Vanessa Hudgens arrives in Manila. Images from PublicityAsia / Magic Liwanag via Instagram
Updated 9:54 a.m., 3:49 p.m., March 26, 2023
Filipino-American actress Vanessa Hudgens arrived in Manila Saturday night to shoot a travel documentary, her first time to step foot on Philippine soil.
Photos shared by PR firm PublicityAsia on Instagram showed Hudgens wearing a cap and dark eyeglasses upon her arrival from Los Angeles in the United States via Philippine Airlines Flight PR113.
“FilAm Hollywood star @vanessahudgens arrives in Manila via Philippine Airlines from Los Angeles,” PublicityAsia captioned its post, with pictures taken by freelance photographer Magic Liwanag.
Hudgens was greeted by Secretary Paul Soriano, Presidential Adviser on Creative Communications, and several officials of the Department of Tourism.
The Hollywood actress is expected to pay a courtesy call on President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos this week.
She was supposed to come with her Filipino mother, Gina Guangco and her sister Stella, according to a report by Hollywood Reporter last week.
The documentary, which would be set in Palawan and Manila, will showcase Vanessa’s close relationship with her family, and explore their Filipino roots.
“I feel like ours is such a relatable story to so many women all over the world. The more that we can share, the more we can lift each other up,” Vanessa said in a statement obtained by the publication.
The project will be helmed by Soriano and will be produced under production company TEN17P.
“We are honored to work with Vanessa for this film project. It’s inspiring to note that with everything she has achieved in life, she wants to discover her Filipino roots and pay homage to her mother’s country,” Soriano was quoted as saying. “Hopefully, this opens doors for many more collaborations to come.”
Hudgens is widely known for her role as Gabriella Montez in the Disney hit film trilogy “High School Musical.” Some of the recent movies she was part of include “Tick, Tick…Boom!” and “The Princess Switch.”
Last February, Hudgens announced her engagement to her boyfriend, baseball player Cole Tucker.