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Vanessa Hudgens Has Some Advice for High School Musical's New Class
The Powerless actress weighs in on the future of the franchise — and what's next for her.
It's been a decade since the world was introduced to the singing and dancing students of High School Musical. In the 10 years since the film debuted, the cast has stepped out of the shadows of their East High School alter egos. But, as the story goes, just because Vanessa Hudgens, Zac Efron, and the gang are all grown up, doesn't mean nostalgia for the franchise isn't alive and well. Back in March it was announced that the Disney Channel gave the greenlight to a fourth film in the franchise. And now Vanessa has some advice for the new crop of students.
"Just have fun," she told The Daily Dish at the NBCUniversal upfront where she prompting her new NBC series, Powerless. "I remember when we were doing the first one, I was 16 years old running around singing and dancing, just having a good time and I feel like kids connected to that; it allowed them to really enjoy it as well. So [my advice would be to] have fun [and] don't take yourself too seriously. Put in the work, but enjoy it."
Vanessa has certainly garnered plenty of attention for her post-HSM work since graduating from the series of movies in 2008. Most recently, she received critical praise for her role as Grease bad girl Rizzo in FOX's live TV event back in February. "It was amazing. It's nice when you work really hard on something and a lot of people see it and actually enjoy it. So it felt really good, of course," she explained. "It's such an incredible musical and we had such an amazing cast and team involved that it felt very special to be a part of it."
Next up for Vanessa is Powerless, which tells the story of normal humans in a world filled with superheroes and supervillans. So who would Vanessa be if she could be any super heroine? "I didn't [have a favorite one] for the longest time, but recently I've had a real connection with Wonder Woman," she said, before referencing the recent death of her father. "She's kind of helped me through a lot of things recently. She's my alter ego, I guess."
Check out some photos of Vanessa, below.
