Where the cast of Hairspray are now from tragic losses, airport brawls and rehab

Hairspray has some of the most memorable tunes of a musical film, and it’s hard to believe it came out 14 years ago.

The iconic film featured some A-List stars, and acted as a springboard for others.

It started life as a film in 1988, featuring Ricki Lake, Divine, Debbie Harry, Sonny Bono, Jerry Stiller and more.

That film was then translated to a Broadway musical to huge success, and was then remade in 2007 with many changes.

The stars of the film have been busy in the years since, with some finding huge success in Hollywood, while others took a different path.

Nikki Blonsky

Newcomer Nikki starred as Tracy Turnblad, the girl who wanted nothing more to sing and dance. It was the role originally played by chat-show queen Ricki. Lake.

This was Nikki’s breakout role, and she went on to star in films like ‘Queen Sized’ and ‘Harold’, as well as the TV show ‘Huge’.

It all went wrong for Nikki in 2008, when she and her family into an altercation with former America’s Next Top Model contestant Bianca Golden and her family.

Golden’s mother was hospitalised following the incident in an airport waiting area.

Controversy followed, with leaked videos and allegations of punches being thrown and slurs shouted from both sides.

Charges against both Blonsky and Golden were later dropped.

Nikki hasn’t acted since 2013, and changed career. She got her cosmetology license back in 2011 and also works as a public speaker.

She came out as gay in June of last year with a viral video on TikTok

Zac Efron

Many fans were surprised when Zac signed up to another musical film, following his break-out success from High School Musical.

After playing heartthrob Troy Bolton in HSM, he moved on to playing heartthrob Link Larkin in Hairspray.

What typecasting?

Since Hairspray he showed off comedic skills in 17 Again, That Awkward Moment, and Neighbours, and also pulled at the heart strings in roles like Charlie St. Cloud, The Lucky One, and The Paperboy.

He angered High School Musical fans when he didn’t make it to the 10 year reunion.

Zac surprised viewers and critics when he took on the role of Ted Bundy in ‘Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil And Vile’ and won rave reviews.

In his personal life he had a high-profile battle with alcohol and ended up in rehab.

He has since cleaned up and is now an keen traveller and environmentalist.

Zac regularly shared videos and posts of his trips and fitness tips to his 47.6 million subscribers.

Amanda Bynes

Another star with a troubled life is Amanda Bynes.

She played one of Tracy’s best friends in the film, as the bubbly Penny Pingleton.

At the time of filming, Amanda starred in two Nickelodeon shows, and had appeared in the hugely popular ‘She’s The Man’ and ‘What a Girl Wants’.

In 2010, the star announced she was retiring from acting.

She backtracked later saying she was taking time off, but hasn’t appeared in anything since.

Her mental health and personal life took a downward turn, and in 2013 her parents had a brief conservatorship over her after she’d been held on a 72-hour psychiatry hold.

She had another psychiatry hold, but has since been studying at school as she wants to be fashion designer.

The star went quiet on social media, but posted in 2020 revealing a new face tattoo, of a black heart.

Her Instagram has since been deleted, and in the wake of Britney Spears’ conservatorship discussions, fans have been calling for people to look at Amanda’s too.

John Travolta

John was of course already an A-List star when he took on the role of Tracy’s mother, Edna Turnblad.

It surprised many when he took on the role, and caused some controversy over the padding and fatsuits involved.

The role has always been played by a man in drag starting with the original 1988 film, where Edna was played by famed drag queen Divine.

Gay rights activist called for a boycott of the film, due to his Scientology faith which they called ‘homophobic’.

Tragedy struck for John, when his son Jett sadly passed away in 2009 after suffering from a seizure.

Then, in 2020, his wife Kelly Preston died of breast cancer.

He shared the horrendous news and said he would be “taking some time to be there for my children who have lost their mother.”

Brittany Snow

Brittany starred as popular “good” girl Amber Von Tussle, who everyone loved to hate as she was mean to Tracy.

She’s starred in some big films, including Prom Night and The Vicious Kind, but her biggest hit was landing the role of Chloe Beale in the hit musical Pitch Perfect.

Brittany also played the role in Pitch Perfect 2 and Pitch Perfect 3, and it was a smash hit musical film.

It fast became the highest-grossing music comedy film of all-time, overtaking School Of Rock.

She became engaged to former realtor and pro surfer Tyler Stanaland in 2019, and they married in Malibu in March 2020.

Taylor Parks

Taylor Parks stole the show as Little Inez in Hairspray, and viewers fell in love with her energy.

She now can be found under a stage name of Tayla Parx.

Tayla has appeared in True Jackson, VP, Bones, and Victorious, however she’s focusing more on a music career.

She’s now a singer and songwriter and she’s worked with Ariana Grande, Jennifer Lopez, Jason Derulo, Pentatonix, Mariah Carey and more.

Tayla has also written with numerous artists and producer including the likes of Leanne Rimes, Christina Aguilera, Usher, Rihanna, Nicki Minaj, and Meghan Trainor.

James Marsden

James Marsden was already on the rise when he was cast as TV host and local hero Corny Collins, but the role definitely didn’t hurt.

He went on to appear in many family friendly movies such as Enchanted, Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore, Hop, and Sonic The Hedgehog.

On the small screen, he appeared on Modern Family and as Liz Lemon’s love interest on 30 Rock.

He’s also been in Westworld and in the film Henchmen, and also in Netflix comedy series Dead To Me.

James was previously married to Mary Linde and had two children together, but divorced in 2011. He went on to have a third child with a girlfriend but they have now since split.

Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk