Vanessa Anne Hudgens was born in Salinas, California. Her family moved to San Diego, California, while she was still a toddler. She has a younger sister, Stella Hudgens, who is also an actress. Her mother, Gina Hudgens (née Guangco), an office worker, is from the Philippines. Her father, Greg Hudgens, a firefighter, had Irish and Native American ancestry.

Vanessa was interested in acting and singing at a young age, inspired by her grandparents, who were musicians. At the age of 8, she started appearing in musical theater. She fell deeper in love with the arts and began studying acting, singing, and dance more seriously with Jailyn Osborne. Vanessa very briefly attended Orange County High School of the Arts. After years of auditioning, she began seeing some success. This prompted her family to move to Los Angeles, California. She started homeschooling, so she missed out on the high school experience, and she finally landed her breakthrough role in High School Musical (2006).

No info available

Trivia

Older sister of actress Stella Hudgens.
Parents are Greg Hudgens and Gina Hudgens (née Guangco).
Her ancestry includes Filipina, Chinese and Spanish (from her mother); Irish and Native American (from her father).
Her musical theater roles include leads in "Evita," "Carousel," "The Wizard of Oz", "The King and I," "The Music Man," "Cinderella," "Damn Yankees," "The Hunchback of Notre Dame," and "The Little Mermaid," among others.
She got her first gig when her friend could not go to an audition for a commercial and asked if Vanessa could go.
Enjoys singing just as much as dancing and acting. Her favorite kind of music is rock music.
Is a huge fan of horror movies.
Is a huge fan of the late Natalie Wood.
Good friends with High School Musical (2006) co-stars Ashley Tisdale, Zac Efron, and Corbin Bleu, along with Alexa Nikolas, Brenda Song, and Miley Cyrus.
She appeared alongside Brady Corbet in both her first two films, Thirteen (2003) and Thunderbirds (2004).
Best known for portraying the role of Gabriella Montez in High School Musical (2006) and its related sequels.
Her favorite television series is Degrassi: The Next Generation (2001).
Was named "The Heartbreaker" in Disney Channel's first DC games (2006).
Was chosen to be a member of the blue team in DC games held in the summer of 2006.
Her two favorite singers are Alicia Keys and Céline Dion.
She sang "Angels" by Robbie Williams at her High School Musical (2006) audition.
She has been home-schooled since the seventh grade.
She has already graduated from high school.
At one point, she planned to audition for American Idol (2002).
Her song "Whatever Will Be" is really a song that reflects on her motto.

[on her nude picture scandal] I'm much better now. But truthfully, I don't like talking about it. It was something that was meant to be private, and even though it isn't anymore, I'd still like to keep it as private as I can. It was very traumatic, and I am extremely upset it happened. I hope all my fans can learn from my mistake and make smart decisions. But I wouldn't have been able to get through it if it wasn't for my family, friends, and fans, who supported me all along the way.
Power to the Peaceful.
[on her role in The Frozen Ground (2013)] Ever since I was really young, I wanted to play a prostitute. It's just, like, thrilling as an actor to put yourself in a situation you, personally, would never be in. At the end of the day, you're just a kid playing pretend, so if you're going to do it, might as well go crazy with it.
I love and really respect strong women. I'm obsessed with Scarlett Johansson, Drew Barrymore and Penélope Cruz. They are just really incredibly strong-willed, intelligent females in the industry.
I don't like being stagnant. I want to continue to grow and just be better at what I do, and the only way to do that is to keep stepping outside of your comfort zone.