Her mother, Gina (née Guangco), held a succession of office jobs, and her father, Gregory Hudgens, was a firefighter.

[10][12] She began her acting career at age 15, and she briefly attended Orange County High School of the Arts, followed by homeschooling with tutors.

[19] In January 2006, Hudgens played Gabriella Montez, one of the lead roles in the Disney Channel Original Movie High School Musical.

Hudgens starred alongside Zac Efron and Ashley Tisdale,[20] the former of which she was partnered up with during the auditioning process due to their "chemistry".

[30][31] USA Today's Robert Bianco awarded the film three stars out of four, stating that High School Musical 2 was "sweet, smart, bursting with talent and energy, and awash in innocence".

[23] Hudgens reprised her role in High School Musical 3: Senior Year, the first film from the franchise to be released theatrically.

It opened at number one at the North American box office in October 2008, earning $42 million in its first weekend, which broke the record previously held by Mamma Mia!

[42] David Waddington of the North Wales Pioneer noted that Hudgens "outshines the rest of the cast, failing to fit in with the outcast narrative and making the inevitable climactic ending all the more expected".

[44] Her involvement in the production drew negative comments, but director Neil Patrick Harris defended his decision with casting Hudgens by saying, "Vanessa is awesome.

The film was released in March 2011,[52] and grossed $19 million in its first weekend at the North American box office, opening at number two.

[59] In 2013, Hudgens starred alongside Selena Gomez, Ashley Benson, Rachel Korine and James Franco in the film Spring Breakers.

The story followed four college-aged girls who decide to rob a fast food restaurant in order to pay for their spring break.

[73] By the end of the year, Hudgens starred alongside Michael Shannon, Joel Marsh Garland, Dree Hemingway, and Nick Lashaway in Spike Jonze's short comedy-drama film Choose You.

[75] In 2014, Hudgens starred as a pregnant teenage runaway girl in the drama film Gimme Shelter with Brendan Fraser, written and directed by Ron Krauss.

[78][79] That same year, she took on the title role in a production of Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe's Gigi, which opened at the Kennedy Center from January 16 to February 12,[80] before transferring to Broadway on April 8.

[84] In 2017, Hudgens played Emily Locke on NBC's comedy series Powerless, which was based on DC Comics characters.

[90] In 2018, Hudgens starred in the romantic comedy film Dog Days, alongside Finn Wolfhard and Nina Dobrev.

[93] In December 2018, she co-starred opposite Jennifer Lopez in the comedy film Second Act, directed by Peter Segal.

[95] The same year, she essayed the role of Vanessa Morales in a production by Kennedy Center of Lin-Manuel Miranda's original musical In the Heights.

Boom!, with Hudgens portraying playwright Jonathan Larson's friend Karessa Johnson, directed by Lin-Manuel Miranda.

[106] In 2022, Hudgens starred alongside Alexandra Shipp, Kiersey Clemons, and Ezra Miller in the Paramount Pictures' action thriller film, Asking for It.

[107][108] Later that month, she co-hosted the 94th Academy Awards' red carpet pre-show with Terrence J, Sofia Carson, and Brandon Maxwell.

[110] In June 2022, she co-hosted the 30th MTV Movie & TV Awards with Tayshia Adams, with Hudgens hosting the first half of the ceremony for film and scripted television.

[111] Hudgens starred in Hamish Linklater and Lily Rabe's film Downtown Owl, alongside Rabe, Ed Harris, Finn Wittrock, Jack Dylan Grazer, and August Blanco Rosenstein, produced by Sony Pictures' production label Stage 6 Films.

magazine speculated that Hudgens would be dropped from High School Musical 3 as a result of the explicit images,[128] but The Walt Disney Company denied this, stating, "Vanessa has apologized for what was obviously a lapse in judgment.

[132][133] In late 2009, Hudgens sued www.moejackson.com for posting nude "self-portrait photographs" of her taken on a mobile phone in a private home.

[134] Hudgens later commented on the photos' impact on her career in the October issue of Allure, stating, "Whenever anybody asks me, would I do nudity in a film, if I say that it's something I'm not comfortable with, they're like, 'Bullshit, you've already done it.'

[151][152] Hudgens regularly volunteers for charitable activities, including those for Best Buddies International,[153][154] Lollipop Theater Network,[155] St. Jude Children's Research Hospital[156] and the VH1 Save The Music Foundation.

[158] Hudgens is also part of the "Stand Up to Cancer (SU2C): Change The Odds" along with other Hollywood stars including Zac Efron, Dakota Fanning, Kristen Bell, and others.

Papers filed in court by her lawyer say California's Family Code "provides that the contract of a minor is voidable and may be disaffirmed before (age 18) or within a reasonable time afterward.