Welcome to the Dollhouse

Background:

“I'm never going to be one of those actors that has paparazzi outside my apartment. The only thing I truly have that is my own is my personal life. My life is not going to become a piece of tabloid banter. I am an actor, not a celebrity.” Heather Matarazzo

Heather Matarazzo is an American actress of film and television. She is probably best known for playing freaky girl Dawn Wiener on the indie film “Welcome to the Dollhouse” (1995), from which she took home an Independent Spirit Award as well as nominations at the Young Artist Awards, Satellite Awards and Chlotrudis Awards, and as Heather Wiseman in the television series “Now and Again” (CBS, 1999-2000), where she received a Young Artist nomination and a YoungStar nomination for her performance. Other films she has acted in include The Devil's Advocate” (1997), “54” (1998, earned a YoungStar nomination), , “Scream 3” (2000), “The Princess Diaries” (2001) and its sequel, “The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement” (2004), “Saved!” (2004) and “Hostel: Part 2” (2007). Matarazzo also played a regular role on “Exes & Ohs” (2007) and recurring roles in the popular television shows “Roseanne” (1997, as Heather) and “The L Word” (2007, as Stacy Merkin).

“I Met the person that I'm so madly in love with. She's not famous yet, but she will be. She wants to do musical theatre and stage, which is not as demoralizing as the movie business is.” Heather Matarazzo

An openly lesbian, Matarazzo was engaged to Caroline Murphy in July 2008, after dating for a year. She was the important speaker at the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network of Boston's 15th annual conference at Brookline High School.

Matarazzo is close friends with actress Anne Hathaway. The two met during the production of “The Princess Diaries” (2001), and have since developed a tight friendship. Among her idols are Judy Garland, Vivian Leigh, and Bette Davis.

Irish

Childhood and Family:

Heather Cristina Matarazzo was born on November 10, 1982, in Long Island, New York. Her father, Ray Matarazzo, is a data processing manager for a bakery chain, while her mother, Camille, is a homemaker. She is of wholly Irish lineage, and was adopted and raised by the Matarazzos, a strict Catholic Italian American family. Heather attended Oyster Bay High School in Oyster Bay, NY and BOCES Cultural Arts Center in Syosset, NY for musical theatre. She also was educated at the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan.

Since second grade, Heather has known that she is attracted to girls but she chose to be silent for years due to shame, which resulted in her self destructive behavior. She has since come out of closet as a lesbian.

Now and Again

Career:

At age six, Heather Matarazzo was spotted by a talent agent at her dance recital dress rehearsal for an AIDS benefit. She started acting in the following year. Her television debut came at age 11 when she landed the role of Natasha, a neighborhood friend of Pete, in the Nickelodeon children's series “ The Adventures of Pete & Pete” (1993-1996). She appeared in the episodes “What We Did on Our Summer Vacation” and “The Nightcrawlers” (both 1993). She went on to appear in the Canadian comedy show “Squawk Box” (1994), playing various roles.

Matarazzo's big break arrived in 1995 when she was cast in the leading role of Dawn Wiener in “Welcome to the Dollhouse” (1995), an independent coming of age black comedy film directed, written and produced by Todd Solondz. The film was a surprise success, and won the Grand Jury Prize for best dramatic feature at the 1996 Sundance Film Festival. For her fine portrayal of a shy, unattractive, unpopular 7th grader in a middle class suburban community in New Jersey, Matarazzo received an Independent Spirit for Best Debut Performance and was nominated for a Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a Feature Film - Leading Young Actress, a Golden Satellite Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical and a Chlotrudis Award for Best Actress.

In 1996, Matarazzo landed a recurring role as Bethany on the short lived ABC sitcom “Townies,” starring Molly Ringwald, Jenna Elfman and Lauren Graham. She appeared in a total of four episodes. In the next year, she portrayed the role of DJ'ss girlfriend, Heather, in four episodes of the final season of the hit sitcom “Roseanne” (ABC, 1998-1997) and guest starred as Alissa Gunther in an episode of 'ER” called “Random Acts.” Still in 1997, Matarazzo appeared in three features. She portrayed Ashley in the acclaimed indie film “Hurricane,” the first feature film from writer/director Morgan J. Freeman. The film won the Audience, Best Director, and Best Cinematography Awards at the 1997 Sundance Film Festival, making it the first film ever to win three awards at the festival. She also worked with Matt Keeslar, Brian Kelly and Jack O'Connell in the John A. Gallagher award winning comedy “The Deli” and was cast as Barbara, a witness being cross examined by Keanu Revees in the horror film “The Devil's Advocate,” which was helmed by Taylor Hackford.

Matarazzo continued on appearing in a string of films throughout the remainder of the 1990s. She played Theresa 'Tweety' Goldberg in “All I Wanna Do” (1998), a comedy written and directed by Sarah Kernochan and starring Gaby Hoffmann, Kirsten Dunst, and Rachael Leigh Cook, Grace O'Shea, the younger sister of Ryan Phillippe's character, on the Mark Christopher drama “54” (1998), where she was nominated for a YoungStar Award in the category of Best Performance by a Young Actress in a Drama Film for her performance, Kerry in Jean-Yves Pitoun's “Cuisine américaine” (1998), and Pam in “Arresting Gena” (1998), for which she reunited with “Hurricane” co-star Brendan Sexton III. In addition, she starred in the comedy/drama film “Getting to Know You” (1999), for director Lisanne Skyler, supported Shalom Harlow, Jake Weber and Isaach De Bankolé in the comedy/romance “Cherry” (1999) and appeared as high schooler in the short “Penance” (1999).

Meanwhile, on the small screen, Matarazzo made a guest appearance as Stephanie Sutter in an episode of “Law and Order” called “Burden” (1998) and starred as Leslie Faber on the ABC made for TV film “ Our Guys: Outrage at Glen Ridge” (1999). She also landed the regular role of Heather Wiseman, daughter of Eric Close and Margaret Colin, in the CBS science fiction series “Now and Again,” which premiered on September 24, 1999. Delivering a good performance, Matarazzo was nominated for a Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a TV Drama Series - Supporting Young Actress, a YoungStar Award for Best Young Actress/Performance in a Drama TV Series and a Saturn Award for Best Genre TV Supporting Actress.

In the new millennium, Matarazzo could be seen playing Donna in John A. Gallagher's comedy/drama film, “Blue Moon” (2000), starring Ben Gazzara, Rita Moreno and Alanna Ubach, Martha Meeks in “Scream 3” (2000),the third installment in the popular “Scream” film series, and Nora in “Company Man” (2000), a comedy film starring Douglas McGrath, Sigourney Weaver and Paul Guilfoyle. She was cast as Anne Hathaway's best friend, Lilly Moscovitz, on the box office hit comedy film “The Princess Diaries” (2001), helmed by Garry Marshall, portrayed Katie in Wallace Wolodarsky's comedy film, “Sorority Boys” (2002), starring Barry Watson, Michael Rosenbaum and

Harland Williams, and starred with Zack Ward and Frederick Weller in the comedy film “The Pink House” (2003). She also guest starred in an episode of “Strangers with Candy” (2000), co-starred in the television film “St. Sass” (2002) and played Jane in the telepic “Stage on Screen: The Women” (2002), opposite Jason Alexander, Cynthia Nixon and Kristen Johnston.

In 2004, Matarazzo co-starred with Jena Malone, Mandy Moore, Macaulay Culkin, Eva Amurri and Patrick Fugit in the religious satire “Saved!”, which was co-written and directed by Brian Dannelly, reprised the role of Lily in the sequel “The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement” and was cast in the comedy/romance film “Freshman Orientation,” by Ryan Shiraki. She resurfaced two years later when she appeared in the drama film “Believe in Me” (2006), starring Jeffrey Donovan, Samantha Mathis and Bruce Dern.

In 2007, Matarazzo returned to series television as a regular in the cable TV series “Exes & Ohs,” which was launched on Logo on October 8, 2007, and Showcase in Canada. There she played Crutch, a young musician who wants to be taken seriously but still has some growing up to do. The same year, she also had a recurring role as Stacy Merkin, a reporter interviewing Jenny Schecter in Showtime's lesbian themed drama, “The L Word,” and played an art student named Lorna in “Hostel: Part II,” Eli Roth's sequel to the 2005 horror film “Hostel.” In 2008, she guest starred in “ Life on Mars” (as June) and made her second appearance in “Law & Order,” this time playing Janice Dunlap in the episode “Sweetie.”

Recently, in 2011, Matarazzo played Jessica Simpson in the comedy film “Mangus!”, opposite Jennifer Coolidge and John Waters. She is filming the supporting role of Sadie Atkins in the upcoming drama film “Manson Girls” (2012), by director/writer Susanna Lo. She will co-star with Eric Balfour, Estella Warren and Taryn Manning.

Awards:

• Independent Spirit: Best Debut Performance, “Welcome to the Dollhouse,” 1997