Vanessa Hudgens likes to drum with drug addicts

The former Disney starlet – best known for portrayal of Gabriella Montez in the High School Musical series – told The Los Angeles Times: “I love going to the drum circle down there [Venice Beach]. Every now and then someone will let me join in and bang on their drums, and I just love people who are completely free. Even if they're drug addicts, who sometimes freak me out. I'm figuring out how to be a better person while observing other people.'

Hudgens says she has attempted to put her past behind her and move forward in Hollywood, dropping her squeaky-clean image.

'Teenagers come up to me and are obnoxious about the whole thing, like, 'Oh my God, you're that girl from the Disney Channel'. And I'm like, 'I was that girl'.'

Another moniker the actress has been struggling to break free from is that of 'Zac Efron's girlfriend'. The couple split in December after a more than three years together.

Hudgens said: 'We got to a point where we just can't pay attention, because one week we'd be married and then the next week we'd be broken up and the next week I would have a baby. It was just the most obscene things.'