The High School Musical star underwent a dramatic transformation to play Apple Bailey in the film, hacking off her hair and sporting fake piercings. She also forced herself to feel ""insecure"" for three months during the shoot - but her intense preparations left her struggling to regain her confidence when the cameras stopped rolling.

Hudgens tells You magazine, ""Apple is a really insecure character, so I was basically telling myself I was a piece of s**t for three months and it really affected me.

""After filming was finished, it took me a long time to get out of that way of thinking. I completely lost myself for a while