Vanessa Hudgens

Biography: This charismatic triple threat sang and danced her way to fame as a brainy beauty in Disney's smash 2006 TV-movie High School Musical. Although the multiethnic Hudgens only had a handful of TV guest spots and film appearances under her belt, she was already a veteran hoofer, having performed in myriad stage musicals since childhood. Under Disney's tutelage, Hudgens became a formidable starlet, guest-starring on the station's popular teen series (Drake & Josh, The Suite Life of Zack and Cody) and headlining HSM. After the film's success, she released her own album, V, which promptly landed in the top 30 on the Billboard 200 album chart, and then served up a sophomore pop album, Identified, in 2008. Yet she pushed aside her solo singing career to focus on acting, signing on to star in the films Bandslam (2009) and Beastly (2010) and appearing in a 2010 stage production of Rent at the Hollywood Bowl.