Maddie Baillio

Maddie Baillio rose from obscurity to celebrity practically overnight in December 2016, when she made her professional acting debut in Hairspray Live!, an NBC television adaptation of the hit musical Hairspray, based on the film by John Waters. Baillio played the leading role of Tracy Turnblad, a zaftig teenager who becomes a sensation on a teen dancing show in early-'60s Baltimore. Madelyn Marie Baillio was born in League City, Texas on February 15, 1996. In high school, Baillio developed a passion for both music and acting, and was active in school theater and choir. After graduating from high school, Baillio headed to New York City, where she enrolled at Marymount Manhattan College. After seeing the 2007 film adaptation of Hairspray, Baillio hoped to play Tracy someday, and when she heard that NBC was holding open auditions for the role for their TV production, she arrived at 6:45 a.m. for a 10 a.m. call. Over a thousand young women auditioned for the lead, but after four callbacks (including one where she forgot the lyrics to "Good Morning Baltimore" and made up verses to fill the blanks), Baillio landed her dream role in a production that also featured Kristin Chenoweth, Jennifer Hudson, Martin Short, Ariana Grande, Harvey Fierstein, and Andrea Martin. Hairspray Live! was first aired on December 7, 2016, and Baillio's debut was soon released on DVD, while she also appeared on a soundtrack album of the show that was digitally released two days after the broadcast. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi