Vanessa Hudgens Wants To Make Movie About Pinay Mother: ‘The Strongest Woman I Know’

Filipinos are all for #PinoyPride, which is why foreigners who mention their Filipino roots get extra love and support from our country. But Filipino-American actress Vanessa Hudgens wants to honor her heritage on another level — by making a movie about her Pinay mother.

In a recent interview with Glamour UK, the Hollywood actress shared that she hopes to one day make a movie about her mom Gina Cuangco’s life story as a young immigrant — a then 25-year-old Filipina who moved to the United States for a fresh start.

“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,” she said.

“It’s so important to share all the different stories because America is a massive melting pot, [just like the] world. 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,” she adds.

Like other Asian immigrants, Vanessa explains that her mom faced different challenges, including being a stay-at-home mom (she was a young mother to Vanessa and her sister Stella) and adjusting to life in a new country.

“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. And my father was a firefighter, so he was gone for a week and home for a week,” she shared.

In the interview, Vanessa expressed her hope that her mom can write about her life as an immigrant so that the actress can produce a movie out of it. “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,” she said.

Vanessa, who rose to fame through the hit Disney movie High School Musical and has starred in the Netflix film series The Princess Switch, and more recently, tick, tick… Boom!, has always been proud of her Pinay heritage. In an article by Push, the actress also mentioned previoulsy that her mom is her biggest inspiration.

“She’s the strongest woman I know. To come out to the United States with my father, not know a soul here, and to build a new life or herself, it’s terrifying and it takes great courage. To see her now as an adult, and to be able to admire her, her journey, and the light and the spirit that she brings to every place that she goes is just contagious,” the actress shares.

"They always say you turn into your parents and the older that I get, the more that I see my mother and myself. In the beginning, it was a little alarming, but now I embrace it with open arms because she's incredible and I aspire to be like her.”