Nowadays, it’s hard to imagine the big-screen adaptation of “Hairspray,” the bubbly Tony-winning musical that was in turn based on the John Waters 1988 cult classic movie of the same name, without Amanda Bynes and Zac Efron in key roles. Starring alongside Nikki Blonsky as Tracy Turnblad, Bynes played Penny, Tracy’s sheltered best friend with an overbearing mother, while Efron appeared as Link Larkin, Tracy’s charming love interest and star of “The Corny Collins Show.” But although the two teen idols both put in two of the strongest performances in the entire film, “Hairspray” was almost made without them.
As it turns out, director Adam Shankman was excited by the idea of having Zac Efron — then riding high off the success of Disney’s “High School Musical” franchise — as the male lead of “Hairspray,” but was uncertain about bringing Bynes in for the role of Penny. The producers, on the other hand, felt the exact opposite. It was only with a little bit of compromise that both young actors were able to find their way into the musical adaptation.
Adam Shankman has no regrets about his casting decisions
Although Amanda Bynes had cemented her reputation as a young star on television in “All That” and “The Amanda Show,” Adam Shankman wasn’t certain she was the right fit for Penny. “There was a long line of people to play Penny and New Line wanted Amanda,” he said in an episode of the “And That’s What You REALLY Missed” podcast (via EW). “And I was on the fence about it.”
What the studio wants tends to carry an extra abundance of weight, but there’s also room for negotiation in any casting process. Shankman agreed to bring on Bynes as Penny if the studio would also allow him to cast Efron as Link Larkin (despite what Shankman refers to as a “terrible” audition). New Line agreed, and both actors were cast in the project. For his part, Shankman has no regrets, and has come to appreciate the “lascivious innocence,” as he called it, that Bynes brought to the role.