Vanessa Hudgens
Vanessa Anne Hudgens (born December 14, 1988) is an American actress and singer. After working in local theater plays and television commercials in her childhood, Hudgens made her screen debut in the 2003 drama film Thirteen as Noel. Hudgens starred in the 2004 science-fiction-adventure film Thunderbirds playing the character of Tin-Tin. But Hudgens' most prominent role was as Gabriella Montez in the High School Musical series. Hudgens was nominated for Imagen Foundation Awards and Young Artist Awards for her portrayal in the film series.
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. Hudgens garnered critical acclaim in the 2009 film Bandslam which released on August 14, 2009.
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) who held a succession of office jobs, and Gregory Hudgens, a firefighter, and a younger sister, Stella Hudgens. Hudgens and her family moved to Los Angeles after she won a role in a television commercial.Hudgens is of mixed cultural descents,as her father is of Irish and Native American descent, and her mother, a native of Manila, is of Chinese-Filipino-Spanish 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.Two years after her career in stage plays and musicals, she started auditioning for commercials and TV shows.Her acting career started at the age of 15, and she was not able to finish her high school in Orange County High School of the Arts after being home schooled by tutors.
Career
In 2003, Hudgens played a minor role in the independent drama film Thirteen, where she plays Noel, a friend of Tracy (Evan Rachel Wood's character). The film received general favorable reviews, critically successful, and surpassed its $4 million budget. She landed a role, eventually, in the 2004 science fiction-adventure film as Tintin. Unfortunately, the film was commercially and critically unsuccessful, and received heavy criticism through the Internet prior to its release. In late 2005, she landed the role of shy and meek Gabriella Montez in High School Musical, opposite to Zac Efron.
Before she played her breakout role as Gabriella Montez in High School Musical, Hudgens has already appeared in television shows such as Quintuplets, Still Standing, The Brothers García, Drake & Josh and The Suite Life of Zack & Cody. Her performance in High School Musical received numerous nominations and awards.With the success of the film, BBC UK noted that Hudgens will be a "household name" in the US.
Hudgens received a recording contract with Hollywood Records.On September 2006, the release of her debut album entitled V, charted on the Billboard 200 at number twenty-four on the chart[5] and was certified Gold on February 27, 2007. Her first single, "Come Back to Me" became her highest-charting single and her second single was "Say OK". Billboard readers chose "V" as the seventh best album of the year.Hudgens was named Female Breakout Singer of the year at the 2007 Teen Choice Awards.
Hudgens also 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. In 2007, Hudgens reprised her role as Gabriella Montez in the sequel of High School Musical, High School Musical 2.Virginia Heffernan of TV Review described Hudgens in her performance in the movie as "matte" as she "glows like a proper ingénue".
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