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 Hudgens to acquire a recording contract with Hollywood Records, with whom she released two studio albums, V (2006) and Identified (2008).

Since the release of her studio albums and the High School Musical franchise, Hudgens has focused on her acting career. She has appeared in the films Bandslam (2009), Beastly, Sucker Punch (both 2011), Journey 2: The Mysterious Island, Spring Breakers (both 2012), The Princess Switch, Second Act (both 2018), and Bad Boys for Life (2020). Hudgens played the role of Emily Locke in the NBC series Powerless (2017). She also played the title role in the Broadway musical Gigi (2015) and had roles in two of Fox’s live musical productions: Rizzo in Grease: Live (2016) and Maureen Johnson in Rent: Live (2019). She is set to star in Lin-Manuel Miranda's directorial film debut Tick, Tick...Boom! (2021).