The average time a celebrity has in the spotlight is fleeting. Most performers — if they’re very lucky — get one, maybe two, cultural touchstones in their careers.
Ricki Lake is the exception. She became a star in John Waters’ “Hairspray,” ruled the ’90s with her tabloid talk show and is now a “Dancing With the Stars” front-runner.
“People tell me I’m sort of like the unfamous famous person. I don’t really act like a famous person. I don’t know how they necessarily act, but I’m pretty grounded and normal … like your neighbor next door,” Lake, 42, said.
“I credit John Waters for that. He sat me down when I was 18, before (Hairspray) came out, and said, ‘Remember these three things. Always be humble. Always stay true to yourself. And if you’re going to read and believe the good press, you’re going to have to read and believe the bad.’
“I feel very, very lucky. It’s like I have nine lives in this business.”
Lake has consistently earned the highest scores on “DWTS,” including perfect 10s for a breathtaking tango set to the “Psycho” theme and a jubilant quickstep during Broadway Week. Her biggest competition for the mirror ball trophy has been soap actor and Iraq veteran J.R. Martinez, who benefits from two enthusiastic fan bases. (Lake is donating her show earnings to the Jacaranda Foundation in Malawi, Africa, founded by her nanny to provide free schooling to children orphaned by AIDS.)
“I think J.R. is amazing. He’s a much better dancer than me, and he’s such a great guy. And he’s a frickin’ war hero,” Lake said. “I’m going to give him a great fight. That’s all I can do.
“I honestly am planning to be second,” she said before Martinez injured his ankle over the weekend. “I’m going to try to win. But I’m definitely like I was in ‘Hairspray.’ I think I’m the underdog.”
Tracy Turnblad, however, was crowned Miss Auto Show 1963 at the end of the film. (Maybe it’s time to bust out the bug dress.)
And Lake is working on a few more milestone moments.
Her four-part series, “More Business of Being Born,” is out this month and advocates “taking ownership” of pregnancy via natural childbirth while questioning the U.S. health-care system’s reliance on drugs and C-sections. The series also explores the controversial idea of vaginal birth after casarean (VBAC) and features interviews with celeb moms Alanis Morissette, Gisele Bundchen, Christy Turlington-Burns, Cindy Crawford and Molly Ringwald. It follows a 2008 documentary, “The Business of Being Born,” which featured Lake’s own home birth of son Owen, who is now 10 years old. (Her first son, Milo, was born in 1997. Ex-husband Rob Sussman is father to both, and Lake is now engaged to jewelry designer Christian Evans.)
“It’s not about convincing everyone to have a home birth or convincing everybody to do what I did. It’s about educating the consumer about their right to choose and to be able to have the information to make the best choice for them when it comes to the birth of their child.”
It’s been a labor of love. Lake invested $450,000 of her own money into the project.
“Yes, I lost a lot of money. I never broke even, and I don’t plan to break even. It’s not about that. It’s been the most fulfilling work professionally, ever,” she said.
“To be able to feel empowered, to be able to feel like I felt on that day — I can do anything. It’s gotten me through my divorce. It’s gotten me through living through 9/11, downtown, I was there on that day. Even ‘Dancing With the Stars.’ I’m bruised from head to toe. I look like a Dalmatian. But I look back on that experience 10 years ago. If I can get through natural childbirth at home and deliver an 8-pound, 7-ounce baby without any drugs, I can do this.”
