Vanessa Anne Hudgens was born in Salinas, California and grew up in San Diego; she has a younger sister, Stella Hudgens, who is also an actress. Her father, Greg Hudgens , is of Irish and Native American descent and her mother, Gina Guangco, was born in the Philippines and is of Filipino, Chinese and Spanish descent. All of her grandparents were musicians during the Big band period. Starting at the age of eight, Hudgens performed in musical theatre as a singer , and appeared in local productions of Evita, Carousel, The Wizard of Oz, The King and I, The Music Man, Cinderella and Damn Yankees, among others. Hudgens successfully auditioned for a commercial and subsequently moved to Los Angeles with her family which she is still close with.

Hudgens made her feature debut in Thirteen as Noel and appeared in the 2004 summer film, Thunderbirds as Tin Tin. Her television appearances include guest roles on Quintuplets, Still Standing, Cover Me, Robbery Homicide Division, Brothers Garcia and The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, as a classmate of Ashley Tisdale and Brenda Song's characters. She also appeared on Drake & Josh, playing Drake's girlfriend. Hudgens came to fame among teenage audiences after starring opposite Zac Efron, Ashley Tisdale and Lucas Grabeel in the Disney Channel Original Movie, High School Musical.

Hudgens participated in the Disney Channel Games 2006, which were filmed in April of 2006 and aired two months later. She is on the Blue Team, along with Brenda Song, Corbin Bleu, Cole Sprouse, Monique Coleman and Jason Earles. In June of 2006, Hudgens signed a recording contract with Hollywood Records, and is currently working on an album scheduled for a September 26, 2006 release date. The record company, owned by Disney, described Hudgens as "talented" and "tireless in her work ethic" in press releases for the announcement. Hudgens will be opening for the Cheetah Girls during their "The Party's Just Begun Tour" this fall performing at 20 out of the 40 total cities that are being performed in. The range of concerts she will be attending date from October 17, 2006 to November 15, 2006.