Vanessa Hudgens Reveals She Almost Auditioned For This Show Before 'High School Musical'

Vanessa Hudgens could have almost had a different career trajectory!

While the actress had several credits under her belt before High School Musical, which launched her into super-stardom, she recently dished that she almost auditioned for another show that also launched careers.

Keep reading inside to find out…

During an appearance on The Kelly Clarkson Show, which aired on Tuesday (April 5), Vanessa gushed to Kelly that she inspired her to audition for American Idol.

“This has always been a passion of mine and you were on American Idol, and you won,” Vanessa said. “And I was like, that’s it, I’m going on American Idol.”

“Then that next week, I got an audition for High School Musical and booked it,” she continued. “So then I was like, well, never mind, but I was like I’m doing it, and you were the catalyst.”

Kelly then asked Vanessa if she remembered the beginning of High School Musical.

“Yeah, I remember all the auditions, definitely, ’cause there were a lot of them,” she shared. “There were, I mean there were like three, but like I remember them distinctly. I remember meeting Zac [Efron] for the first time, meeting Lucas [Grabeel] for the first time.”

“Me and Ashley [Tisdale] had already met ’cause we did a commercial together like a month prior, so,” Vanessa said. “But it’s wild. The time just keeps flying.”

Speaking of High School Musical auditions and Zac Efron, see what Vanessa previously revealed about her final HSM audition!