Vanessa Hudgens

Vanessa Anne Hudgens was born in Salinas, California, and grew up in locations across the West Coast, including San Diego. Her mother, Gina Guangco, worked in office roles and is from the Philippines, while her father, Gregory Hudgens, was a firefighter. Her younger sister, Stella Hudgens, is also an actress.

Hudgens developed an interest in performance through her grandparents, who were musicians. She began appearing in musical theater at age 8, taking part in productions of Carousel, The Wizard of Oz, The King and I, The Music Man, and Cinderella. After briefly attending Orange County High School of the Arts, she was homeschooled as her acting career developed.

Hudgens made her feature-film debut as Noel in the 2003 drama Thirteen and played Tintin in the 2004 science-fiction adventure film Thunderbirds. She also appeared in television programs including Still Standing, The Brothers García, Drake & Josh, and The Suite Life of Zack & Cody.

Her breakthrough came in 2006, when she played Gabriella Montez in Disney Channel's High School Musical. She starred opposite Zac Efron, whose character Troy Bolton falls for Gabriella, and Ashley Tisdale, who played their rival Sharpay Evans. Hudgens reprised Gabriella in High School Musical 2 and High School Musical 3: Senior Year, with the third film receiving a theatrical release. Hudgens and Efron also had a highly publicized relationship from 2005 to 2010.

The success of High School Musical led Hudgens to a recording contract with Hollywood Records. Her duet with Zac Efron, “Breaking Free,” reached No. 4 on the US Billboard Hot 100. She also performed on the franchise's soundtracks and joined the High School Musical: The Concert tour in 2006 and 2007.

Hudgens released her debut studio album, V, in 2006. It reached No. 24 on the Billboard 200 and was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America. Her second album, Identified, followed in 2008 and debuted at No. 23. After the album's release, she shifted her primary focus toward acting.

After High School Musical, Hudgens pursued more varied film roles. She received praise for her performance as Sa5m in Bandslam (2009), then appeared in Beastly and Zack Snyder's Sucker Punch in 2011. Her later films included Journey 2: The Mysterious Island, Spring Breakers, The Frozen Ground, Machete Kills, and Gimme Shelter.

Hudgens played Emily Locke in the NBC comedy series Powerless and later appeared in Dog Days, Second Act, Polar, and Bad Boys for Life. She starred as multiple characters in the Netflix Christmas films The Princess Switch, The Princess Switch: Switched Again, and The Princess Switch 3: Romancing the Star, serving as a producer on the latter two sequels and The Knight Before Christmas. She voiced Sunny Starscout in My Little Pony: A New Generation and played Karessa in Lin-Manuel Miranda's Tick, Tick... Boom!.

She has also worked as a television host and judge. Hudgens co-hosted the 2017 Billboard Music Awards, judged So You Think You Can Dance for two seasons, hosted the MTV Movie & TV Awards: Greatest of All Time special, and co-hosted several major entertainment red-carpet broadcasts. In 2024, she won season 11 of The Masked Singer as Goldfish.

Hudgens returned to musical theater throughout her acting career. She played Mimi in a 2010 Hollywood Bowl production of Rent and made her Broadway debut as Gigi in the 2015 revival of Gigi. The Broadway production closed after 20 previews and 86 performances.

In 2016, she played Rizzo in Fox's live production of Grease: Live!. Her performance was dedicated to her father, who died from cancer shortly before the broadcast. She later played Maureen Johnson in Rent: Live in 2019 and appeared as Vanessa Morales in a Kennedy Center production of Lin-Manuel Miranda's In the Heights.

Hudgens has been married to former professional baseball shortstop Cole Tucker since December 2023. They have two children, born in 2024 and 2025.

Hudgens's earlier high-profile relationships included her relationship with High School Musical co-star Zac Efron, which lasted from 2005 to 2010, and her relationship with actor Austin Butler, which lasted from 2011 to 2019.