From Hollywood to heritage: Hudgens to use film to explore Filipino roots
Actress Vanessa Hudgens is travelling to the Philippines for the first time to shoot a travel documentary that explores her family’s Asian heritage.
Hudgens, who is half-Filipina, will travel to her mother’s home country, with the project scheduled to begin filming this month. According to Variety, she is expected to visit Palawan and Manila and will travel alongside her mother and sister.
“I feel like ours is such a relatable story to so many women all over the world,” Hudgens said while announcing the documentary. “The more that we can share, the more we can lift each other up.”
The unnamed documentary will be produced and directed by Paul Soriano, who led the Manny Pacquiao biopic Kid Kulafu and Filipino thriller Dukot. “We are honoured to work with Vanessa for this film project,” he said.
“It’s inspiring to note that with everything she has achieved in life, she wants to discover her Filipino roots and pay homage to her mother’s country. Hopefully, this opens doors for many more collaborations to come.”
In the past, Hudgens has spoken about being proud of her mother, who left the Philippines for the US when she was 25.
“My mum is from the Philippines, and growing up, there weren’t really that many women who looked like me and my mum and my family on screen,” she said in a 2021 interview with Glamour.
“It’s so important to share all the different stories because America is a massive melting pot. 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.
“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. 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.”
It will be produced and directed by Paul Soriano, who led the Manny Pacquiao biopic Kid Kulafu