Vanessa Hudgens wants to tell the story of her Filipina mom's journey to the US to hopefully inspire other immigrants.
The High School Musical star has recently started producing films. Some of the movies under her belt include Netflix holiday films The Knight Before Christmas and Princess Switch.
As she dreams of increasing diversity in her future projects, Hudgens plans to produce a movie that represents the Filipino-American community.
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"My mom is from the Philippines, and growing up there weren’t really that many women who looked like me and my mom and my family on screen. It’s so important to share all the different stories because America is a massive melting pot, [just like the] world," Vanessa told Glamour magazine, where she was featured as December 2021's cover girl.
"There are so many different stories that need to be told so that we are exposed to them and can have more empathy towards different people."
Vanessa Hudgens credits a lot of her success to her mom, Gina Hudgens, who moved to the United States at 25.
"As an immigrant, coming into the States and not knowing anyone, I can’t even imagine how difficult and challenging that is and what challenges she faced as a woman," Vanessa continued in the interview.
Hudgens' father, who passed away from cancer in 2016, was a firefighter who was often gone for work, leaving her mother alone to care for her and her younger sister.
"I feel like that’s 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 explained.
Aside from presenting diverse stories to the public, one of Vanessa's goals is to support other women.
“Feminism to me means being able to do whatever the hell it is that you want to do and be supported,” she said.
“We should have equal rights, we should have equal pay. It’s about supporting each other, lifting other women up so that we can achieve all the things that we want to do."
Hudgens also expressed her wish for her mom to write a book detailing her struggles and experiences as a Filipino-American immigrant.
In a previous interview, Vanessa shared that she has gotten even closer to her mom after her dad passed away.
"I feel like because she’s going through such a massive change, she confides in me. She thinks of me as her best friend, and she sometimes tells me things even I don’t want to hear (laughs). It’s weird but also sweet when that role reversal happens.”
