When the trailer dropped for Netflix’s The Princess Switch, in which Vanessa Hudgens plays both a Chicago baker and a European duchess, fans couldn’t help but draw Parent Trap comparisons.
And Hudgens, 29, is flattered by the likeness.
“I’ve seen that movie so many times,” she tells PEOPLE. “My sister and I used to act out the scenes from the movie. It’s still such a go-to of mine. If I still love it, hopefully, this will be a classic for my fans and that they’ll still watch it.”
Just like The Parent Trap, The Princess Switch boasts long-lost lookalikes, a trip overseas, an elaborate secret handshake and the lead actress starring opposite herself.
“It was very confusing!” Hudgens admits. “There are the two characters and then they switch, so trying to figure out if I was American trying to be British, or British pretending to be American, it was definitely a confusing situation.”
But the challenge of swapping roles — plus the accents — drew her to the part, along with her desire to bring some Christmas cheer into the world.
“The world is such a crazy place,” the High School Musical alum says. “We all need a little bit of light, uplifting escapism. And what better way to do it than with a romantic Christmas movie?”
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Hudgens, who has been dating actor Austin Butler since September 2011, isn’t totally sold, however, on the movie’s message that romantic relationships work better when you have everything in common.
“I feel like someone like me and my partner, we are so similar, and in other ways, we think completely opposite,” she says. “I don’t think that like there’s a set through line honestly, because everyone is different.”
Hudgens feels she identifies more closely with American baker Stacy, although her own holiday traditions involve more cocktails than cookies.
“By no means am I a baker,” Hudgens quips. “I’d take a plate of pasta over a piece of cake any day. I love making mulled wine, a) because it’s delicious and b) because it makes the entire house smell so good. Also, Fireball with Martinelli’s sparkling cider, that’s another holiday classic of mine. It is so good! It’s the perfect holiday cocktail.”
Hudgens could’ve used a festive drink to help get in the mood for all things merry and bright while filming in Romania over the summer.
“It was May, June, filming in a very small town where not a lot of people spoke English,” says Hudgens, who stars this winter in Second Act and Fox’s Rent: Live! “It was very hot, and wearing parkas were the last thing that you wanted to do. A lot of make-believe.”
The Princess Switch is available now on Netflix.
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