Vanessa
Hudgens:
Bandslaming
by Lynn Barker
 "Hey,
let's start a band!" Sometimes, when you are in your teen years,
musical identity is everything. Your brand of music expresses who you
are, or helps you figure out exactly what that is. In the battle-of-the-bands
film Bandslam, HSM's Vanessa Hudgens is Sa5m ("the 5 is
silent") and, like Gabriella, she's the outsider in town who eventually
fits in but similarities end there. Sa5m's music is harder rock, not pop
and, unlike the HSM films, characters don't just burst into song, musical-style
at the drop of a hat in the movie. The performances are on stage or at
rehearsals.
Vanessa learned
guitar for Bandslam and told the press that she felt challenged
playing and singing rock with a ska-reggae flavor which hadn't been her
style. She also spoke of her personal encounters with the late pop legend
Michael Jackson. Vanessa talked of working in Austin with co-star Aly
Michalka from TV's "Phil of the Future" and the pop-musical
sister duo of Aly and AJ and their nights on the town listening to bands,
going on shopping sprees and, of course, the endless cast-wide sessions
playing "Rock Band". We'll let Vanessa tell it......
AGW: What
was your original reaction when they came to you and said 'okay, we've
got a story about high school and singing'? Did you want to make sure
that it was very different from the HSM films?
Vanessa: I
am so extremely picky that I really have to love something in order to
do it so I read the script and it said a lot to me. I decided to do it
after I read the script.
AGW: How was
it getting into the darker side of the character?
Vanessa: So
much fun. She's not dark. She's definitely not the Joker in "Dark
Knight" but it was just fun to be able to play with my tone. Because
I'm a singer, I have a good ear for things so just being able to take
a lower register was fun. It was a neat thing to play with.
AGW: Did you
actually perform everything in front of a live audience?
Vanessa: Oh
yeah. It definitely took me out of my element because I'm used to doing
pop music. I'm used to dancing choreographed to everything. Rock music
just isn't my thing. I don't have a rock voice. I didn't know how to play
the guitar so it was different but I had a good time doing it.
AGW: So you
had to learn the chords?
Vanessa: Yeah.
We had a music camp beforehand and I learned how to play the guitar, the
chords of the songs and I got to learn a little bit of the drums which
was a lot of fun.
AGW: Is rock
harder to sing?
Vanessa: I
don't know. It depends on your voice. I think some people are extremely
stylistic and I was just classically trained so I don't have the gritty,
rough thing in my voice that Aly (Michalka) has, which is great.
AGW: Were
you in bands when you were growing up?
Vanessa: No.
I wasn't that cool (she laughs).
AGW: How do
you like the way Todd worked the music into this movie?
Vanessa: I
love it. I think it's incredible. I think Todd was extremely smart with
it because I'm so used to musicals so the random breaking out into song
and dance is kind of my forte. So it was just fun because it was actual
performances so everybody got to really strut their stuff.
AGW: But some
of it was recorded earlier, right?
Vanessa: Even
the stuff that's recorded is so raw. None of it is really touched at all
so what you hear is kind of what you get.
AGW: Did you
have a playlist that you listened to while making the movie to get you
into character?
Vanessa: No.
But oh, my God, we would not stop playing Rock Band! It was ridiculous.
When we had lunch breaks we would go into Gaelan (Connell's) trailer and
play Rock Band and I sucked at the drums. Ryan, who is the drummer in
the movie, was incredible. He could play it on "expert" and
not miss a single beat so I was intimidated by that and everybody else
was good at guitar so I usually got stuck with vocals.
AGW: Was it
ever explained to you why Sa5m had the silent 5 in her name?
Vanessa: I
don't know It's just like her own identity. Some people dress a certain
way to be special. Others wear their hair a certain way to stand out and
I think her thing was just 'why not mix letters and numbers?'
AGW: What
was it like shooting in Austin?
Vanessa: So
much fun. I had never been there before and it was like my first time
on my own away from my parents and friends and without the High School
Musical cast. I brought my dog. We went to all the outside cafes
and had lunch, me and Shadow. South By Southwest (the music and film festival)
was there so me and Aly saw Willie Nelson and went saw a whole bunch of
really great films. We had a good time. We made off with a guitar pick
for a souvenir.
AGW: It's
an artsy city.
Vanessa: It
really is. There's so much to do.
AGW: How was
filming the scenes in New York?
Vanessa: We
had such a great time. We actually ran around with phones and used the
video on the phones and I was recording Gaelan and Gaelan was recording
me. We were just running around acting like idiots.
AGW: Did the
fact that your director Todd Graff had worked as an actor at some point,
make him a better director?
 Vanessa:
Yeah. He was so extremely supportive and really helped out and we had
rehearsals before and wanted to have each character defined and I think
that you can really see that we all put some effort into it and we had
a great time.
AGW: What
was Gaelan like to work with?
Vanessa: Awesome.
Gaelan is incredible. He is the cutest little quirky guy I've ever met.
He doesn't give himself enough credit though. He doesn't think that anyone
will like him but he's great. He's amazing.
AGW: What
was it like when you went into CBGBs for that big scene?
Vanessa: We
built our own CBGBs (a Country, Bluegrass and Blues club in NYC). It doesn't
exist anymore which was very exciting. I walked in and it was so neat,
the fact that we made our own. Even though it was fake, I still felt the
history of CBGBs. It was definitely messy.
AGW: They
can't make it smell like the original.
Vanessa: (laughs)
Definitely not. I would have been spraying my perfume everywhere.
AGW: Your
character has a favorite place. I'm wondering what is yours and why?
Vanessa: A
beach. Any kind of beach. I get stuck in cities and never get to go away
and relax so throw me on a beach and I'm happy. I haven't been to that
many but my favorite place I've ever been to is probably Turks and Caicos.
It's off the coast of Cuba and it was just beautiful.
AGW: Did you
scuba dive and all that fun stuff?
Vanessa: All
that fun stuff.
AGW: You've
been working so much. Are you planning on taking a break?
Vanessa: I
think, even if you want a break or don't want a break, you get a break
regardless. You can't always be working. I guess you can but then you'd
be doing some pretty crappy things because there's not a whole lot out
there that's amazing and, like I said, I'm extremely selective. I'm doing
Beastly right now and then going on to Sucker Punch
and, after that, I don't have anything planned so I'm going to wait and
see what comes into circulation.
AGW: Hummm,
how are you preparing for that role?
Vanessa: I'm
going to start training pretty soon, actually....yeah. Gun training, stunts,
fighting, all that craziness.
AGW: That
should be fun. Are you looking forward to that?
Vanessa: I
can't wait. I'm so excited. I've wanted to do an action film for a while
so I feel like this is my time to really step it up and get to grow up.
AGW: Is it
just a different atmosphere going from doing theater to Disney and now
going to do an action film. Is it a different overall feel working in
those different environments?
Vanessa: Somewhat.
Of course the scripts are different, the content is quite different but
the fact is, you're surrounded by people who love doing what they're doing.
That's why they're there and I feel that everybody that does it has a
passion for it. So, maybe there's more foul language but that's it, I
feel.
AGW: They
used your actual childhood photos in this...
Vanessa: It
so embarrassing! I watched it and was kind of burying my head into my
arm. It was just horrible. It's mortifying. That's it.
AGW: Did they
go to your mom and say 'can we get the treasure trove of Vanessa's baby
pictures'?
Vanessa: Yeah,
pretty much. They needed baby pictures so they got 'um, unfortunately.
AGW: Awww,
you were a cute baby.
Vanessa: It's
so embarrassing. I had an afro (she laughs).
AGW: How would
you compare this high school to your own school experiences?
Vanessa: I
was home-schooled so I did not have a high school experience. My school
experience was quite dull. It consisted of me virtually having no friends
and just studying in school, doing homework, definitely not as exciting
and elaborate as this. Not as much music. That's for sure. They had musicals
but no rock bands.
AGW: Are you
now going to turn away from doing movies with a musical element?
Vanessa: I'll
revisit it eventually. I don't want to keep doing it because I don't want
to be stuck singing in movies the rest of my life. In Beastly,
I don't sing. In Sucker Punch, I'm not singing. I think when
I feel like I get to a place where I feel somewhat accomplished as an
actress, I'll revisit the musicals because it's my home. I had so much
fun doing them. It's nice to be able to separate the two.
AGW: Were
you influenced in your career by the late Michael Jackson?
Vanessa: I
don't think I was as much as everybody else. I got a chance to meet him
which was incredible and it's just really sad.
AGW: How did
you meet him?
Vanessa: Kenny
Ortega (director/choreographer for the High School Musical films)
has worked with him. He actually was working with him on the last tour
and Michael came out to one of the shows when we were on tour with High
School Musical in Vegas and came backstage with his kids and was
just so sweet and so normal. So it's really sad. I'll always remember
it.
AGW: What
did you come away with after meeting him and his kids?
Vanessa: I
don't know. It was extremely surreal. I admire him so greatly like the
rest of the world does and to be able to talk to him and see that he was
like a normal human being was just crazy. I got to talk to him again on
the phone too which was so weird. How do you make small talk with Michael
Jackson? It was just odd but he was great. He was just so kind and generous.
AGW: So then
if not really Michael, who were some of your musical influences growing
up?
Vanessa: I
listened to Celine Dion a lot growing up. Maybe it's not a musical influence
but she's the reason why I know how to sing. I would sit with her lyric
book and belt out 'The Power of Love' at the age of nine.
AGW: Is anything
coming up in your recording career?
Vanessa: Nothing
right now. I feel like I'm really focused on the movies I'm doing. I don't
want to do an album just to do one. If I do it, I really want to focus
on it and take the time to say something.
AGW: If you
were to put an album together now, what sort of thing would it be?
Vanessa: That's
the thing, I don't know because I want to wait until I'm inspired by something
and just really have a grip and a sense of what I really want to do because,
right now, I have no idea.
AGW: Are you
21 yet? Did you have a party?
Vanessa: I'll
be twenty-one in December. I'm hoping someone will throw me a big party.
I don't know who. I'm just like 'someone throw me a party' because I haven't
had a birthday party since I was like nine years old so I think it's about
time. It's a great excuse. I was like 'at sixteen I'll have a party' and
it never happened. 'Eighteen, get a party!' Never happened and so it better
happen this year. I'm getting a party this year. I know it!
all pictures
courtesy of and copyright Summit Entertainment, 2009
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