Interview: New Role for Vanessa Hudgens in ‘Gimme Shelter’

Printer-friendly versionE-mail page to friendPDF version

CHICAGO – Vanessa Hudgens, the former teen actor from the “High School Musical” franchise, has a brand new bag. Besides shocking movie audiences with her memorable performance in last year’s “Spring Breakers,” Hudgens deconstructs her glam image in the new film, “Gimme Shelter.”

Hudgens portrays a street teen named Apple, whose mother is strung out junkie and her estranged father a wealthy financier. She finds out she is pregnant and seeks to reconnect to the father she never met. Rejected by his new family, she finds refuge in a single mother shelter, and begins a road to a stable life. With an all-star cast, including James Earl Jones, Rosario Dawson and Brendan Fraser, Hudgens completely transforms herself into a less-than-savory streetwise runaway. This performance is part of an evolution for Hudgens, who was best known as Garbriella Montez in the “High School Musical” movies, but has moved on to more challenging characters with “Sucker Punch,” “Spring Breakers” and “Gimme Shelter.”

Contemplation: Vanessa Hudgens in ‘Gimme Shelter’
Photo credit: Roadside Attractions

HollywoodChicago.com made it through a Chicago winter night two weeks ago to get an opportunity to talk to Vanessa Hudgens, right before she made an appearance on behalf of her new film.

HollywoodChicago.com: You’ve focused in your career on presenting yourself in the best possible light. What was the experience like in de-glamorizing for this role, and what were your thoughts as you were looking in the mirror at that version of yourself, both in the context of your career and the preparation for the character?

Vanessa Hudgens: I always want to do my best, that where it starts. This role is the most thrilling thing I’ve ever done in my career so far. As far as that de-glamorization, it’s nice to get ugly and not worry about the camera or lighting angles, just to be gritty and real and dirty as possible was thrilling.

And because it was so far from myself I could dive into it even deeper. It was so far removed from me that I knew I couldn’t go too far with the character. It gave me a sense of comfort in the role. Looking in the mirror, it was a trip every day, I even gained 15 pounds for the role and cut off all my hair.. Everything felt so different, but because I knew I was doing for a project I felt very certain about from the minute I first read the script, it felt so right.

HollywoodChicago.com: Since this story is based on the real person, what traits did you notice about her or talk about with her that you picked up for the character in the film?

Hudgens: I think it’s interesting that we are the way that we are because of our childhoods. It was really about looking into the past of the character and observing her childhood, how sad and hard it was. Once I got into that, everything else just fell into place. I worked at the actual shelter, worked with the girl that my character was based on, and she filled me in on the horrible stories regarding her mother. I felt the terror of her past.

HollywoodChicago.com: What was the most distinct connection between the desperation of Apple in the film, and any type of desperation in your own life, and where did that important feeling intersect in regards to the character?

Hudgens: I feel as an actor I’m searching for something that provides artistic fulfillment. There is a quote about acting that calls it a ‘blessed unrest that keeps us marching.’ It’s that drive, passion and yearning to want a role to really call my own and to put a stamp on it. That desperation, that desire to want to create something, is how I can intersect that emotion with the character – because it’s a constant fight for survival.

Vanessa Hudgens (second left) Alters the Landscape in ‘Spring Breakers’
Photo credit: A24

HollywoodChicago.com: With the great cast you had to work with, what do you personally learn as an actor when you have scenes with veterans such as James Earl Jones, Brendan Fraser and Rosario Dawson?

Hudgens: They basically show me that the work never stops, and from that work you are learning and growing. James Earl Jones doesn’t have to work anymore, but he showed up on his shooting days with lines ready and projected them as he does. He really has a presence in the room that no one else has, except for him, and he still works hard. It was humbling – but at the same time distressing – to understand it’s an ongoing process and doesn’t get easier.

HollywoodChicago.com: Beginning with Sucker Punch, it seems that you took a decidedly different direction with the type of roles you would do? How were you able to get those key auditions, and how did you strategize this shift from teenage to more young adult roles?

Vanessa Hudgens in Chicago, January 5th, 2014 Photo credit: Patrick McDonald for HollywoodChicago.com

Hudgens: It’s interesting, because I can’t really say it was me making a conscious decision to go from child roles to teen roles to adult roles. It’s just always growth, you naturally want to reach for bigger and harder roles. I just wanted to do as many different things as I could, and to have variety in my career, it’s always been a goal of mine. I have an amazing team that has been supportive of that, and I continue to be passionate about what I do. I fight for the roles I want, and I always will.

HollywoodChicago.com: Regarding the recent film ‘Spring Breakers.’ What type of process did you go through from initial reading of the script to landing the role of Candy?

Hudgens: ‘Spring Breakers’ was a fun, wild ride. When I first read the script, I basically lost it emotionally. I’ve admired James Franco for a long time, and I just imagined him in that role as I was reading it. I was so excited for the project.

HollywoodChicago.com: Did you attach yourself to the larger themes that director Harmony Korine was reaching for, as far as the depiction of women?

Hudgens: Harmony wanted us to be as powerful as possible, he really has a great love for women and the power they bring to the table. He just gave us freedom to explore that as much as we did, and I also had an amazing group of girls, who were comfortable with themselves and very creative, to share in it.. Between all of us, we pushed the dial every day.

We didn’t know where it was going to go. We just came in everyday and did our thing. Harmony, being the genius that he is, pulled it together. I honestly had no idea it would turn out the way it did. It was a music video, a dance and a pop song that repeats itself. It’s a new genre all together.

HollywoodChicago.com: What can you tell us about James Franco that the rest of the world doesn’t know.

Hudgens: He’s quite introverted. He does ten million things, which everybody knows, but on set a lot of times he just would be sitting around reading a book.

By PATRICK McDONALD Senior Staff Writer HollywoodChicago.com pat@hollywoodchicago.com