Vanessa Hudgens has played everything from a high school musical star to a homeless runaway, to a woman who works in superhero damage control (R. I. P. Powerless). But there’s one dream role that has escaped her for all these years: a princess. « On my…
Vanessa Hudgens has played everything from a high school musical star to a homeless runaway, to a woman who works in superhero damage control (R. I. P. Powerless). But there’s one dream role that has escaped her for all these years: a princess. « On my vision board, I wanted to play a princess, » Hudgens tells Bustle over the phone. It’s just one way Netflix’s The Princess Switch has made Vanessa Hudgens ‘ childhood dreams come true.
There are many reasons Hudgens signed on to play Stacy De Novo, a Chicago city baker, and Lady Margaret, a princess-to-be, but high on the list was finally getting to play a royal. « I feel like it’s every little girl’s dream, to be a princess, » Hudgens says. « And I’m also a Disney fanatic, so that’s always been a dream of mine. »
In The Princess Switch, Lady Margaret and Stacy, two women with nothing in common except their identical appearance, decide to switch places for a weekend. For Stacy that means learning how to carry herself like a royal, something Hudgens was all too eager to learn. « I love the regal-ness that comes along with it [playing a princess], » she says. « The way you carry yourself, the clothes that you wear, it’s a whole different demeanor. » The actor is known for her boho-chic style (as evidenced by her reigning title as queen of Coachella), « so being able to put on some princess shoes was a fun switch, » she says.
For Hudgens, the scene that really made her princess dreams come true was the charity ball, which allowed her to get all dressed up in a red ballgown fit for a royal. « It was amazing, I mean, we were filming in an actual castle, » she says, giddy with the memory. « I had like three people come in and dress me. There were so many layers to that dress, and it felt very authentic. » The second she put it on, Hudgens says, she didn’t have to pretend to be a princess — she was one. « I felt like a freakin’ queen. I felt like princess of the castle, » she says. « You can’t help but just feel regal when you’re wearing an outfit like that and have a tiara on. »
But that wasn’t the only dream The Princess Switch helped come true for Hudgens. » The Parent Trap was one of my favorite movies growing up with my sister, » she explains. « We would act out the scenes, we would try to learn her handshake and it was just such a classic movie that I still love to this day. »
Of course, playing two roles opposite herself might sound like the perfect situation for an actor, but as Hudgens notes, it was trickier than your average role. « It was very confusing in the beginning, I must say, » she says. « It’s two characters, but then it’s also the other two characters on top of that — when they switch — and you’ve got a British girl pretending to be American, and an American girl pretending to be British. » Sounds like enough confusion to propel anyone into an identity crisis. But, it was all worth it in the end to create a new Christmas classic.
« It has everything you want for the holidays, » Hudgens says. « We’ve got Christmas carols, we’ve got love and romance, we’ve got fantasy. And it just leaves you feeling warm and fuzzy inside. » Warm and fuzzy enough, Hudgens says, to hopefully give audiences a reprieve from the « crazy » world: « I thought there’s no better way to create a little escapism with a Princess-switching Christmas movie. » She may be right.
