Hairspray Interviews - Nikki Blonsky, Amanda Bynes and More
The cast of the movie musical Hairspray was honored with the 'Ensemble Performance' Award at the 2008 Palm Springs International Film Festival. On the red carpet, Nikki Blonsky, Amanda Bynes, producers Neil Meron and Craig Zadan talked up the film.
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Transcript: Hairspray Interviews - Nikki Blonsky, Amanda Bynes and More
Rebecca Murray from About.com Hollywood Movies at the 2008 Palm Springs International Film Festival Awards Gala.
Nikki Blonsky ('Tracy' in Hairspray)
Nikki Blonsky: "I'm very honored to be here tonight to be getting this award, to be here in such great company. It means a lot that they respected my work and my character of Tracy. It means a lot to me. I had so much fun playing Tracy. She's a life-changing character and the fact that people are experiencing her as well and seeing that side of her and seeing my take on it, means a lot to me."
What about getting the award from Ricki Lake?
Nikki Blonsky: "It's kind of like it's going to be like the official passing of the Tracy baton, if you will, you know? I wouldn't want an award from anybody else but Miss Ricki Lake. She is a lovely person. She was very supportive in me as my portrayal of Tracy. And for her to come all the way out here tonight to present this to me really does mean a lot. She's a very inspirational person in my life.
Ricki's like a big sister. Look, the Tracy bond is there for life. I'll take care of her and she'll take care of me."
Amanda Bynes ('Penny' in Hairspray)
Amanda Bynes: "I feel like it's just great actors, not myself. I would see it if I weren't in it. I think it's got a great message for kids."
Hairspray Producers Neil Meron and Craig Zadan
Did you really expect it to be embraced by this wide of an audience?
Craig Zadan: "We'd hoped so, you know? We'd just done Chicago and we thought, 'Oh, this is going to be our one big moment with a movie musical.' And my god, who knew that this was going to explode and be as big or bigger than Chicago?"
And the resurgence of movie musicals is just fantastic. What do you think has brought this about?
Neil Meron: "You know, we went on a mission to revitalize the genre. We started in television doing musicals with Gypsy with Bette Midler, then Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella with Whitney Houston. We noticed that the audience came in droves. So our goal was to do a movie musical, so we did Chicago. And then you know what happened. And then we followed up with Hairspray. So our mission seems to be taking wind."
Exactly. Everybody else is picking up on it now. You've got Sweeney Toddand everything.
Craig Zadan: "There wouldn't have been a Hairspray, there wouldn't be a Sweeney Todd, there wouldn't be what's coming out - Mamma Mia! - soon, without the success of Chicago."
Neil Meron: "And there wouldn't have been a Chicago without the success of what we did on television. It's been a wonderful, wonderful and every gratifying ride."
This young cast you have in this is just fantastic. Did you expect Nikki to be out there and burst out like she did?
Craig Zadan: "We expected her to be really good, but that extra step that she developed in the rehearsal period… We realized a month into rehearsal that we had Barbra Streisand. We sort of hoped we would, but you never know, but she's brilliant."
What's the next musical you're going to be bringing out?
Neil Meron: "We're going to be doing Peter Pan for TV. The one that Mary Martin did for TV many, many years ago – but we're going to do it as a film. "
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