She's with the 'Bandslam': Vanessa Hudgens on her new movie, how she started, and Natalie Wood - anything but Zac

VANESSA HUDGENS speaks with her smile. It's a warm smile and she flashes it constantly, often accompanied with a friendly wave.

The smile, the bangs and the cute clothes are all she needs to communicate with her legions of screaming tween fans - all they really want to know is what she's wearing and what's up with her and Zac Efron.

We want to know what's up with her and Zac also - and those risque photos that keep popping up - but the glaring eye of her vigilant(e) publicist has made it clear that any personal questions will immediately result in the end of the interview and a sentence of hard labor watching "High School Musical" movies until our brains fall out.

Those were the ground rules with Hudgens at the Franklin Mills Mall a couple of weeks ago, where she was doing a screech-and-meet-and-greet with fans to promote her new movie "Bandslam" (opening today), a surprisingly good teen effort that also stars Gaelan Connell, Aly Michalka and a scene-stealing Lisa Kudrow. How bad can a battle of the bands movie be that pays tribute to David Bowie, Bread and CBGB?

Hudgens herself was quite friendly, very good with her young fans, perfectly polished as a starlet, if not yet as a person. She is, after all, only 20 (and seems younger) and has spent a good portion of her teen years, not making friends and frenemies in high school, but living in that oh-so-comfy Disney bubble. ("My high school experience is 'High School Musical,' " Hudgens said.)

Being in the bubble, and on a tight schedule, she hasn't seen any of Philadelphia except a monsoon-drenched I-95, but she said, "I'm determined to try a Philly cheesesteak before I leave."

Asked about her musical influences, Hudgens said, "Natalie Wood was one of my favorite actresses when I was growing up so I'm a big fan of 'Gypsy' and 'West Side Story.'

"I thought she was beautiful and classy and sexy at the same time. I mean, not when I was 5 did I think that, but I think that now."

Had she ever gone further back and seen any of the Fred Astaire-Ginger Rogers musicals?

"Oh, yeah. He was one of our big inspirations for 'High School Musical 3,' actually. Our whole waltz scene."

Hudgens said facing a mob of screaming fans "is quite overwhelming, but it's great. I'm very excited that they're here and I hope that they like 'Bandslam.' "

Like a politician, she's good at staying on message.

Becoming a big musical star didn't miraculously happen over night for Hudgens, even though it seems like it. Growing up, she said, "I danced for a long time, every style. I took singing lessons, piano lessons, acting classes, did a bunch of musical theater, everything I could to be a part of the business. I just loved it. I had so much fun."

Her (first) big break was a bit of a fluke, when she was 8. "My girlfriend asked me if I would go audition for her because she couldn't make it. It was for a commercial and I booked it, and I then signed with her agency and kept doing commercials, TV shows to movies and here I am."

Now Hudgens is trying to navigate the treacherous transition from tween star to adult star:

"I think I've been taking baby steps," she said, " 'Bandslam' is for a little older audience. The movie I just did is called 'Beastly,' definitely another step up, it's an awesome, beautiful love story. And the thing I'm doing after that is called 'Sucker Punch,' which is an action film, set in the '50s in a brothel."

Anything else, Vanessa, since we can't ask you about Zac?

"Yeah, I hope the fans go see this movie because it's not what you think. If you're thinking it's a stereotypical teen movie it's so not. I promise you will love it, the music's great, your parents will enjoy it and there's a lot of really awesome, awkward and funny moments.

"And I love you guys."