Vanessa Hudgens Reveals Downsides to Dating Zac Efron

"I was really mean because I was so fed up," she said.

ByABC News
March 31, 2015, 10:17 AM
Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens at the 2010 Tony Winning Best Musical "Memphis" on August 17, 2010 in New York City.
Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens at the 2010 Tony Winning Best Musical "Memphis" on August 17, 2010 in New York City.
Bruce Glikas/Getty Images

— -- Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens started dating almost a decade ago after starring together on “High School Musical."

The couple split a few years back and now the young actress is opening up about dating in the spotlight.

“I went through a phase when I was really mean because I was so fed up,” she told the New York Times.

She added, “Girls were running after him, and I was giving them death stares. Then I realized that’s not what that’s about. ‘Spread the love, be a good person, they support you, be nice.’ ”

Hudgens, who is now happily in a relationship with fellow actor Austin Butler, also admitted, “I’m a definite hippie."

“I’m literally my happiest self when I’m dancing half naked on a grass field listening to Led Zeppelin," she added.

The "Gigi" star, 26, also "used to be on the fence about" feminism, but "now I feel like there’s this new wave of feminists coming up that are truly about equal rights for women. I mean, Beyoncé is, like, killing the game, and I love her."