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We are SO excited to bring to you exclusive interviews with the cast of the up-and-coming film Hairspray! The lovely Kelly White got the opportunity to talk one-on-one with some of our favorite stars from the movie. Read below to get the 411 on the fabulous brand-new star Nikki Blonsky!

Kelly White: Hi Nikki! Congratulations on scoring the part in Hairspray! Can you tell me what was the most valuable thing that you brought away from this experience?

Nikki Blonsky: Wow. It made me a believer that dreams really do come true and it made me really see that it doesn’t matter, what size, shape, race or nationality you are. Anybody can follow their dreams and anybody can do what they want to do. And like I said, it just made me a believer and it just made me a better, more secure person.

Kelly White: I was reading in the production notes, the director said – and this is a quote, “Nikki is Tracy.” Is that true?

Nikki Blonsky: Yeah, it a lot of ways I believe, yes. I believe we share a lot of the same qualities, a lot of the same views on life. Tracy has become one of my best friends and somebody that I look to for inspiration and advice.

And when I say that I look to her, I look to, you know, her character and the way that she would say certain lines and certain views she had on life, so I think Tracy is just an unbelievable character and I’m just honored to be playing her.

Kelly White: How would you say that you’re most not like Tracy?

Nikki Blonsky: Tracy sees what she wants – you know, she sees Link right away and she’s like, “Oh, I want that.” I’m a little more shy with the fellas I have to say.

Kelly White: So okay speaking of Link can you give us any scoops on Zac?

Nikki Blonsky: Wow, he is just an amazing guy. He is one of the most talented human beings I’ve ever met in my entire life and one of the kindest. He just completely took me into his heart and I took him into mine and he is just a lovely, lovely, gorgeous inside and out guy. He’s just phenomenal.

Kelly White: So you made a lot of friends on set, clearly.

Nikki Blonsky: We did, yeah.

Kelly White: And you think you’ll keep in touch with everybody?

Nikki Blonsky: I do, I speak to Elijah Kelley at least once a week. He’s one of my best friends in the whole world and I just adore him. He’s just talented beyond belief. I talk to the girls all the time, Brittany Snow and Amanda Bynes and everybody, you know, I made some of my best friends from Hairspray. So I’m just so thankful to have been in such great company.

Kelly White: Now I read that you are a poet.

Nikki Blonsky: I am. I’m a published poet.

Kelly White: So have you written any poetry lately?

Nikki Blonsky: Yes, I actually. One of the things I do on my free time is that I write.

Kelly White: So did you do any writing on set during your downtime?

Nikki Blonsky: Yeah, actually I did. I would keep a little journal with me in my purse and whenever an idea would come to me, I’d write it down. I mean of course, now, going through this whole experience, I have a lot of things to write about so it’s quite amazing.

Kelly White: So speak to me in verse.

Nikki Blonsky: Hairspray is a dream come true. You’ll never think it will happen until it happens to you.

Kelly White: Really good!

Kelly White: Oh, Amanda told me to ask you this, what is your fascination with Hitch? She said you guys watched it over and over.

Nikki Blonsky: We did. Actually we did – we never ever got to the end of it because they would always come to our trailer and be like, “Okay guys, we need you on set in five minutes.” So we would get like a quarter of the way through. And then the next time we get half the way through and then next time we get three quarters of the way through. So we never actually watched the full movie. We still have to sit down and make a day to watch the end of our movie. But we would – I think for like two days we tried to watch it like over and over and over again.

Kelly White: What other kinds of things did you guys do in your trailer to kill time?

Nikki Blonsky: Oh, my gosh. Well my favorite TV show in the whole world is Will & Grace, so I had every single season stacked up so whenever anybody wanted to watch Will & Grace, they’d come to my trailer and we’d bust out the tapes. ‘Cause I always had it on playing in the background even if I was writing something or if I was, you know, doing something else, I always had it playing in the background anyway.

So I just – I would watch that and we’d watch movies and play cards – some of us, we’d just hang out. I think that was the most amazing things was that we would all just hang out and like I said I made some of my best friends from Hairspray. So just a great bonding experience. It was a great life experience getting to know all these different people and all these different personalities. I think that was so amazing to me.

Kelly White: Did you guys ever get to go out on the town or anything like that?

Nikki Blonsky: Oh we did. We – I remember Zac and I would go a lot to Toronto Blue Jays games, and Elijah and I and bunch of us went to the Black Eyed Peas concert in Toronto. So we did – when we had our days off, we definitely made it out and went out and had some fun. And I remember celebrating my 18th birthday in Toronto, we all loved it up there. When we had our days off, we had fun.

Kelly White: Do you have brothers and sisters?

Nikki Blonsky: I do. I have a 12-year-old brother named Joey.

Kelly White: So he must be really happy for you?

Nikki Blonsky: He’s very excited. He’s – you know, I’m very fortunate to have a very supporting, loving family, so – you know, he’s super, super excited that you know, his sister – her dream came true. And I would love nothing more than for him to be, you know, following his dreams too.

Kelly White: Is he an actor?

Nikki Blonsky: Yeah, he’s acted. He’s very talented. He’s hysterical. He’s a comedian. He’s so funny and he’s a great singer too. So I think he’ll definitely hopefully bust into this business someday soon.

Kelly White: What do you think it is, about you, that made you outshine all the other thousands of girls who auditioned for this part?

Nikki Blonsky: Wow. What I think it was is just I was just a 17-year-old girl who wanted to sing, and act, and dance in this business and when I saw Hairspray, it was like this is the perfect venue. You know, I just wanted to play this character Tracy, who’s just a 17-year-old girl who wanted to dance and sing on the Corny Collins Show.

So I think Tracy and I kinda saw eye-to-eye and our lives were kinda parallel and I think it kind just went hand in had. And I think Adam Shankman, whom I call my dream maker, he’s so genius, and he’s so smart, and I learned so much from him. But I think he saw my passion and he saw that this is what I really wanted and I was ready to do this in my life.

And so I thank him everyday for this amazing, life changing experience but I think it was just that fact I just – he knew that I really, really, really, wanted it, like 100% hands down really wanted it. So I’m just thankful that he gave it to me.

Kelly White: Did you have to go on more than one audition?

Nikki Blonsky: I did. I had about five or six callbacks and they span

ned over a period of 5 ½ months.

Kelly White: Wow, was that tough?

Nikki Blonsky: It was – you know, the waiting is always a little hard, but I mean, it was fun. I just looked at every audition as a step closer and it was – it was just a great, great experience and I wouldn’t have changed anything from it.

Kelly White: Do you have a boyfriend?

Nikki Blonsky: I do not. I do not.

Kelly White: Do you have a celebrity crush?

Nikki Blonsky: Well, if I had to pick one celebrity to have a crush on, I’ve had the same celebrity crush for about, oh my goodness, for like 10 years now and it’s the ever gorgeous John Stamos. Yes Uncle Jesse.

Kelly White: He’s a little older...

Nikki Blonsky: I know but he’s just so handsome. Other than that, I love everyday real people. I’m just an independent girl having fun and if an independent guy comes along, cool. But I’m just having a great time right now so I’m just totally on my own path and you know, if anything happens, okay. But if not, then I’m fine with that too.

Kelly White: So if you were to meet a guy, what would be the qualities that you would be looking for in him?

Nikki Blonsky: Somebody who’s secure in himself. Somebody who’s excited about life and fun loving and somebody who’s just kind and somebody who can make me laugh. ‘Cause I love to make people laugh. There’s nothing more that I love than to be made to laugh. So somebody who’s just fun and like I said, who’s just secure in themselves and knows where they’re going and what they wanna do in life so - I think those are the qualities that I would look for in a guy.

Kelly White: Would you say that any of your friends are treating you any differently than they used to now that you’re a big star?

Nikki Blonsky: I have seen a change in some people. But I mean people get older and it’s expected, I guess, whether you get into this business or not. But I have seen a change and sometimes it’s a little disappointing but you know, like I said, you take everything with a grain of salt and take life as it comes and everything happens for reasons. Friendships start for a reason. Other friendships end for a reason. So I have two really great best friends and like I said I have a very supporting, loving family. So I feel I’m just blessed right now.

Kelly White: What would you say is different about their behavior?

Nikki Blonsky: Well I think they kind of went from just treating me like everyday Nikki, which is still am. Trust me, I have not changed an ounce but for them everything is the movie anymore and they really don’t tend to ask about Nikki anymore.

It’s really just always about Tracy so I’m like, “Well wait guys, I’m still here too.” So it’s a shame but I do have some very loyal friends from my hometown that I went to high school with but it’s interesting to see how other people deal with other people’s success and other people’s dreams coming true.

Kelly White: Did you always have confidence that this dream you had would become a reality or did you this think it would always be a fantasy?

Nikki Blonsky: No. I knew someday that I would work hard enough to at least get one job in this business but I never ever imagined that it would happen this soon and at this amazing level of excitement. I’m just so thankful for it.

Kelly White: Well now that you’ve sorta realized your dream in such a huge way, how do you top that?

Nikki Blonsky: I think that the greatest thing for me would be to continue to make really great movies – more great movies and play really great more rolls in this business and in really great projects that I’m confident and excited about.

Kelly White: Do you think that you’lll always combine the singing with the acting?

Nikki Blonsky: Nope, I think I’ll definitely try straight dramas, I think I’ll definitely try straight comedies and there's so many different amazing venues in this business to explore and I would love to explore many of them and try to use all my abilities.

STAY TUNED: All of this week and part of next we will have interviews from 6 castmates from the upcoming smash hit Hairspray, releasing TODAY! Don’t forget to hit up your local theatre and get retro with this dance and song filled flick!

7/20/2007 4:53:00 PM