Nicole Margaret "Nikki" Blonsky (born November 9, 1988) is an American actress, singer and dancer. She is best known for her role as Tracy Turnblad in the 2007 film Hairspray and as Maggie Baker in the 2008 television movie Queen Sized. She is also known for her starring role in the ABC Family original series Huge.
Personal life
Blonsky was raised in Great Neck, New York, in Nassau County on Long Island. She is the daughter of Karen (née Smeja), a school aide of Czech and Irish descent, and Carl Blonsky, a municipal worker for the village water pollution control district. She began singing at age three and started taking vocal lessons at the age of eight. Blonsky was raised Catholic, although her father is Jewish.
Blonsky attended Great Neck North Middle School, and attended John L. Miller Great Neck North High School for one year. Then she switched to Village School, an alternative high school with only 50 students. After school each day, she would attend the after-school theater program at William A. Shine Great Neck South High School (even though she originally went to school at Great Neck North), where she participated in productions of Les Misérables, Sweeney Todd, Kiss Me, Kate and, in the title role, the opera Carmen. Village School students often participate in after school activities at either North or South, because these activities are limited at the Village School.
In July 2008, Blonsky and her parents were involved in a violent confrontation with the family of Bianca Golden, a former contestant on America's Next Top Model, at the Providenciales International Airport in the Turks and Caicos. The Blonsky and Golden families reportedly fought over seats in the airport’s departure area, leading to a brawl which left Golden’s mother hospitalized. Golden, Blonsky, and Blonsky’s father Carl were all charged with assault. The charges against Blonsky were dropped in January 2009.
In 2011, Blonsky earned a cosmetology license, and began working part-time as a hairstylist and makeup artist in her hometown of Great Neck, in between acting auditions.
Career
Blonsky said that she yearned to play the role of Tracy Turnblad since seeing Hairspray on Broadway on her 15th birthday. In 2007, while working at Cold Stone Creamery, she found out she had been cast in Adam Shankman's 2007 film adaptation.
Blonsky began work on her debut album in September 2007 and collaborated with alternative rock musician Duncan Sheik on a number of tracks.. Her first single, "On a High", a cover of one of Sheik's songs, was featured in Blonsky's Lifetime Original Movie Queen Sized. On December 18, 2007, she performed with the Turtle Creek Chorale in her first solo performance.
On June 22, 2008, she sang the American National Anthem in the pre-race ceremony at the 2008 Toyota\Save Mart 350 at Infineon Raceway.
In 2009, Blonsky made a guest appearance on Ugly Betty, in the episode "Dressed for Success." Blonsky also co-starred in the MTV mystery series Valemont in 2009. She later starred in the short lived ABC Family series Huge, which premiered in June 2010, but was canceled three months later.
In 2013, Blonsky appeared in two episodes of the NBC Broadway drama series Smash.
In 2013 she appeared in the adaptation of Geography Club with Ally Maki and Meaghan Martin.
Filmography
References
External links
- Nikki Blonsky at the Internet Movie Database
- Nikki Blonsky at AllMovie
- Nikki's MySpace page
- "17 Year-Old Nikki Blonsky Cast as Hairspray Film's Tracy", BroadwayWorld.com, June 8, 2006
- "Breaking News: Unknown Lands Hairspray Lead", Cinematical.com, June 8, 2006
- "A ‘Hairspray’ dream come true", MSNBC/Access Hollywood, June 15, 2006
