Maddie Baillio is Excited 'Hairspray Live!' is Helping With Body Positive Movement

In Hairspray, Tracy Turnblad is given a hard time about her weight when she goes in to audition to dance on the Corny Collins Show.

In real life, Maddie Baillio has experienced the same criticism, so she is especially proud to be playing the part in NBC’s upcoming Hairspray Live!.

“Tracy is always talked down by everyone but she doesn’t let anyone stop her from going after her dreams. And when she goes after her dreams she accomplishes them, and that was so cool,” Maddie told us. “I was bullied when I was younger so that really drilled into my brain that I shouldn’t be confident with my body and myself. I overcame that like a year ago. So it’s really cool to see a girl who doesn’t let anything stop her because that has stopped me in the past.”

In general, Maddie feels like Tinsel Town is starting to accept non-model type and is offering good roles to actors of size.

“I think so. I think Hollywood is getting a lot better. One of the songs in the show is ‘We’ve Come So Far’ but we’ve got so far to go,” she said. “We’ve got so far to go but I think people are becoming more aware of body positivity and everyone is becoming more accepting, which is awesome.”

Hairspray Live! airs on Wednesday, December 7 @ 8PM ET/PT on NBC.

10 Fun Facts: Get to know Maddie more with these fun tidbits!

� Reporting by Nicole Pajer