Nikki Blonsky

Nikki Blonsky
Blonsky in January 2008
Born	Nicole Margaret Blonsky (1988-11-09) November 9, 1988 (age 28) Great Neck, New York, U.S.
Occupation	Actress, singer, dancer
Years active	2007–present

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 film Queen Sized. She is also known for her starring role in the ABC Family original series Huge.

Blonsky was born and raised in Great Neck, New York. She and her brother Joey are the children of Karen, a school aide, and Carl Blonsky, a municipal worker for the village water pollution control district. She is of Czech and Irish descent on her mother's side. She began singing at age three and started taking vocal lessons at the age of eight. She was raised Roman Catholic.

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 theatre program at William A. Shine Great Neck South High School, where she participated in productions of Les Misérables, Sweeney Todd, Kiss Me, Kate, and the title role of the opera Carmen.

Blonsky said that she yearned to play the role of Tracy Turnblad since seeing Hairspray on Broadway on her 15th birthday. In 2006, 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.