Vanessa Hudgens has always dreamed of playing "stripper or a prostitute".
Vanessa Hudgens
The 29-year-old actress is best known for playing Gabriella Montez in the 'High School Musical', but she admitted the success of those movies distracted her from her original ambitions in the movie business.
She shared: "I woke up at 27 and I was like, I have no idea who I am and what I'm doing. Which is funny because at 25, I was like, 'I've got life covered! We're good! Smooth sailing!'
"'High School Musical' was a fantastic journey, but it completely derailed me from where I originally saw my career going.
"I always wanted to be the indie girl; I always wanted to be in the movies where I'm playing a drug addict or a stripper or a prostitute. That was my goal since I was like, 11."
Meanwhile, Vanessa feels it's a "very special time to be a woman" in the film industry.
The actress says Hollywood has gone through a cultural change since the launch of the MeToo movement and the sex scandal of 2017.
She explained to the Guardian newspaper: "For a long time, such a prominent thing was girls not supporting each other, backstabbing each other, trying to tear each other down.
"One of the positive side-effects of the #MeToo movement and the burning spotlight on the need for more female directors, writers and roles, is that those girls have become a community of grown women."
Vanessa feels like the conversation has shifted over the past 12 months, suggesting that women's views are now being treated with more respect.
She said: "The conversation has changed so much. We're being heard in a way we haven't been heard in a long time and people gravitate towards that. It's a very special time to be a woman."
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