Vanessa Hudgens Reveals How Her East High Visit Came to Be — And Reacts to Ex Zac Efron’s Similar Photo

22.10.2022 - 22:21 / usmagazine.com

Once a Wildcat, always a Wildcat. Vanessa Hudgens and Zac Efron turned heads when they both visited the High School Musical filming location one month apart — and the actress is finally opening up about the nature of her trip.

“My boyfriend was playing in Salt Lake [City] — he’s a baseball player,” Hudgens, 33, told Entertainment Weekly on Friday, October 21, referring to partner Cole Tucker. “So, he was at the field [during the game] and I had rented a car and I was like, ‘I want to go check it out and take some pictures for old time’s sake.’”

The Princess Switch star made headlines earlier this year, when she visited Salt Lake High School East, the real-life filming location for the High School Musical franchise.

“Do you remember in kindergarten how you’d meet a kid and know nothing about them, then 10 seconds later you’re playing like you’re best friends because you didn’t have to be anything but yourself?” Hudgens captioned a June 26 Instagram video of herself flashing a peace sign in front of the academic building, referring to her character’s line from the film. An instrumental version of “Breaking Free” played in the background.

The California native rose to fame playing prodigy Gabriella Montez in High School Musical (2006), High School Musical 2 (2007) and High School Musical 3: Senior Year (2008). In the original DCOM flick, Hudgens’ Gabriella sparked a connection with Troy Bolton (played by Efron) during winter break. To the pair’s surprise, Gabriella and her mom had moved to his native Albuquerque, New Mexico, the following semester — and enrolled her at the same school: East High. The film franchise also starred Ashley Tisdale, Lucas Grabeel, Monique Coleman and Corbin Bleu.

Hudgens isn’t the only HSM veteran to