Vanessa Hudgens Can See Dead People, and She's Ready to Show You How

Anyone who's had access to a TV from 2006 onward probably knows Vanessa Hudgens is the definition of a triple threat. I mean, she's generously gifted us gems like High School Musical, The Princess Switch, and the beloved"Sneakernight," but it turns out she's got yet another talent under her belt...and this one involves the paranormal.

Vanessa says she's been able to sense and interact with the dead since childhood. Now, as a self-taught student of witchcraft, she's inviting audiences to follow along as she sharpens her spiritual skills. Her new Tubi documentary Dead Hot (out today) documents Vanessa and her bestie, musician GG Magree, on their pilgrimage to the witchcraft capital: Salem, Massachusetts. Together, they seek out professional ghost-hunting guidance and hone their spiritual connection abilities.

With Dead Hot, Vanessa is finally ready to speak in depth about her lifelong spirituality journey. In an interview with Cosmopolitan, she chatted about when her abilities first began, her most frightening phantom encounter, and the good that can come from ghost hunting.

Let’s talk origins. Why were you compelled to enter the paranormal/witchcraft space, to begin with?

I've always been drawn towards the darkness and the unknown, and it wasn't really until I went to Scotland [while filming The Princess Switch] that I had my conscious, witch awakening. I was around a lot of witches and just had a lot of questions and was figuring out my own path and my own spirituality. [In Scotland] there's a long history of so many people killed at witch trials.

How did you kickstart getting Dead Hot off of the ground?

Originally, it started as more of a hobby, and I thought it would be really fun and entertaining to do a ghost-hunting show. We had shot an episode originally of basically just that. But after we finished, I felt unfulfilled, and I still had so many more questions that we opened it up to exploring spirituality as a whole because it goes hand in hand.

Could you walk me through your first-ever encounter with a supernatural entity?

I was probably like five, and I was walking into the dining room past the dining table before school. I had one of those tin ducks, with a mama duck and all the baby ducklings behind it. I remember walking past it and it just starting to, like, move with me. [laughs] I stopped and I looked at it, and I'm like, That's weird and makes no sense.

Did you tell your parents or anyone about it?

I don't think I did! I was just like, that's weird, and just kinda tried to forget about it because there's no explanation. Why would I torture myself trying to figure something out? At that age, you have no idea.

So is spiritual connection something that has always been present in your life?

Yeah, it has. I kind of shut it out for a while because, you know, I would be at home and then out of the corner of my eye, I would see a man in the top hat. And I'm like, What the hell! And I had just moved out by myself for the first time and was scared. So I tried to tune it out, and turn off that channel. I think I just had to do some growing up personally in order to feel safe enough to open it back up again.

Are you ever faced with doubters?

There's always just pushback if you’re doing something that’s against the grain. And I think that's fine. Exploring your own personal relationship with your own spirituality is such a beautiful and empowering thing. And I'm not trying to make anyone think the same way I think, but hopefully just open their eyes up a little bit more to the unknown and have more peace with it, rather than fear.

What cultural impact does interacting with the dead, and documenting those interactions have? Is there something that inspires you to educate people about it?

Totally. I always say I think the only way to heal ancestral trauma is to shine a light on it. I look at places like the witch trials in Scotland and in Salem, and how many women were wrongfully accused and killed over something that is really beautiful like healers. I really wanna take away the stigma that it has and what has been conveyed through films and movies about it being demonic. Really shining a light on it just being a beautiful, personal, empowering thing.

I see you don't like to approach it from a fearful standpoint, but have you ever been on a ghost hunt that's gone left?

Yeah, when we first started it out and we were just ghost-hunting. There was a moment when we were sitting in like a cellar and I'm trying to communicate with this spirit because we had heard multiple people tell us about what spirit resides there. I was like, “What is your name? Please tell us your name,” and then you just hear static and "the devil." At the time, it spooked me.

This place we were hunting in was an abandoned old boy's reform school. Now that I have had some distance from the moment, I realized that it was probably one of the children who was talking about the entity that was there. [The boys] were stripped and put into a chemical bath and their heads were buzzed when they were first checked in. I'm like, if that happened to me, I would probably call that man the devil as well.

That's the thing with the spirit realm. Nothing really is ever as you expect it. It's not black and white. There are so many different angles that you really just have to be open and not jump to conclusions.

For sure. You and your BFF/Dead Hot co-star GG describe yourselves as “self-taught.” Are there any specific educational resources you’d recommend for people who aspire to be in this space?

I mean, there are so many books, and I think that with your own personal spirituality you should 100 percent lean on your intuition and whatever is calling you.

I very much am a nature witch and a green witch. I feel the most connected and grounded with nature, and I feel the most connected with Spirit in nature. And I love looking to Mother Nature for remedies. Honestly, follow your own bliss and your intuition and it will take you exactly where you need to be.

So there are other types of witches? There are people who draw their power from other things?

There's everything. There are kitchen witches! There's a way to have intention behind your cooking in the kitchen. There are so many different ways that you can really like call on your power and increase your practice through everyday household mundane things.

So you and GG have, like, the funniest dynamic ever in this. What was it like working with your friend?

It was pretty seamless! I feel like the thing I really wanted to convey with this is the uncensored look at who I am as a person. So I really just got to be myself and document my quest.

Is that something you're hoping to lean into more? Developing your public personality as opposed to strictly acting, or was this a one-time thing?

No, I look at it more as allowing people to see the whole version of me rather than just one side. I think that's such an important thing, especially as women, you know. It's easy to put women in boxes because that's societally what people have done for generations. I think it's important to celebrate all that we are. So the only way that people can get to know me is if I let them.

In your time in this space, have you heard of any sort of wild stories that have inspired you to think, “This is definitely something I want to keep doing for the rest of my life.”

No, I kind of compare it to like when you go to a really beautiful landscape, like you see the Grand Canyon. It makes you feel very small in the world. Or you look up at the sky and you think about how many galaxies there are and it makes you feel very small on this planet.

This same kind of thing happens when you have a spiritual encounter. It makes you feel very small, but also you know that you're a part of something bigger, and I think that's a really empowering and grounding thing.

Do you see any other spirituality-related projects in your future?

100 percent. This is such a big part of who I am, and now that I'm bringing it to the light, I feel like I don't have to hide. And my curiosity is endless. So there'll definitely be a lot more.

Why were you hesitant to be forward about this part of your life before?

It's such a personal thing. And like I said, it's definitely against the grain and it's not everyone's cup of tea. Sometimes it's just easier to not share things about yourself, but spirituality is bigger than me. If I can allow another woman to feel like more grounded and more powerful, then I'm doing the right thing.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

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