Her big breakthrough came when she was cast for a lead role in “High School Musical” produced by Disney. She also started working on her music career at the same time by contributing a single “Colors of the Wind” to the movie’s soundtrack; the track was also included in Disneymania album. When she released her first album “V” in 2006 and promoted it by opening for “The Cheetah Girls”, it debuted at number 24 in the US charts and was certified gold a year later, earning her an award as a Female Breakout Singer at the Teen Choice Awards. Her second album “Identified” was released in 2008 and yielded a single “Sneakernight”, even though the sales of the album were described as poor.
Besides her music and acting careers, she has been picked to be a spokesperson for Neutrogena and appeared in a number of TV and magazine ads. Vanessa was also named 62nd Hottest Woman in 2008 by FHM, landed twelfth on the Maxim’s Hot 100 list, was included in People magazine’s “100 Most Beautiful People” list, and appeared in the covers of CosmoGirl and Lucky.
