The Characters

Nikki Blonsky as Tracy Turnblad: An optimistic, overweight teenage girl who loves to dance, Tracy's color-blindness unwittingly leads her to becoming an active supporter for the integration of The Corny Collins Show.
John Travolta as Edna Turnblad: Tracy's mother, an asocial shut-in ashamed of her plus-sized figure.
Michelle Pfieffer as Velma Von Tussle: The manager of station WYZT, the racist former beauty queen Velma is primarily interested in keeping her daughter Amber in the spotlight and The Corny Collins Show segregated.
Christopher Walken as Wilbur Turnblad: Tracy's father, the easy-going proprietor of the "Hardy-Har Hut" joke shop below the Turnblad family's loft apartment.
Amanda Bynes as Penny Pingleton: Tracy's best friend, a nerdy sheltered girl who falls in love with Seaweed, despite her racist and stern mother, Prudy.
James Marsden as Corny Collins: The host of The Corny Collins Show, Corny does his best to fight his show's imposed segregation.
Queen Latifah as "Motormouth" Maybelle: A Baltimore Rhythm and Blues radio disc jockey who hosts "Negro Day" on The Corny Collins Show, Maybelle also runs a record shop on North Avenue.
Brittany Snow as Amber Von Tussle: Velma's bratty daughter and the lead female dancer on The Corny Collins Show, Amber becomes Tracy's enemy when Tracy threatens both Amber's shot at the "Miss Teenage Hairspray" crown and Amber's relationship with her boyfriend Link.
Zac Efron as Link Larkin: Amber's boyfriend and the lead male dancer on The Corny Collins Show, Link is a singer who slowly finds himself falling in love with Tracy, who has always had an unrequited crush on him.
Elijah Kelley as Seaweed J. Stubbs: Maybelle's son, an expert dancer who teaches Tracy some moves and falls in love with her friend Penny.