Was John Travolta actually fat in Hairspray?

To play overweight housewife Edna Turnblad – a role originated by drag queen Divine in John Waters’ 1988 Hairspray film – Travolta was remodelled using prosthetic make-up and a fat suit in a process which took four hours a day.

Who played the fat lady in Hairspray?

Former obese actress/TV host dishes about going from fat to fit in Hollywood. Ricki Lake discusses how her weight affected her acting and talk show careers. Jan. 5, 2011 — — Ricki Lake weighed 200 pounds when, at age 19, she was cast as the happily heavyset Tracy Turnblad in the 1988 John Waters movie, Hairspray.

How tall is Tracy Turnblad?

Everybody was so thin and tall and blond and everything I was not,” says Nikki Blonsky, the hefty, 4-foot-10 newcomer who plays Tracy.

Why did they pick John Travolta for Hairspray?

In 2007, the Chicago Tribune reported that Meron said Travolta was cast as Edna in order to continue the tradition of the musical, which has continued years later in the NBC live version of the musical.

How did Tom Cruise lose weight for Castaway?

TIL that Tom Hanks in Castaway allowed himself to gain weight to fit the role of a middle-aged man. Production was then halted for a year so he could lose 50 pounds and grow out his hair for his time spent on the island. During the hiatus, Robert Zemeckis used the same crew for What Lies Beneath.

Why is Hairspray set in Baltimore?

In 1962, the same year that Hairspray takes place, the Maryland Court of Appeals ruled that a group of high school and college students were rightfully arrested and convicted for staging a sit-in at the segregated Hooper’s Restaurant in downtown Baltimore. That same year, Martin Luther King, Jr.

What happened to the actress who played Tracy in Hairspray?

While she certainly isn’t experiencing the same level of fame as when Hairspray was released, Blonsky still acts sporadically. She is due to star in an episode of the TV series Quarantine about the coronavirus pandemic, and appeared in the feature film Ghost in the Graveyard last year.

Can Nikki Blonsky sing?

Nicole Blonsky (born November 9, 1988) is an American actress, singer, dancer, and Internet personality who is known for her breakthrough role as Tracy Turnblad in the film Hairspray (2007), for which she won two Critics’ Choice Awards and received nominations for a Golden Globe Award and a SAG Award.

Did they use real Hairspray in the movie Hairspray?

According to the producers’ commentary, the “hairspray” in the Ultra Clutch cans was actually deodorant. Out of many possibilities, it was the only thing that would catch the light and show up on camera the way they wanted it to.

Is Tracy’s mom in Hairspray a man?

The cast, Tracy Turnblad doesn’t think her mother is a man. The amazing Harvey Fierstein is reprising his role as Tracy Turnblad’s mom in NBC’s Hairspray Live! Fierstein won a Tony Award for “best actor in a musical” for playing Edna Turnblad in Hairspray on Broadway.

Why did John Travolta wear a fatsuit in Hairspray?

While the role of Edna demands a camp icon, the production earned publicity early on when it revealed that John Travolta would don a fatsuit for the role. Like Travolta, Pfeiffer and Walken can camp it up with ease. Having frequented camp sensibility, both can wear it without being consumed by it.

Is the movie Hairspray based on a true story?

John Travolta’s no stranger to movie musicals although most of his young fans never had the chance to see Grease or Saturday Night Fever on the big screen. And none of his fans have ever seen Travolta dance and sing in drag in a feature film until Hairspray, a musical set in the 1960s and based on John Waters’ 1988 movie.

Who is all woman in remake of Hairspray?

John Travolta is ‘all woman’ in remake of classic film Hairspray. by LINA DAS. Last updated at 12:58 22 June 2007. They say it isn’t over till the fat lady sings and goodness does she sing and shimmy and shake her voluptuous behind in a pink sequinned mini-dress in a manner the like of which Beyonce can only dream of.

Who was Edna Turnblad in Hairspray The movie?

Hairspray the movie is back – an awful lot of back, in fact – and front, and sides too, as Edna Turnblad, the character famously portrayed by the late Divine in the John Waters-directed cult classic, comes to the big screen next month, this time in the shape of John Travolta.