Vanessa Anne Hudgens (born December 14, 1988) is an American actress and singer. After making her feature film debut in Thirteen (2003), Hudgens rose to fame portraying Gabriella Montez in the High School Musical film series (2006–2008), which brought her significant mainstream success.
The success of the first film led to Hudgens' acquiring a recording contract with Hollywood Records, with whom she released two studio albums, V (2006) and Identified (2008).
No Disney Channel Original Movie had the masses soaring and flying in quite the same way as High School Musical.
Released in 2006, the original movie starred the likes of Zac Efron, Vanessa Hudgens and Ashley Tisdale at the very start of their careers.
It was the sort of smash hit that launched a mega-successful franchise and that had a positive impact on their net worth. After working their way through classic bops like “We’re All In This Together,” the group got together for two more movies.
High School Musical 3: Senior Year even got a theatrical release. The franchise even inspired a Disney+ series High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, starring the likes of Olivia Rodrigo and Joshua Bassett.
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