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!
