The Beat Goes On

“I hear a ‘High School Musical’ reference multiple times a week,” Hudgens told ABS-CBN in an interview earlier this year. “However, it’s something I find joy in. It allows me to reminisce a bit and connect to my younger self. That project opened up so many doors for me and I’ll always be grateful for that.”

Hudgens, who played the role of Gabriella Montez, a shy transfer student who falls for Troy Bolton, the school’s popular basketball captain (played by Zac Efron), has worked steadily since “High School Musical 3: Senior Year,” premiered in 2008. This last film in the franchise, which debuted in theaters, rather than the Disney Channel, marked Hudgens’ first big-screen break.

In the years since “High School Musical,” Hudgens has starred in the musical “Gigi” on Broadway, released two albums and acted in movies, including “Spring Breakers,” “Gimme Shelter,” and “Bad Boys for Life,” and TV shows, including “Drunk History,” “Rent: Live,” “Grease: Live” and “Powerless.”

Hudgens, who turns 32 this month, recently starred in the Netflix holiday movie, “The Princess Switch: Switched Again,” a sequel to her 2018 film, “The Princess Switch.” In 2019, Hudgens once again starred in a Netflix holiday film, “The Knight Before Christmas.” In addition, Netflix has also given the green light to a third Princess Switch movie, set to premiere during the 2021 holiday season. 

In “The Princess Switch: Switched Again,” Hudgens plays three roles: Duchess Margaret and Princess Stacy from the first movie, and a new character, Fiona. According to Netflix, the movie centers around Duchess Margaret who inherits the throne to Montenaro and hits a rough patch with her boyfriend. It’s up to Princess Stacy to get the star-crossed lovers back together, a task complicated by a handsome royal intent on stealing Margaret’s heart. The movie franchise led to Glamour magazine dubbing Hudgens, “the queen of the Christmas romantic comedy.”

In addition to starring in the films, Hudgens also produced “The Knight Before Christmas” and “The Princess Switch” sequel. 

“I’d been thinking of directing for a long time, and I have my own point of view on art,” Hudgens told Glamour magazine in a November 2019 interview. “I feel as long as you have a point of view and perspective, that’s all it really takes to be able to make something your own.”

Hudgens also made her debut on the popular social media platform TikTok in March, along with former “High School Musical” co-star Ashley Tisdale, giving fans a serious case of nostalgia. The actresses sang their popular “High School Musical” song, “We’re All in This Together,” which fans thought was an appropriate ode to life during the pandemic.

In April, Hudgens and the “High School Musical” cast reunited for a special televised Disney sing-along on ABC, where they performed, “We’re All in This Together,” along with other stars from the Disney channel, including Efron who Hudgens dated from 2006 to 2011. Shortly after their breakup, Hudgens began dating actor Austin Butler. The couple dated for almost nine years before ending their relationship this past January.

When talking to InStyle magazine last year about “The Knight Before Christmas,” Hudgens acknowledged that holiday movies can provide a much-needed dose of escapism for many.

“The holidays can be a stressful and sad time because many people, including myself, are reminded of those who are no longer around to enjoy them with you,” Hudgens told InStyle, speaking about her father, Greg, who died of cancer in January 2016. “If I can facilitate families coming together and watching a movie so they can go about their day a little more lightheartedly and feel the Christmas spirit, then that’s a really wonderful gift to be able to give.”

The actress told InStyle that her own Christmas traditions as a young girl included driving around their California neighborhood and looking at Christmas lights with her parents and younger sister, Stella.

“After returning home, we’d decorate the tree and open Christmas presents while watching the annual Christmas parade on TV,” Hudgens told InStyle. “Now I make mulled wine every year because it smells amazing and tastes phenomenal.”

Looking to 2021, Hudgens is excited for the release of her new Netflix movie, “Tick, Tick… Boom!,” a musical biopic, written by Jonathan Larson, who also penned the groundbreaking rock opera, “Rent.” The film centers around an aspiring theater composer, who begins questioning his career choice as he approaches his 30th birthday. Andrew Garfield also stars in the film, which is directed by Lin-Manuel Miranda.   

“To me a new year is a time of rebirth and new beginnings,” Hudgens said in an interview with Cosmopolitan UK earlier this year. “I feel like it’s a time where I have a clean slate and 365 days ahead of me where I can really be intentional with what I’m doing.”

On the first day of the new year, Hudgens told Cosmopolitan UK, she creates a vision board to hang in her Los Angeles home that includes photos of places she wants to visit, how much money she hopes to save, the kind of films she’d like to do, and the people she’d like to work with.

“I place the vision board on the wall of my home in Los Angeles, where I can look at it every day. It’s pretty amazing how when you’re extremely intentional about what you want to do, you end up completing a lot of the things on your vision board,” Hudgens said in the interview. “I also reward myself when I do get things done. I’m a big advocate of patting yourself on the back and saying, ‘Hey girl, you’re crushing it.’”

While many people include fitness goals on their list of New Year’s resolutions, Hudgens maintains a regular exercise routine that makes her feel healthier and more confident.

“I love working out because it makes me feel like I can accomplish whatever I set my mind to,” Hudgens told Parade magazine in a June 2019 interview. 

Hudgens told the magazine that she enjoys doing a cross of Soul Cycle, Pilates and yoga and follows an intermittent fasting plan where she fasts for 18 hours and then eats for six.

In a 2018 interview with Women’s Health magazine, Hudgens admitted that maintaining regular workouts can be tough with her filming schedule, but she strives to make exercise a priority.

“Working out is like moving meditation,” she told Women’s Health. “I feel you can work through things better in movement than being stagnant. You’re pushing through and surviving, and you know you will succeed and get through it no matter how uncomfortable it is. That spills into life, because then you can walk into things with more certainty that you’ll end up alright.”