montez in the High School Musical film series (2006–2008), which brought her significant mainstream media success. The first film’s success led Hudgens to acquire a recording contract with Hollywood Records, with whom she released two studio albums, V (2006) and Identified (2008).
Bio Data
| Name | Vanessa Anne Hudgens |
| Date of birth | December 14, 1988 |
| Place of birth | Salinas, California |
| Gender | Female |
| Nationality | American |
| Height | 5 ft 1 (1. 55 m) |
| Profession | Actor, Singer |
| Relationship | Austin Butler |
| Net Worth | $18 Million |
| Instagram Handle | @vanessahudgens |
Biography
Vanessa Anne Hudgens was born on December 14, 1988, in Salinas, California, and was raised along 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, who is also an actress. She was raised as a Catholic. Her father, who died of cancer in February 2016, was of Irish, French and Native American descent, and her mother is Filipina, a native of the island of Mindanao. All of her grandparents were musicians.
From an early age, Hudgens was drawn to performance. In 1998, when she was ten years old, she began performing in local musical theatre productions, including productions of shows like “Carousel”, “The Wizard of Oz”, “The King and I”, “The Music Man”, and “Cinderella”. A few years later she began trying to make the transition to television and began auditioning for various TV shows and commercials. After landing her first commercial, her family moved to Los Angeles to better support her career. She briefly attended Orange County High School of the Arts but ultimately finished school via homeschooling with tutors.
Career
Vanessa Hudgens landed her first professional acting role when she was cast as the character Tiffany on an episode of the TV show “Still Standing”. She went on to guest star in an episode of “Robbery Homicide Division”, before making her film debut in the movie “Thirteen” (2003) as a supporting character. Hudgens’s career took off in 2006 though, when she landed the starring female lead role of Gabriella Montez in the Disney Channel Original Movie “High School Musical”, alongside Zac Efron and Ashley Tisdale. This film was a resounding hit, and it boasted 7.7 million viewers in its premiere broadcast in the United States. In addition to showcasing her acting skills, the film also helped showcase Hudgens’s singing abilities. Several of the songs she recorded for the film’s soundtrack went on to become commercial hits; in particular, her duet with Zac Efron, “Breaking Free”, peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US. Running off of the momentum from “High School Musical”, Hudgens released her debut studio album, “V”, in September 2006. It debuted at No. 24 on the US Billboard 200 chart, selling over 34,000 copies in just its first week. The album has since been certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America.
In 2007, Hudgens reprised her role as Gabriella in the sequel film “High School Musical 2”, which premiered in August that year. This film was even more successful than the first one, boasting over 17.2 million viewers in the US on the night of its premiere. With numbers like that, it is the most-watched Disney Channel Original Movie of all time. Quickly following the film once again, Hudgens released her second studio album, “Identified”, in July 2008. However, despite debuting at No. 23 on the Billboard 200 chart, the album was considered a commercial failure, and she subsequently parted ways with her record label, Hollywood Records. In October 2008, Hudgens once again starred as Gabriella in the third film in the High School Musical franchise, “High School Musical 3: Senior Year” (2008). This film is the only one of the three films in the franchise to be released theatrically, and it opened at No. 1 in the North American box office in its first weekend. Earning $42 million in its opening weekend alone, the film actually broke the record for the biggest opening by a musical, which was previously held by the film “Mamma Mia!”. Ultimately, the film brought in $252 million worldwide, a resounding success.
Following the High School Musical series, Hudgens took a step back from her musical career to focus on acting. She subsequently appeared in films like the musical comedy “Bandslam” (2009); the film “Beastly” (2011), based on a novel by Alex Flinn; the action film “Sucker Punch” (2011), directed by Zack Snyder; “Journey 2: The Mysterious Island” (2012) with fellow stars Dwayne Johnson and Josh Hutcherson; “Spring Breakers” with fellow former Disney star Selena Gomez; “Gimme Shelter” (2013), directed by Ron Krauss; “The Frozen Ground” (2013); “Dog Days” (2018); “The Princess Switch” (2018); “Second Act” (2018); “The Knight Before Christmas” (2019), which she also served as the executive producer of; and the film “Bad Boys for Life” (2020), which is part of the Bad Boys franchise. Additionally, Hudgens also appeared in the first (and only) season of the NBC series “Powerless” in 2017.
Net Worth
Vanessa Hudgens has a whopping net worth of $20 Million dollars.
Personal Life
Vanessa Hudgens and Austin Butler dated from 2011 to 2020. In 2021, Hudgens confirmed via Instagram that she was in a relationship with Major League Baseball shortstop Cole Tucker. Hudgens and Tucker reportedly got engaged at the end of 2022.
Hudgens was raised Catholic but now identifies as a non-denominational Christian. She attends the Los Angeles affiliate church of Hillsong Church.
In March 2020, Hudgens posted an Instagram video where she stated that it is “inevitable” that people will die from the COVID-19 pandemic. The video caused controversy as critics accused her of minimizing the impact of the disease and the need for preventive measures. She subsequently apologized for her “insensitive” remarks.
On September 6, 2007, photos allegedly stolen from Hudgens were leaked online, one showing her posing in lingerie and another showing her nude. A statement from her publicist said that the photo was taken privately and it was unfortunate that they were released on the Internet.
FAQs
Who is Vanessa Hudgens engaged to?
Vanessa Hudgens is engaged to Cole Tucker.
How much older is Vanessa Hudgens than Austin Butler?
Vanessa Hudgens was three years older than Austin Butler.
How long did Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens date?
Vanessa Hudgens and Efron met on the set of the high school musical movie when they were still teenagers. They dated from 2005-2010 when they ended their relationship.
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