Photo © 2007 New Line Cinema. HOLLYWOOD JESUS

"Hairspray" is originally based on the 1988 John Waters comedy about star- struck teenagers on a local Baltimore dance show. The new version of the film will be based on New Line's hit Broadway adaptation of the film, which debuted in 2002, and went on to win eight Tony Awards including Best Musical, Best Score, Best Book and Best Director. Travolta will play Edna Turnblad and Queen Latifah will play Motormouth Maybelle in the film. Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman will contribute new songs to their Tony Award winning score. Photo © 2007 New Line Cinema. HOLLYWOOD JESUS

Photo © 2007 New Line Cinema. HOLLYWOOD JESUS

The kids of the Corny Collins Council, including Zac Efron (center left) as "Link Larkin", James Marsden (center) as "Corny Collins", and Brittany Snow (center right) as "Amber von Tussle" Photo © 2007 New Line Cinema. HOLLYWOOD JESUS

Nikki Blonsky (center left) stars as "Tracy Turnblad", Amanda Bynes (center) as "Penny Pingleton", and Elijah Kelly (center right) as "Seaweed" Photo © 2007 New Line Cinema. HOLLYWOOD JESUS

Elijah Kelley (left) stars as "Seaweed J. Stubbs" and Taylor Parks (right) stars as "Little Inez" Photo © 2007 New Line Cinema. HOLLYWOOD JESUS

John Travolta has been honored twice with Academy Award® nominations, the latest for his riveting portrayal of a philosophical hit- man in Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction. He also received BAFTA and Golden Globe nominations for this highly acclaimed role and was named Best Actor by the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, among other distinguished awards. Nikki Blonsky Hairspray marks the professional debut of eighteen-year-old Nikki Blonsky, who was born and raised in Long Island, New York. She received all her dramatic and musical training at Great Neck South High School, which is a four-time Grammy Foundation Signature School. Photo © 2007 New Line Cinema. HOLLYWOOD JESUS

In 1962 Baltimore, "pleasantly plump" teenager Tracy Turnblad (Nikki Blonsky) has only one passion – dancing. Her dream is to appear on The Corny Collins Show, Baltimore's hippest dance party on TV. Tracy seems a natural fit for the show except for the problem that she doesn’t fit in. Photo © 2007 New Line Cinema. HOLLYWOOD JESUS

Her plus-sized figure has always set her apart from the cool crowd, which she is reminded of by her loving but overly protective plus- sized mother, Edna (John Travolta). That doesn’t stop Tracy because if there is one thing she knows, it's that she was born to dance. As her father Wilbur (Christopher Walken) tells her, "Go for it! You’ve got to think big to be big." Photo © 2007 New Line Cinema. HOLLYWOOD JESUS

After wowing Corny Collins (James Marsden) at her high school dance, Tracy wins a spot on his show and becomes an instant on- air sensation, much to the chagrin of the show’s reigning princess, Amber von Tussle (Brittany Snow), and her scheming mother, Velma (Michelle Pfeiffer), who runs the WYZT television station. Photo © 2007 New Line Cinema. HOLLYWOOD JESUS

Even worse for Amber is the fact that it's not just the audience who loves the new girl in town; Amber's sweetheart Link Larkin (Zac Efron) seems to be smitten with Tracy's charms as well. This dance party gets personal as a bitter feud erupts between the girls as they compete for the coveted "Miss Teenage Hairspray 1963" crown. Tracy AmberLink Photo © 2007 New Line Cinema. HOLLYWOOD JESUS

At school, however, a short stint in detention and raised- eyebrows caused by the budding relationship between her best friend Penny Pingleton (Amanda Bynes) and Seaweed J. Stubbs (Elijah Kelley), opens Tracy's eyes to a bigger issue: racial inequality. Throwing caution to the wind, she leads a march with Motormouth Maybelle (Queen Latifah) to fight for integration and winds up with an arrest warrant instead. Tracy is on the run now and - literally - goes underground to Penny’s basement. Penny Seaweed Photo © 2007 New Line Cinema.

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Why does John Travolta play the role of a woman? HOLLYWOOD JESUS

HAIRSPRAY –Is God an‘Outsider’ too? Photo © 2007 New Line Cinema. HOLLYWOOD JESUS

“For years, I felt miserable about being an outsider, but then I suddenly embraced it,... I saw the value of being an outsider. It was liberating. You didn't have to worry about trying to fit in or losing your insider status. It also encouraged you to challenge and provoke the status quo.” “For years, I felt miserable about being an outsider, but then I suddenly embraced it,... I saw the value of being an outsider. It was liberating. You didn't have to worry about trying to fit in or losing your insider status. It also encouraged you to challenge and provoke the status quo.” --Alex Kapranos, the guitarist and singer of the Scottish band Franz Ferdinand. Photo © 2007 New Line Cinema. BEING COMFORTABLE AS AN OUTSIDER HOLLYWOOD JESUS