Vanessa Hudgens: ‘I wanted to play drug addicts, strippers and prostitutes’ (Exclusive)

‘The Frozen Ground’ star Vanessa Hudgens has revealed how despite her previously squeaky-clean ‘High School Musical’ image, she always knew she wanted to play slightly less than family-friendly roles.

“I always loved dramas,” the ‘Spring Breaker’ star told Yahoo! Movies UK. “I mean my first role that I ever had in front of the camera was a guest spot on a TV show, like one of those crime shows. My father gets shot right in front of me and I break down crying… and from that moment I was like ‘I love dramas. I wanna play a drug addict, or a stripper or a prostitute’ because it’s a role that you really get to sink your teeth into.”

“With [‘The Frozen Ground’], I got to do all three.”

[Vanessa strips off for latest role]

Starring alongside Hollywood vets Nicolas Cage and John Cusack in tough-going suspense thriller ‘The Frozen Ground’, 24-year-old Hudgens plays real-life teenage prostitute Cindy Paulson - who escaped and eventually helped capture infamous serial killer Robert Hansen. The man responsible for the deaths of between 17-21 women in the early 80s Alaska. It’s a long way from prancing round the gym with Zac Efron.

So, how does Vanessa think her public image has changed since we last saw her and fellow Disney alumni Selena Gomez back in March’s bikini-clad caper ‘Spring Breakers’?

“I mean I feel like working with [director] Harmony Korine gave me a little bit of street cred. Just because his movies are such cult classics. But I’m really proud of that one as well,” admitted Vanessa.

“We got to push ourselves, and it felt very safe because we were doing it with each other, you know. So we weren’t on our own. [‘The Frozen Ground’] was kind of a leap for me, because I was like the only young female in the entire situation. So it was awesome.”

[Selena Gomez warns teens off Spring Breakers]

Vanessa also told us that she doesn’t see why having played a drug addict and a prostitute should ever stop her going back to her Disney musical days. “It’s about mixing it up and not doing the same thing twice,” she said. “I love just changing my image and kind of shocking people alone the way.”

‘The Frozen Ground’, directed by Scott Walker, is out in the UK 19 July 2013.