Vanessa Hudgens Almost Auditioned for 'American Idol' Before 'High School Musical'

etonline.com:

 without Vanessa Hudgens?! It almost happened. Hudgens opened up about how she nearly auditioned for  ahead of auditioning for the role of Gabriella in the early aughts classic, during Tuesday's episode of .«I grew up doing theater, and this has always been a passion of mine, and you were on , and you won, and I was like, 'That's it, I'm going on, and then that next week, I got an audition for  and booked it, so then I was like, 'Well, never mind,'» she told Clarkson. «I was like, 'I'm doing it,' and you were the catalyst.»While it's been 16 years since Hudgens first graced the halls of East High School, Hudgens said she still remembers all her auditions for the big role.«I remember all the auditions, definitely, 'cause there were a lot of them,» she recalled. «There were, like, three, but I remember them distinctly.»«I remember meeting Zac [Efron] for the first time, meeting Lucas [Grabeel] for the first time,» Hudgens added. «Me and Ashley [Tisdale] had already met 'cause we did a commercial together a month prior.

But it's wild. The time just keeps flying.»With so many reboots and revivals in the works, ET spoke to Hudgens back in November about the possibility about bringing the OG  cast back together, but Hudgens said it wasn't likely.«It was such a beautiful moment in time that so many people do hold so close and near and dear to their hearts, that, I don't know.

It's scary to mess with something like that, because it is so beloved.» Hudgens suggested, «Someone's got to write a script and send it to all of us, and if we like it, then who knows?»While reflecting on the movie's 15th anniversary in September, she told ET it was hard to believe it had been so long since the film's premiere in 2006.«It's so weird to me.