Vanessa Hudgens

A multi-talented artist of Irish, Native American, Filipino, Chinese, and Spanish extraction, Vanessa Hudgens was born as the oldest daughter of Greg Hudgens and Gina Guangco on December 14, 1988 in Salinas, California. She has a younger sister named Stella who grew up with her in San Diego. Vanessa enrolled in Orange County High School of the Arts before opting a home-school system as soon as she completed the seventh grade. Inheriting a deep fondness for both music and acting from her artistic grandparents, she has developed her knack in those two fields since an early age which then led her to various stage performances in musical theater as a singer starting at the age of eight. With the rich experience, it was not really surprising to later see the girl successfully passed an audition for a commercial that inevitably brought her to the next phase of her life.

Finally moving to Los Angeles with her family, Vanessa wonderfully did not find any difficulties to land more deals for other commercials afterwards, even quickly made her way to shift into show business through an appearance in CBS' sitcom "Still Standing" in 2002. Within one year, she had already encountered her film debut in "Thirteen" (2003), following it with a series of acting stints either for small or big screen such as culminating in Disney Channel's original movie "High School Musical." Premiered in January 2006, the TV movie turned out to be a big success, propelling its teen cast into instant stardom. As successful as the movie itself, the soundtrack album was also a best-seller in the States after ruling at #1 on Billboard Hot 200 for two straight weeks.