Nikki Blonsky has wanted to play the Hairspray heroine, Tracy Turnblad, since she first saw the show on Broadway. While she was too young at 16 for the recent Broadway revival, she has landed the lead in the new movie adaptation.
The high school student and ice cream shop assistant will appear alongside a number of huge stars, such as John Travolta, Michelle Pheiffer, Queen Latifah, James Marsden and Christopher Walken.
Blonsky has been singing since the age of 3 and has a string of high school stage credits to her name, including Carmen and Kiss Me Kate, and is a regular at the theatres on Broadway. She says she felt an affinity with the voluptuous teen heroine from the moment she first saw Hairspray:
“I was just electrified by Tracy," Blonsky, now 18, said. "We kind of have the same passion, the same drive, the theory of nothing will stop us and why can't anybody do anything they want to do.”
Hairspray the musical is currently running on Broadway at the Neil Simon Theatre and the new movie opens later this month.
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