Nicole Blonsky (born November 9, 1988) is an American actress. She is best known for playing Tracy Turnblad in the film Hairspray (2007), for which she won two Critics' Choice Awards and nominations for a Golden Globe Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award.
Blonsky has also starred as Willamena Rader in the ABC Family series Huge (2010), for which she received a Teen Choice Award nomination, had a recurring role as Margot on the series Smash (2013), and had roles in the films Geography Club (2013) as Therese and The Last Movie Star (2017) as Faith.
Early life 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. Her father is Jewish, and her mother is Roman Catholic.
Blonsky attended Great Neck North Middle School and attended John L. Miller Great Neck North High School, and switched to Village School after a year at the latter. She additionally attended the after-school theatre program at William A. Shine Great Neck South High School daily, where she participated in productions of Les Misérables, Sweeney Todd, Kiss Me, Kate, and the title role of the opera Carmen.
Career Blonsky made her screen debut as Tracy Turnblad in the musical feature film Hairspray, which is an adaptation of the musical of the same name. She auditioned for the role as a high-school student with no professional acting or singing background at the time, and beat out 1100 candidates. The film was released to commercial and critical success, and became Blonsky's first role. She received praise for her performance, with Roger Ebert of The Chicago Sun-Times writing "Without somebody like Nikki Blonsky at the heart of the movie, it might fall flat, but everybody works at her level of happiness..." She received several awards and nominations, including winning two Critics' Choice Awards for Best Young Actress and Best Acting Ensemble, and being nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture.
On June 22, 2008, she sang The Star-Spangled Banner in the pre-race ceremony at the 2008 Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Infineon Raceway. Blonsky also co-starred in the MTV mystery series Valemont in 2009. In 2010, Blonsky co-starred with Raven Goodwin in the short lived ABC Family series Huge, which premiered in June 2010, and ran for one season. Entertainment Weekly described her as the show's "great asset" and praised her for having "the delicate skill to make Will’s anger take the forms of both sincerity and a funny sarcasm." For Huge, she received a nomination for a Teen Choice Award.
In 2011, Blonsky earned a cosmetology license, and began working part-time as a hairstylist and make-up artist in her hometown of Great Neck, New York, between acting auditions. In 2013, Blonsky appeared in two episodes of the NBC Broadway drama series Smash. Later that year, she appeared in the film adaptation of the book Geography Club. The film received mixed reviews, however she and the cast were nominated for an award at the ShoWest Convention in 2014.
Blonsky appeared Off-Broadway in the play Stuffed by Lisa Lampanelli at the Westside Theatre in October 2017 to November 2017.
Blonsky saw a resurgence in 2025 following a TikTok trend of her Cameo appearances.
Personal life Blonsky's first boyfriend was Hairspray co-star Anthony Carr.
In June 2020, Blonsky came out as a lesbian in a video posted to the social media site TikTok set to the song "I'm Coming Out" by Diana Ross. In 2022, Blonsky announced her engagement to her partner Hailey Jo Jenson. They were married on October 21, 2023.
Legal issues In July 2008, Blonsky and her parents were involved in an aggravated confrontation with the family of Bianca Golden, a former contestant on America's Next Top Model, at the Providenciales International Airport in Turks and Caicos over saved seats in the airport departure lounge. Golden and Blonsky were charged with actual bodily harm and Blonsky's father with grievous bodily harm, a felony. That December, the charges against Blonsky and Golden were dropped. It has been alleged by Golden that the altercation was racially motivated and involved racist remarks, but this is vehemently denied by Blonsky, who remarked in an Instagram story: "I am deeply saddened and hurt to hear I have been wrongly accused of ever having anything other than love in my heart for someone of a different race, when that couldn't be further from the truth".
Filmography
Film Year Title Role Notes 2007 Hairspray Tracy Turnblad 2008 Harold Rhonda Baxter 2010 Waiting for Forever Dolores 2013 The English Teacher Sheila Nussbaum Geography Club Therese 2014Membership Has Its Privileges: Making Geography ClubSelfShort 2016 Pup Star Lady Paw Paw (voice) 2017 The Last Movie Star Faith Cole Pup Star: Better 2GetherLady Paw Paw (voice)2018Pup Star: World TourLady Paw Paw (voice) 2019 Ghost in the Graveyard Mrs. E 2023ObliviousThe Voice 2024 Bosco Tammy
Television Year Title Role Notes2007-2025Entertainment TonightSelf18 2008Queen SizedMaggie BakerTelevision film2009 Ugly Betty Teri Episode: "Dressed for Success" Ace of Cakes Herself Episode: "The Eagle Has Landed" The Real Housewives of New York City Herself Episode: "The Lost Footage" Valemont Poppy Main role 2010 Huge Willamena Rader The Wendy Williams ShowSelfEpisode: "Episode dated 4 August 2010" 2011 The Fresh Beat Band MC Freeze Episode: "Dance Floor Superhero" Rocco's Dinner Party Herself Episode: "Runway Ready" 2013 Smash Margot 2 episodesOprah: Where Are They Now?SelfEpisode: "Snooki/'80s Heartthrob Willie Aames/Nikki Blonsky/Lottery Winners"From Broadway with Love: A Benefit Concert for Sandy HookSelfTV special2015Q and ASelfEpisode: "You Can't Stop Nikki Blonsky"2020QuarantineBillie SykesEpisode: "Day 44"2021Life UnfilteredEpisode: "Bullying and Body Shaming"Hollywood Disclosure with Serena DCSelfEpisode: "Nikki Blonsky"2023Every Breath She TakesMaria BonillaTelevision film
Podcasts +YearTitleRoleNotes2018Everything Iconic with Danny PellegrinoSelfEpisode: "36 A Night at Les Deux w/ The Hills' Kristin Cavallari, Mean Girls' Daniel Franzese, O-Town's Ashley Parker Angel, and Hairspray's Nikki Blonsky"2020Pop Culture Unplugged w/ EliasSelfEpisode: "Interview: Nikki Blonsky"2021Thanks for Coming InSelfEpisode: "43. Nikki Blonsky"2022Mayim Bialik's BreakdownSelfEpisode: "Nikki Blonsky, Go Be You"2023A Voice in VioletCharlotte6 episodes
Awards and nominations YearAwardCategoryWorkResultRef.2007Alliance of Women Film JournalistsBest NewcomerHairsprayCritics' Choice AwardsBest Young ActressBest Acting EnsembleHollywood Film AwardsEnsemble of the YearYoung Hollywood AwardsOne To Watch2008Golden Globe AwardsBest Actress, Musical or ComedyOnline Film Critics Society AwardsBest Breakthrough PerformanceScreen Actors Guild AwardsOutstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion PicturePalm Springs International Film Festival AwardsEnsemble Cast AwardRising Star Award2010Teen Choice AwardsChoice Summer TV Star: FemaleHuge2014ShoWest ConventionEnsemble AwardGeography Club
References
External links
"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