Vanessa Hudgens Admits She Didn't Know Much About 'Rent' Before Playing Mimi At The Hollywood Bowl

Vanessa Hudgens, who plays Maureen in tonight’s production of Rent: Live, actually didn’t know much about the musical before first starring in it a few years ago.

The 30-year-old actress revealed to Playbill that she was first introduced to it by Neil Patrick Harris, who cast her as Mimi in the Hollywood Bowl’s production.

“He had me come in and read for Mimi, and I ended up going along for the journey,” she says. “My introduction to the show really was from doing it, and it was such a blast.”

Now, as Maureen, Vanessa‘s co-star Jordan Fisher revealed that her performance of “Over the Moon” might just be the most tweeted about number.

“It’s very abstract. But I think the way that me and Michael (Greif) have been exploring it makes a lot of sense to me, and hopefully will make a lot more sense to everybody watching,” she shared about the number to USA Today. “Everything kind of comes to a pause and it’s just me on that stage, and it has to be worth it.”

Vanessa added, “It’s a lot of pressure, and I remember the first few times doing it I was terrified, and sweating uncontrollably.”

Rent: Live airs TONIGHT @ 8PM ET/PT on Fox.