Vanessa Hudgens plays Gabriella Montez for the third time in the High School Musical series. Last year, nude photos of her surfaced online. Early rumors were that Disney would drop Vanessa Hudgens from High School Musical 3 due to the scandal. Obviously with her in the movie that rumor was not true.

Vanessa is HAPA. Her mother is Filipina, Chinese,and Spanish, while her father is Irish and American Indian.

High School Musical 3 : Senior Year Synopsis

Disney ’s “High School Musical ” phenomenon leaps onto the big screen in HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL 3: SENIOR YEAR, in which the world ’s favorite high school students (ZAC EFRON, VANESSA HUDGENS, ASHLEY TISDALE, LUCAS GRABEEL, CORBIN BLEU and MONIQUE COLEMAN) hit senior year. Amidst a basketball championship, prom and a big spring musical featuring all of the Wildcats, Troy and Gabriella vow to make every moment last as their lifelong college dreams put the future of their relationship in question. A crew of sophomore Wildcats (MATT PROKOP, JUSTIN MARTIN, JEMMA MCKENZIE-BROWN) joins in the fun as the film ’s incredible new music and exciting dance numbers take maximum advantage of the big screen.

Vanessa Hudgens in High School Musical 3 : Senior Year

More about Vanessa Hudgens

VANESSA HUDGENS (Gabriella Montez) is a promising young actress and recording artist.

She appears in the music-driven, inspirational fish-out-of-water story “Bandslam” to be released in early 2009. Starring alongside Gaelan Connell, Aly Michalka and Lisa Kudrow, Hudgens plays a misfit who finds her voice in a coming-of-age story about a high school battle-of-the-bands competition.

Hudgens began her career at age 8 in the world of musical theatre. Early roles in such productions as “Evita,” “Carousel,” “The Wizard of Oz,” “The King & I,” “The Music Man,” “Cinderella” and “Damn Yankees” gave the actress the opportunity to showcase her impressive singing and acting skills.

She made her feature film debut in Catherine Hardwicke’s “Thirteen,” starring Holly Hunter and Evan Rachel Wood. Soon thereafter, she co-starred in the action-adventure film “Thunderbirds,” and was a recurring guest star on Disney Channel’s “The Suite Life of Zach & Cody.” Her television credits include “Quintuplets,” “Brothers Garcia,” “Still Standing” and “Robbery Homicide Division.”

But it was Hudgens’s role in Disney Channel’s breakaway sensation “High School Musical” and its follow-up “High School Musical 2” that has garnered her much praise and attention. In 2006, Hudgens released her debut solo album “V”-a captivating variety of rock, electronic and R&B styles-and toured with the Cheetah Girls, followed by a sold-out 42-date arena concert tour of “High School Musical: The Concert.” In July 2008, Hudgens released her second album “IDENTIFY” for Hollywood Records, followed by a two-month concert tour in the Unites States.