“Huge”’s Nikki Blonsky Would Rather Go Big or Go Home

In an industry known for its limited, cookie cutter thinking when it comes to women, beauty and weight, Hollywood can be a difficult place for even many beautiful, tiny waisted women to stand out. Fortunately, that hasn’t been a problem for Nikki Blonsky who cares not at all for Hollywood’s expectations that an actress should be a size zero.

After having made a splash as the exuberant, plus sized Tracy Turnblad in the remake of John Water’s classic Hairspray in 2007, Blonsky found memorable parts on television including as Maggie Baker in the Lifetime movie Queen Sized, as Teri on an episode of ABC’s Ugly Betty, as well as a role on MTV’s mini series Valemont.

But with her role on ABC Family’s new dramedy Huge, Blonsky is set to take on her most significant challenge yet – carrying an entire series on her shoulders. Unlike the happy-go-lucky Tracy Turnblad of Hairspray, this time Blonsky plays Willamina, a plus sized teen girl whose parents have sent her to  a “fat camp” to lose weight even though Will is perfectly happy with her weight.

AfterElton.com recently caught up with Blonsky after a very long day of filming as she was being driven home through the congested streets of Los Angeles. Despite the long hours she had just worked (and the L.A. traffic), Blonsky graciously discussed Hollywood’s attitudes toward heavier women, her relationship to the gay community and much more!

AfterElton.com: Hairspray really put you on the map for gay men. At the time, one of our bloggers wrote that you were definitely on track to becoming a gay diva. What else would you say qualifies you for gay diva status?
Nikki Blonsky: Wow. I thank you so much for that title. I love that. I think the fact that I am who I am and I'm proud of who I am, that kind of quality. I don't apologize for being who I am. I believe in live and let live. Live your life to the fullest. Do what makes you happy. Be whoever you are and express yourself in whatever way you feel necessary, whether that be through theater or sports or makeup or clothing or fashion or whatever it is.

AE: Tell me about Huge and your character, Will.
NB: Huge is a show based on six or seven main characters at a fitness camp. They're all going to the camp for different reasons. They're going through different issues. My character Will goes because she's forced to go by her parents who are fitness gurus. They want her to look like them, and she doesn't want to, so she decides, "If they're going to force me to go to this camp to lose weight, I'm going to do everything in my power to gain weight while I'm here."

She's very against-the-grain: she has blue hair, she wears boy's clothes. She comes from a very wealthy background so she has the access to have all the designer brands and all that stuff that most girls would love, but she's just comfortable in a pair of boy's cutoff shorts and Converse. That's what I love about her. She's just herself. She just loves getting under people's skin and getting to the root of who they are.

AE: She sounds like a character who very much accepts who she is. Is she going to change much over the course of the show?
NB: She is who she is, but there are definitely some things that will change within her, because Will is very guarded when it comes to her personal emotions. She'd rather do something big rather than tell somebody how she feels. She'd rather do some big song and dance. Go big or go home. She hides her inner feelings. During the course of the show, you're going to see Will trust a couple of the other characters on the show, and she's going to start letting herself love and be loved, which she's not used to.

AE: Do you sing at all on the show?
NB: I do! We just shot the episode where I sang for the very first time, but I think I will be singing in the future again, hopefully.

AE: In what ways do you relate to Will, and what ways do you not relate to Will?
NB: I relate to Will in the fact that I would rather go big or go home. I don’t trust as easy as maybe I should, but at the same time, Will is a little more aggressive with what she wants with guys, whereas I'm not. Will and I have a lot of the same qualities, but we definitely differ in the family background. I have a very, very, very loving and supporting family. I feel sorry for Will because she doesn't. It's such a contrast for me to play this character who has such a rough life at home.