Seriously? OMG! WTF?

In the wee hours of Saturday morning on the soundstages of the new movie version of Hairspray, the fat lady sang. Or at least lip-synched to a pre-recorded track. And then it was over for John Travolta. The Grease star wrapped his return to the musical genre. Travolta said goodbye to the generously proportioned Edna Turnblad — the same role created by the late Divine in the 1988 John Waters film and by Tony winner Harvey Fierstein in the smash Broadway show. Travolta’s version is expected in theaters next summer. "It’s good," said the exhausted actor of finally being freed of Edna’s cumbersome body. "The effect that I caused is fun and all, but it’s a lot of work, man." Travolta, 52, spent the past week filming the grand finale, YouCan’t Stop the Beat, with Michelle Pfeiffer as Velma Von Tussle, Christopher Walken as hubby Wilbur and bubbly newcomer Nikki Blonsky, 17, as Edna’s daughter. While that scene caps Travolta’s involvement, the film’s shoot continues through early December. Travolta wanted to make Edna sexier and real, not a campy drag act. That required four hours of prep time before putting in eight hours of performing in padding and silicone prosthetics. "You feel like you are coming out of a prison. It’s such a relief to get air again to the skin and breathe again," he says. It’s the first time in his long career that he has played a woman, save for doing Barbra Streisand on Saturday Night Live. Becoming Edna was an eye-opener. "I thought, ‘My God, how do women do that?’ I know my mother had a girdle, bra and sometimes a cinch, but wow. How do they ever endure stockings and high heels? The discomfort level was astonishing. "When you have all that dancing to do and a level to live up to, you just go for it and forget the suit. But when that number is over, you’re gasping. It may be called You Can’t Stop the Beat, but I call it You Can’t Find Your Breath." Travolta isn’t exactly breathing easy over his next project, a big-screen adaptation of TV soap Dallas, which was to start filming next month but is delayed until January. He’ll still play wily J.R. Ewing. But other actors previously attached, including Jennifer Lopez as Sue Ellen, Luke Wilson as brother Bobby and Shirley MacLaine as Miss Ellie, are gone. "They did this survey thing, I guess," Travolta explains. "They liked me as J.R. and loved the title of Dallas. But they want to see me with comedians around me, to make sure it is a comedy."

USA Today 

You know that is going to be the hot Halloween costume next year!

First it was a cult movie hit, then it became a Broadway sensation. Now, the musical Hairspray is heading to the big screen with JOHN TRAVOLTA playing a plus-sized woman, no less! The veteran star is playing Edna Turnblad under heavy prosthetic makeup and a "fat suit," and he tells ET’s MARK STEINES that despite the positive reaction from his co-stars and crewmembers, wearing that get-up is taking its toll! "That prosthetic and that fat suit is very hot and uncomfortable, so I can’t honestly say I’m having fun," says John. Still, despite the four-hour commitment in the chair to make his transformation, John says he’s thrilled with the effect it’s having on those around him. "I can say I’m having fun with the effect I’m causing on [others]," he says, and make no mistake — his character is a woman, not a man dressed as a woman as a gag. "I think if you think of ‘Tootsie,’ or if you think of ‘Mrs. Doubtfire’ or if you think of ‘Big Momma’s House,’ there are clearly men in drag to create a certain effect," he explains. "This is different in the way I’m approaching it, where I don’t want you to ever think that there’s a man in [that suit] … I think I’m really trying to instead convince you that I’m a woman — this Baltimore, blue-collared woman." Of course, the former ‘Grease’ and ‘Saturday Night Fever’ star gets to sing and shake his "moneymaker" for the first time in years, and he’s loving every minute of it! "If ‘Grease’ had a relative, it would be ‘Hairspray’ for sure," says John, "because it’s only a few years later, and it’s got the same kind of wonderful music in it, and it’s got the same spirit of play of that era of the ’50s and the ’60s, and it has a lot of the same visuals, except it is a completely different story."

ET

He is so cute as just as long you don’t look at him in that dress! 

Christopher Walken photo from People (Thanks Michael!) 

I think they both make fugly women, what do you think? 

In Case You Didn’t Know (Hairspray photo)

Umm, I have no answer. 

Former "The West Wing" star Allison Janney has joined the cast of the New Line musical Hairspray and made a deal to develop a sitcom at CBS. Janney, who won four Emmys for her role as White House chief of staff C.J. Gregg, will start rehearsals on the Adam Shankman-directed Hairspray right away. She’ll play Prudy Pingleton, the overbearing mother of Penny (Amanda Bynes) who believes that dancing and having fun is sinful.She joins John Travolta, Queen Latifah, Christopher Walken, Bynes, Michelle Pfeiffer, James Marsden, Zac Efron and Nikki Blonsky. Production on the Leslie Dixon-scripted film begins in September for a summer 2007 release. Craig Zadan and Neil Meron produce.On the series front, Janney made her deal with CBS for a sitcom vehicle that will aim for a fall 2007 slot.

Coming Soon 

I can not believe this movie has not started filming already 

« Previous entries Next entries »