Vanessa Hudgens given activist award at 2017 Teen Choice Awards

Filipina/American actress Vanessa Hudgens was given the #SeeHer Award (yes, it's a surfboard) at the 2017 Teen Choice Awards.

VANESSA HUDGENS was ill but you wouldn't know it at the 2017 Teen Choice Awards last night (Aug. 13) when she gave an inspirational speech when she received the #SeeHer Award.

The Filipina/American actress 28, was given the #SeeHer Award for "pushing boundaries, unchanging stereotypes and embodying the fight for realistic female portrayals in media."

"I'm not gonna lie, when I was 25, I felt like I had it all figured out," she confessed. "And then I woke up at 27 and I realized that I had no idea who I was, what I stood for, and what I wanted."

"I look back on that moment really grateful because it pushed me to dig deeper and figure out what type of woman I wanted to become."

She was given the award for her work for a number of charities including the Make A Wish Foundation and Habitat for Humanity.

Vanessa Hudgens, right, stepped out at the Women's March earlier this year.

In the past 18 months, she had to overcome the death of her father on the eve of her live performance of Grease. In one of those "the show-must-go-on moments," she powered on and her performance boosted her Hollywood profile and garnered her  an Emmy.

Her hosting of the 2017 Billboard Awards elevated Hudgens' visibility and showed off her ability to spar impromptu with the stars in the audience and stage.

For me, the small throwaway line in her cancelled TV show Powerless was perhaps the most important for some little Asian/American child who might have heard it on network TV. She said, "I'm half Filipino ..." The moment was no big deal, no inspirational music in the background, no dramatic pause, but it identified her as an Asian/American when so many actors never get a chance to proclaim their heritage. individuality, what makes them different.

That single seemingly insignificant line was empowering. 

Unlike some actors and actresses who choose to remain ambiguous about their ethnicity, Hudgens has never been shy about her mixed-race heritage. Her mother is Filipino. When she had the opportunity, she said it publicly, during a performance: "I'm half Filipino."

The actress ended her Teen Choice speech with a powerful message for her younger fans. "I think it is so important for us to lean into our individuality and to embrace our weirdness," she continued. "To not be afraid of being different, because God made you you for a reason. So know that in your heart, you are enough. And the more you lean into that, the brighter you will shine." Amen, to that!

Other AAPI performers honored in the show were:

• Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, "Fantasy Movie Actor" for his voice work for Maui in the animated Moana.
• Auli Carvalho, "Break Out Actress" for her voice work as the title role in Moana.

Listen to Hudgen's speech below:

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EDITOR'S NOTE:or additional commentary, news and views from an AAPI perspective, follow me on Twitter @DioknoEd.

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TGIF FEATURE: Vanessa Hudgens & Ashley Tisdale duet on "Ex's & Oh's"

VANESSA HUDGENS recently joined Ashley Tisdale in a duet singing "Ex's & Oh's," that their fans are going crazy over.

Their harmony was exquisite and their friendship translates over the video. Their friendship began when both were starring in High School Musical.

Hudgens' new television comedy is set to debut next month. She plays Emily Locke, director of Research and Development for Wayne Security in Charm City, home to super heroes and villains and citizens fed up with the collateral damage of their constant fighting.

Powerless is about an outfit that cleans up after superheroes after they do their deeds, like saving the world. The characters in Powerless is set in the DC Comics universe. Will that open up the chance that some of our favorite superheroes show up on the show? Will Vanessa's character be an Asian/American? I guess we'll have to tune in to find out.

The 28-year old Filipina/American actress' return to TV will premiere Feb. 2 on NBC, 8:30 p.m./7:30 Central.

Strange, but the real-life BFFs never had the opportunity to perform as a duet in all the years doing HSM, but here they are singing together and it's a gem. Saving you the trouble of going to YouTube. The video is below:

TGIF FEATURE: Vanessa Hudgens doing “Grease: Live", Jan. 31

Filipina/American actress Vanessa Hudgens on the Jimmy Kimmel show.

VANESSA HUDGENS is not a celebrity that I follow closely but I may be changing my mind after her recent guest stint on Jimmy Kimmel's late night show.

She was articulate, animated, funny, poised and - well - charming. Fresh off her Broadway debut in the musical Gigi, her next gig is a live telecast of the popular musical Grease.

In the Fox production of Grease, she'll take on the iconic role of Rizzo, the tough-talking, worldly role made famous by Stockard Channing, who played the role in the film version. Rizzo is the counterpart to the innocent girl-next-door Sandy, the Olivia Newton John part played by good-girl-next-door-type Julianne Hough. Broadway vet Aaron Tveit (Les Miserable) will play John Travolta's bad boy role of Danny Zuko.

“Being Rizzo is something I’ve never imagined, and I love that because it will be a new challenge," says Hudgens. "She is such an iconic character that continues to transcend generations. I cannot wait to bring her to life on live television. I’m going to be a Pink Lady!”

Fox (not Fox News) will air the special on Sunday (Jan. 31) from 7 to 10 p.m. on each coast (sorry, Pacific time zone, you get tape-delayed).

It has been a busy January for the 27-year old Filipina/American actress. She took part in  the 10-year reunion of the cast of High School Musical, her breakout role. Besides Hudgens, the other cast members included Ashley Tisdale, Lucas Grabeel, Corbin Bleu, and Monique Coleman. They celebrated in a Los Angeles high school gym to mark the Disney Channel hit movie's 10-year anniversary, which aired on the Disney Channel on Jan. 20.

Noticeably absent was Zak Efron, Hudgen's on-screen and (for a while) real-life boyfriend.

The original High School Musical Movie debuted on Jan. 20, 2006 and earned 7.7 million viewers in the U.S. alone. At the time, the movie broke records for Disney Channel’s highest ratings of all time. The original soundtrack ranked as the No. 1 album of 2006, and the love story of Troy, Gabriella, and fellow Wildcats went on from the TV movie to create two more theater movies and a concert tour.

Hudgens may be a little distracted. On Jan. 24, she tweeted that her father, who has stage 4 cancer, is not doing well and asked her fans for their prayers.

From left: Julianne Hough, Aaron Tveldt and Vanessa Hudgens as their Grease characters.

For more news about Asian/Americans and Pacific Islanders, read AsAm News.

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