User talk:Vanessa Hudgens

Early life

Hudgens was born in Salinas, California, and lived all over the West Coast – from Oregon to Southern California – with her parents, Gina (née Guangco), who held a succession of office jobs, and Gregory Hudgens, a firefighter.[2][3] She was raised as a Roman Catholic[7] and has a younger sister, Stella Hudgens, who is also an actress. Hudgens is of mixed cultural background,[8] as her father is of Irish and Native American descent, and her mother, a native of Manila, is of Chinese-Filipino descent.[3][9] Hudgens is also of distant Spanish descent and all of her grandparents were musicians.[10] Starting at the age of eight, Hudgens performed in musical theater as a singer, and appeared in local productions of Carousel, The Wizard of Oz, The King and I, The Music Man, and Cinderella, among others.[11] Two years after her career in stage plays and musicals, she started auditioning for commercials and television shows, and her family moved to Los Angeles after she won a role in a television commercial.[10][12] Her acting career started at the age of 15, and she briefly attended Orange County High School of the Arts, followed by homeschooling with tutors.[13][14]