'It’s gonna be me!': Vanessa Hudgens aims to become first Filipino to win Oscars, recalls losing voice for 3 weeks
MANILA, Philippines — Vanessa Hudgens might have been celebrated at the 2022 Met Gala when she wore a sheer Jeremy Scott dress that paid homage to her Filipino roots with its puffed sleeves reminiscent of the Filipino national costume, Terno.
But behind Vanessa’s glorious moment as a Met Gala red carpet host was a hidden struggle: she lost her voice while co-hosting the world’s biggest fashion red carpet event!
At a Manila press conference last week for her travel documentary about her Filipino heritage, Vanessa revealed to event host Boy Abunda how she handled what she described as her “worst nightmare.”
“That was the worst thing ever! It really was my worst nightmare coming to fruition,” she declared.
The weather and her hectic schedule could have taken their toll on her voice, she said. She was interviewing one of the world’s biggest designers, Tom Ford, when her voice started to fade.
“It was freezing. It was very cold. I was very busy. I ran down and we just started the show and I was talking to Tom Ford, asking him a question, and I’m like, ‘Something’s wrong!’ And as the night progressed, and as I continued to talk to people, my voice just kept on going in getting smaller and smaller, more and more hoarse.”
Instead of going home, the Filipino-American beauty stayed and soldiered on.
“But you know, what the theater has instilled in me is that the show must go on. So I got myself some tea, some hot water and honey, and hoped for the best.”
It took her three weeks to fully recover her voice.
Despite this, overall, Vanessa found hosting, most recently the Oscars red carpet, as “really amazing.”
“It’s actually been the only thing that I’ve been nervous for. Even the rehearsals that we had the day before on the red carpet, and interviewing just anyone with a placard that says Brendan Fraser or something, my hands sweat continuously for those two days. It’s a different skill, it’s something that I’m not used to, it’s something that I didn’t grow up doing. I grew up in theater and not thinking on my feet. I grew up telling stories, I’m playing a character. In hosting, I’m very revealed as very vulnerable and it’s literally just myself out there and I don’t want to come off as unintelligent or stumble in my words because I do all the time,” she narrated.
“The Oscars last year on the red carpet was my first time ever interviewing anyone. I’m always the one that gets interviewed, I’m not the interviewer! So it’s a completely different experience but I love it as an excuse to be in the Oscars red carpet because it’s really the most prestigious awards show.”
She is fortunate that all her interviews have went well so far.
“I haven’t had a crash and burn moment, knock on wood, and I’m hoping to keep it that way,” she affirmed.
“It’s really amazing being there and seeing these actors and directors, everyone in the industry that I look up to and celebrate that moment the stories they’re telling.”
When Boy asked if she believes that maybe in five years, a Filipino would win an Oscar, Vanessa declared: “Well, it’s gonna be me!”
To date, among the Filipino-Americans who have won the Oscars were composer Robert Lopez (Best Original song for "Let It Go" in 2014 and "Remember Me" in 2018) and singer-songwriter H.E.R. (Academy Award for Best Original Song for "Fight For You" in 2021).
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