Vanessa Anne Hudgens born on December 14, 1988 in Salinas, California is an American actress and singer. She started performing on stage at the age of eight as a singer in musical theater and on local production such as  Carousel, The Wizard of Oz, The King and I, The Music Man, and Cinderella. Slowly she started auditioning for commercials and television shows. Shortly after she got role in a television commercial her family moved to Los Angeles.

Hudgens officially started her acting career at the age of 15, appearing on the sitcom “Still Standing”, guest starred on the series”Robbery Homicide Division” (2002). She made her theatrical debut in the 2003 drama film “Thirteen” where Hudgens takes the role of teenager Tracy trying to fit in and getting caught up in the wrong crowd.

In 2005 she was cast as Gabriella Montez as the lead cast in the Disney Channel Original Movie High School Musical alongside Zac Efron and Ashley Tisdale,  was released on January 20, 2006 and the movie was a hit having 7.7 million views in its broadcast premiere in the US itself. After the hit duet with Zac Efron “Breaking Free”, Hudgens went on to work on her debut album titled “V”. The album debuted at number 24 on the Billboard Hot 100.

In 2007 Hudgens returned for the sequel “High School Musical 2” released on August 17, 2007. The movie was a double hit than its first part having 17.2 million viewers in the US making it the highest rated Disney Channel Movie all time. On the same year Hudgens was working on her second album “Identified” which released on July 1, 2008, it was a average success than her first album. In 2008 the third sequel “High School Musical 3 : Senior Year” was released grossing about $252 million worldwide.

After the completion of High School Musical Series Hudgens played a supporting role in “Bandslam” (2014). She returned to the theater production and starred in the musical Rent as Mimi. She played one of the main characters in the film “Beastly”(2011), Sucker Punch (2011) . In October 2010, Hudgens joined the cast of “Journey 2: The Mysterious Island” (2012), the sequel to the 2008 film “Journey to the Center of the Earth”, alongside Dwayne Johnson and Josh Hutcherson, playing Hutcherson’s love interest.

In November 2011, Hudgens announced on her official website that she would be starring with Selena Gomez and James Franco in Spring Breakers. Hudgens also plays Cindy Paulson in “The Frozen Ground” (2013). Hudgens was cast in a pilot for a TV comedy series titled “Powerless”, which is based on DC Comics characters.

Hudgens began a relationship with High School Musical co-star Zac Efron in 2005. They ended their relationship after five years in December 2010. Hudgens has been in a relationship with actor Austin Butler since 2011.