Vanessa Hudgens on ‘Bad Boys 4’ and Singing for Her Next Role in ‘French Girl’ (Exclusive)

Vanessa Hudgens has more than just being a first-time mom on her mind, including not one but two new films.

Talking with ET’s Denny Directo alongside her French Girl co-stars Zach Braff and Evelyne Brochu, the 35-year-old actress opened up about their new movie and her return as weapons expert Kelly in Will Smith and Martin Lawrence’s Bad Boys 4.

“I mean, it’s just like such a classic beloved story and it’s really neat being able to go on this journey with them and have so much time go by,” she said of the new installment of the Bad Boys franchise. “We really leaned into the fact that they are a bit older and things changing and they’re not necessarily operating at the speed they once knew.”

Hudgens first made her debut in the franchise in 2020’s Bad Boys for Life. She recently wrapped production on the forthcoming installment, which filmed in Miami. Aside from Lawrence, Smith and the High School Musical alum, the film also stars Hunger Games actor Alexander Ludwig and Fantastic 4’s Ioan Gruffudd.

“It’s fun to be around and I think there’s like a lot of belly laughs and [it’s] action-packed,” the actress said. “It’s going to be a great movie.”

As for her other new project, Hudgens said she had just as much fun filming French Girl. This one, however, required her to use more than just her funny bone as she warmed up her vocal cords to sing nearly two decades since the Disney Channel movie that put her on the map came out.

“The entire time reading the script from the jump, I was just cracking up. I think it was so hilarious. And this musical number was definitely one of those moments,” she said. “Me, Nick [Wright] and James [Woods] — our directors — talked it through and found this sweet spot of it being, you know, good and ambitious, but very cringe. And it made me cringe personally when I watched it, but all in the name of comedy.”

Braff, 48, said that while the entire time filming with Hudgens and Brochu was delightful, the day that they filmed the musical number had to have been one of his favorites.

“We had a lot of laughs that day. Vanessa was so funny,” the Scrubs alum said.

French Girl centers on Gordon Kinski (Braff), a high school teacher from New York who follows his French-Canadian girlfriend (Brochu) to her hometown of Quebec City, where she is chasing her dreams of becoming a chef under the tutelage of Ruby Collins (Hudgens).

Watch the trailer for French Girl in the player below:

French Girl premieres in theaters on March 15.

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