According to Spencer's biography on the You're the One That I Want website, the Ohio native studied ballet five days a week as a child until an injury pushed her toward theater. “At age 20, she auditioned in New York City for Barbie Live in Fairytopia and was offered Barbie understudy performing on Sundays,” the bio states. “Off she went on a six-month tour and loved every minute, except for traveling by bus as she suffers from motion sickness.” Spencer was working as a waitress in New York when a friend urged her to try out for the Grease reality series, where she eventually finished in second place.

Hairspray celebrates its fifth anniversary on Broadway in August. The movie version, starring John Travolta, Queen Latifah, Michelle Pfeiffer, Christopher Walken, Zac Efron, Brittany Snow, Amanda Bynes, James Marsden, Elijah Kelley, Alison Janney, and Nikki Blonsky, opens July 20.