It is undeniable that High School Musical marked the lives of millions of people around the world, and even though it has been over a decade since the last movie of the series was released, no one will ever forget the incredible characters everyone loved. Especially not Gabriella Montez, portrayed by the great Vanessa Hudgens.
After High School Musical, Hudgens became an incredibly popular actress and, with great success often times comes great wealth. Vanessa managed to amass an incredible amount of money, in part thanks to High School Musical.
Updated on May 5, 2023: Vanessa Hudgens has been spending much of her time lately in front of the camera. The actress has five projects currently in various stages of production. The film Downtown Owl and the TV series Army of the Dead: Lost Vegas are both set to release this year.
Her other titles are French Girls, which is currently in post-production, Big Rig, which is in pre-production, and lastly Bad Boys 4, which is still in production as of now. With all of these works in progress, Hudgens is likely to see a rise in her net worth in the coming year.
How Much Did Vanessa Hudgens Earn In High School Musical?
It is rare for TV movies to have the level of success that the High School Musical film series had. It propelled the careers of many now-famous stars such as Zac Efron, Ashley Tisdale, and of course, Vanessa Hudgens.
The first two movies were widely successful, but the third installment, High School Musical 3: Senior Year, broke all the records. The film got a theatrical release and made $252.9 million worldwide.
While there is not any public info regarding how much money Vanessa Hudgens made from each of the movies, she reportedly earned $2 million just from the third movie, so it is safe to say it was a heavy contributor to her net worth.
What Is Vanessa Hudgens' Net Worth?
According to Celebrity Net Worth, Vanessa Hudgens is currently worth $18 million. Although the success of High School Musical is obviously a big part of why she was able to amass such a fortune, just that alone would not have boosted her to the level she currently sits at.
She had been working as an actress for a few years before taking on the role of Gabriella Montez, so Hudgens began building her net worth very early on. Since then, she has proved her talent again and again appearing in all sorts of movies and shows, be it musicals, such as Lin-Manuel Miranda's worldwide success Tick, Tick... Boom!, action movies such as Zack Snyder's Sucker Punch, or a crime drama like Spring Breakers. The latter, it seems, attracts Vanessa the most.
"I always gravitated to the dark and the weird, and High School Musical wasn’t really dark or weird. It was very commercial and bright and poppy and uplifting and while, of course, I love those things, and it’s an amazing message and wonderful things to spread, that was never really the game plan for me," she explained.
"High School Musical came along and I obviously gained success from that, and I think it was really easy for people to put me in a box and it made it a lot harder for me to go after the things that I really wanted, which was still those really gritty, tough, dramatic roles and I learned how to say no very quickly and be really selective about what I was going to do next, and I’m so grateful that I’ve had a team that’s been so supportive and really allowed me to go after my dream."
Vanessa's Music Career Added To Her Net Worth
It becomes evident when watching the High School Musical movies that Vanessa has an incredible voice. Many of the songs she performed in the movies reached high spots in the charts and taking advantage of that momentum, she released her debut album, V, in 2006.
The album did great both critically and commercially and was eventually certified gold. In 2008, she released a second album called Identified, which did not do as great as V had, but still performed well.
However, Hudgens has not released anything since then. "I'm kind of taking a break from music right now. I'm just focusing on films and acting," she said back in 2009. "I feel like when I'm doing something I really want, [I] focus on that and try to not spread myself all over the place."
Vanessa Is Also A Businesswoman
As if being a worldwide success in the music and acting world was not enough, Vanessa also started two companies. Alongside a friend of hers, she created Caliwater, a hydrating cactus water that is rich in antioxidants. She also launched a skincare line with singer Madison Beer called Know Beauty, and Hudgens is very happy with both.
"I'm proud to have companies I believe in and that I want to share with everyone," Vanessa said about being a business owner. "Working on them is a fun, creative expression for me that doesn't rely on getting the next [acting] job."
Nowadays, this remarkably talented woman is living her best life, which is really everything fans want to hear. "Over the past couple of years, I've really come into my own," she said.
"When you're fully accepting of who you are, and you stop trying to suppress pieces of yourself, you can conquer the world. I love how silly I am. I love how excitable I am. And I love that I'm finally at a place where I can access those things."