Nikki Blonsky Biography

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, and Carl Blonsky, a municipal worker for the village water pollution control district. From the time she was three years old, she was singing. She started taking vocal training lessons at the age of eight. Blonsky was raised in her mother's Catholic religion. Her father was Jewish.

Blonsky attended Village School (Great Neck, New York). Even though she was a Village School student, after the school day she would go to the after-school theater program at the William A. Shine Great Neck South High School. There, she was cast in various roles in productions of Les Misérables, Sweeney Todd, Kiss Me, Kate and, in the title role, the opera Carmen.

She went to Great Neck Public Library's Levels and was in shows such as Alice In Wonderland. Blonsky has said that she wanted to play the role of Tracy Turnblad from the first time she saw Hairspray for her 15th birthday on Broadway. In 2007 she worked at Cold Stone Creamery when she found out she was cast as Tracy Turnblad in Hairspray.

Career

Blonsky starred in the film Hairspray as Tracy Turnblad. She was accompanied by Queen Latifah as Motor-Mouth Maybelle, Zac Efron as Link, Michelle Pfeiffer as Velma Von Tussle, Amanda Bynes as Penny Pingleton, James Marsden as Corny Collins, Christopher Walken as Wilbur Turnblad, Brittany Snow as Amber Von Tussle, and John Travolta as Edna Turnblad.

Blonsky began work on her debut album in September 2007. She confirmed in November 2007 that she was working with alternative rock musician Duncan Sheik on a number of tracks. Her first single, "On a High", a cover of one of Sheik's tracks, was featured in the Lifetime Original Movie Queen Sized, in which Blonsky also starred. On December 18, 2007, she performed with the Turtle Creek Chorale in her first solo performance.

On 22 June 2008, she sang the American National Anthem in the pre-race ceremony at the 2008 Toyota\Save Mart 350 that took place at Infineon Raceway.

In 2009, Blonsky made a guest appearance on the Ugly Betty episode "Dressed for Success", in which she played Teri O'Shaughnessy, an assistant at Elle, the rival magazine of the show's fictional Mode. Blonsky also co-starred in the MTV mystery series Valemont in 2009. She later starred in the short lived ABC Family series Huge. The show premiered in June 2010, and was canceled by September.

Blonsky has earned a cosmetology license and as of December 2011 was working as a hairstylist in her hometown of Great Neck, New York. Blonsky stated she has not given up on her acting career.

In September 2012, NBC announced Blonsky would appear in episodes of its Broadway drama series Smash.

In 2013 she is in the adaptation of Geography Club with Ally Maki and Meaghan Martin.

Filmography

Film

Year	Film	Role	Notes
2007	Hairspray	Tracy Turnblad	Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Young Performer Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Cast Hollywood Film Festival for Ensemble Cast of the Year Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Breakthrough Performance Palm Springs International Film Festival for Rising Star Palm Springs International Film Festival for Ensemble Cast Nominated " Golden Globe Award for Best Actress " Motion Picture Musical or Comedy Nominated " MTV Movie Award for Best Breakthrough Performance Nominated " Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Song Nominated " Chicago Film Critics Association Awards for Most Promising Actress Nominated " Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Nominated " Young Hollywood Awards for One to Watch
2008	Queen Sized	Maggie Baker	TV movie
2008	Harold	Rhonda Baxter
2011	Waiting For Forever	Dolores
2011	Fresh Beat Band	Deep Freeze
2012	The English Teacher	Shelia
2012	The Hall	Herself
2013	Geography Club	Therese	Filming

Television

Year	Film	Role	Notes
2009	Ace of Cakes	Herself	Episode: "The Eagle Has Landed"
2009	Ugly Betty	Teri O'Shaughnessy	Episode: "Dressed for Success"
2009	Valemont	Poppie	Main Cast; 19 episodes
2010	Huge	Will Rader	10 episodes Nominated " Teen Choice Awards for Choice Summer TV Star: Female
2011	Rocco's Dinner Party	Herself	Episode: "Runway Ready"
2013	Smash	Margot	Recurring Role