Vanessa Hudgens recorded an Instagram Live on Monday night, March 16, and made some comments about the coronavirus (COVID-19) that more than a few people found off-putting.
“It’s a virus. I get it. I respect it,” she said during the recording. “But at the same time even if everybody gets it, yeah, people are gonna die, which is terrible, but…inevitable?”
It didn’t take long for this short video to make the rounds online. Critics called out the singer-actor for her “heartless” and “irresponsible” words, but she says they’re being taken out of context.
Hudgens took to Instagram the next day to address the backlash. “So yesterday, I did an Instagram Live and I realized today that some of my comments are being taken out of context,” she said. “It’s a crazy time. It’s a crazy, crazy time. I am at home [on] lockdown, and that’s what I hope you guys are doing, too. In full quarantine and staying safe and sane. I don’t take this situation lightly—by any means. I am home. Stay inside, y’all.”
Hudgens is one of many celebrities who have urged their fans to practice social distancing and self-isolation as coronavirus precautions. Taylor Swift posted this message on her Instagram: “Guys, I follow you online and I love you guys so much and need to express my concern that things aren’t being taken seriously enough right now. I’m seeing lots of get-togethers and hangs and parties still happening. This is the time to cancel plans, actually truly isolate as much as you can, and don’t assume that because you don’t feel sick that you aren’t possibly passing something on to someone elderly or vulnerable to this. It’s a really scary time. But we need to make social sacrifices right now.”
Instagram/@TaylorSwift
Meanwhile, Ariana Grande told her fans, “It is incredibly dangerous and selfish to take this situation that lightly. The ‘we will be fine because we’re young’ mindset is putting people who aren’t young and / or healthy in a lot of danger. You sound stupid and privileged and you need to care more about others. like now.”
By the pop-culture powers vested in us, we’re crowning Vanessa Hudgens the new queen of the rom-com. You probably first got to know her as Gabriella in the High School Musical trilogy, but Hudgens has since transformed her career with a wild turn in Spring Breakers, an action-packed, blood-soaked role in Machete Kills, and the star of non-high-school musicals Grease and RENT. But it’s her recent turns in rom-coms that seem to have connected the most with fans, and for good reason. She held her own against Jennifer Lopez in last year’s Second Act. And her memorable turns in Netflix original movies The Princess Switch and The Knight Before Christmas, which premieres today, stand out from the usual dime-a-dozen holiday movies that flood the market this time of year.
Both movies have also allowed Hudgens to show a balance humor, heart, empathy, and chemistry with her co-stars that keeps even the most far-fetched plot-lines and twists captivating. The Princess Switch proved to be so popular, in fact, that a sequel is in the works, with Hudgens on board as a producer. Movies like these are often written off as fluff, but Hudgens is here to change that. She says she’s not looking to reinvent the wheel—just elevate it, and have fun in the process.
Below, we talk with Hudgens about that, how she feels about her legacy being split between her High School Musical past and Netflix rom-com present, and more. Read on.
Glamour: We’ve crowned you the new queen of the Christmas romantic comedy, and—
Vanessa Hudgens: [Cheers] I love that! Thank you. What an honor.
Is there anyone you’d like to thank?
I would like to thank Netflix for making us all believe in the magic of the Christmas spirit and J.Lo for being such a staple in my romantic comedy viewing experience.
Did you get any advice from her during Second Act that you applied to your rom-coms?
She’s just her. She lives behind the camera and in front of it honestly and truthfully. I think that’s what so captivating about her. Just spending time with her as an individual and seeing the way that she lives her life was really wonderful and educational.
What’s your favorite J.Lo rom-com and your favorite scene?
The Wedding Planner. My mind instantly goes to her and Matthew McConaughey sitting on a log and then they danced because there’s music and it’s sad music and it’s really beautiful.
Hudgens doesn’t employ a stylist to plan out her Coachella looks—rather, she uses it as an opportunity to revisit some of her favorite brands and pick out what speaks to her. “It’s my place to express how I am in that moment,” she tells Glamour. She loves getting dressed up for the festival: “My suitcase gets very full of clothes and jewelry and shoes.” Still, she has packing down to a science: She’ll plan all of her outfits at home beforehand, storing individual elements for each one—apparel, jewelry, other accessories—in plastic bags. “It all stays pretty self-contained,” she says. And to save space, especially when you’re spending days in the elements, she’s developed a phone-a-friend system: “I try to do a big group text with the people that I’m going with, to avoid doubling up on any of the necessities. I give responsibilities to people, like, ‘You’re in charge of the glow sticks, and you’re in charge of the sunscreen,’ and so on and so forth. Just so you don’t have more than you need.”
Still, odds are you’ll forget something. That’s why this year, Coachella partnered with Amazon to set up lockers inside the festival grounds that attendees can order and send products to, from sunglasses to sunscreen. “The most convenient thing ever,” says Hudgens, who admits she’s been saved by Amazon’s two-day shipping in festivals’ past. For its inaugural partnership with Coachella, Hudgens curated some of her essentials on its dedicated store.
Ahead, the actress breaks down what she’s shopping for ahead of her annual trip to the desert and why she considers those pieces a Coachella essential.
In The Princess Switch, streaming on Netflix now, Vanessa Hudgens basically plays Meghan Markle before and after marrying into the royal family. One of her characters, Stacy, is a normal woman—a baker from Chicago—while the other is Margaret, Duchess of Montenaro. They look exactly the same and find each other when Stacy competes in a baking competition in the fictional kingdom of Belgravia.
When the two women switch places for a few days, it becomes a mashup of The Parent Trap, The Princess Diaries, The Holiday, and the royal wedding—all packed up in a sweeter-than-Stacy’s-cakes Christmas movie. So we rang up star Vanessa Hudgens to see just how in tune she was with Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s romance, what the toughest part of being a royal would be for her, and how much she loved The Parent Trap. (No movie spoilers here, except that Vanessa definitely created a secret handshake that rivals Annie and butler Martin’s iconic one.)
PHOTO: Netflix
In America, a lot of people have become royal obsessed in the last few years. Did you follow Meghan Markle and Prince Harry’s journey?
Vanessa Hudgens: I definitely watched the royal wedding when I was in hair and makeup. But for me, the whole princess obsession kind of came from growing up on Disney movies. I grew up with all the classics, and I always fantasized about being a Disney princess.
Was there one that you really looked up to when you were a kid of in the Disney princess realm?
Hudgens: I loved Princess Jasmine because she was so spunky and such a free thinker. And she had a pet tiger. That’s pretty baller.
Did it feel good, in that kind of vein, to see a mainstream Christmas movie about a princess who isn’t white, for kids of color to look up to? Do you hope that that makes kids who want to be princesses be able to look up to you like they would to Jasmine?
__Hudgens:__Yes. Wow, I mean I hadn’t even really thought about that, but that is very special and an incredible responsibility. As people who are in the entertainment industry get to give, I feel like these characters are such fun, free thinking characters that are great role models for an ethnic younger audience. It’s just very special.
You mentioned that you watched the royal wedding in hair and makeup. Did you draw any inspiration there at all? Or think about the parallels between Meghan and Stacy?
Hudgens: It was definitely something that had crossed my mind for sure. But especially now that she’s royalty, you don’t necessarily get the biggest inside scoop. It’s more of a sight from a distance. So I got to kind of put myself in her shoes and see what that would look like for me as an actual reality, and as the full picture what that would feel like.
What would be the hardest rule for you to follow as a royal?
Hudgens: As silly as it seems, I feel like no Instagram. It’s the way that I keep up with my friends and my family and get to connect with my fans. It’s also a place that I pull a lot of inspiration for, whether that be hair and makeup looks or Halloween costumes or Christmas present ideas. Weaning myself off of that would be interesting.
PHOTO: Gabriel Hennessey
Royals aside, there’s such a great Parent Trap vibe in The Christmas Switch. Was that something that excited you when you first read the script?
Hudgens: Yeah, it was one of my favorites! Me and my sister [Stella] would act out the scenes from the movie and watch it over and over and over again, as kids do. It was just like such a classic staple in my household growing up that I was like, “Oh my gosh! This movie is just like it it!”
Did you pick a twin that you were when you played out the movie? Were you Hallie from Napa, or were you Annie from the U.K.?
Hudgens: We would just go back and forth, because we watched it so often and knew all the lines so well. We would just kind of fall into whatever felt right at the moment.
What was your favorite scene?
Hudgens: Probably the fencing scene, where they take off their helmets at the end, and they’re looking at each other. Then the realization scene where they show each other the photo of their mom and dad, and then they fit together perfectly. Like [doing perfect Lindsay Lohan impression] “That’s my mom!” and “That’s my dad!”
There is a great secret handshake in The Princess Switch that is reminiscent of the scene where Annie gets dropped off at camp. Did it take a lot of practice to perfect?
Hudgens: No. [Laughs] It literally was like that day of filming. My director, Mike, said we needed to figure out a handshake, so I went up the little girl I was doing it with and was like, “Do you have any ideas?” She’s like, “No.” I was like, “Girl, come on. Help me out here!” So the night before, I, of course, watched The Parent Trap. I was trying to figure out what they were doing and trying to pay homage to that somehow.
Do you have any secret handshakes in your life? Like with your sister or with your friends?
Hudgens: I don’t. I’m so boring! I guess me and my boyfriend [Austin Butler] kind of have one, where we walk past each other and do the high-five and then do the low high-five as we’re walking away, like behind the back. It’s kind of hard because he’s taller than me, but we’ve got a magnetic connection.
You’re such a talented singer. You kind of sing in the movie, but just in the background at the end. Would you do a full rom-com original musical if someone pitched it to you?
Hudgens: Yes, of course. I love musicals. Musicals are like my home. Any time that I get to be on set and sing and act and dance, I am by far my happiest self. So I am always for a musical, never against it. I grew up doing musical theater and kind of found my own two feet through being on the stage. So if there’s like a new, original musical that is happening, I would definitely be the first to jump on board. But of course, there’s so many classics as well, especially on Broadway. To me, it’s always about timing. If the time is right, it feels good, I’m there for it.
Do you think there should be a sequel to The Princess Switch? If so, what would you like to see?
Hudgens: I honestly don’t even know where it would go, because we already got our happy endings. We’d have to create more conflict, or maybe there would a third twin. Spruce things up a little bit. I have no idea. I’m going to leave that one up to the writers, but I know that I had so much fun doing it. The characters are so sweet that I would definitely be on board.
Vanessa Hudgens and her boyfriend, Austin Butler, have been together for over six years, so naturally, their fans are waiting on pins and needles for an engagement announcement—not that they have to get engaged, of course. If they’re perfectly content with the pace of their relationship as is, then that’s great. Not everything has to end in wedding bells, people.
But this isn’t stopping Hudgens’ fans from freaking out every time they sense a proposal. Exhibit A: This photo Hudgens posted to Instagram three days ago that shows her sporting a big, splashy ring on that finger. The comments section on this pic quickly flooded with comments congratulating Hudgens on her “engagement,” even though she hadn’t confirmed anything herself. “Yay @vanessahudgens congratulations on your engagement,” one fan wrote. To be fair, several of Hudgens’ fans told their engagement-happy peers to check themselves. “SHE NOT ENGAGED YALL CHILL ?,” one person even wrote.
See the photo in question for yourself, below:
It turns out Hudgens didn’t need fans to shut down the rumor mill for her, though. She did that herself—on Twitter, two days later. “Guysssss. I’m not engaged,” she wrote. ” I posted a pic. Not to show off my ring that I happened to throw on that finger after a long day of filming but to show off my haircut Lol.” Check out the response, below:
My sincerest apologies if you have to cancel your “Vanessa Hudgens Is Engaged” party now. Rest assured, though, that Hudgens is pretty transparent on social media. When and if she gets engaged, I’m sure her fans will be some of the first people to know.
