Heather Matarazzo Biography

Date of Birth: November 10, 1982

Plucked from obscurity to star in the indie film Welcome to the Dollhouse (1995) at the age of 13, Heather Matarazzo's only previous credit was a regular role on the Nickelodeon kids' series Pete & Pete. Playing Dawn Weiner, an unattractive seventh grader who is constantly picked on, Heather won an Independent Spirit Award for Best Debut Performance, while the film itself won Grand Jury Prize at the 1996 Sundance Film Festival.

Matarazzo suddenly found herself in demand, with guest shots on series such as Townies, ER and Roseanne, and a role in Morgan Freeman's feature directorial debut, Hurricane (1997). Roles in mainstream films such as The Devil's Advocate (1997), starring Al Pacino and Keanu Reeves; Strike! (1998), starring Kirsten Dunst and Lynn Redgrave and Scream 3 (2000), starring David Arquette and Courteney Cox, followed.

In 1999, she garnered a lead role in the new series, Now and Again, playing the teenage daughter of a man who is killed in an accident and brought back to life by the government - but without his wife and daughter's knowledge. Matarazzo received a Young Artist nomination as well as a Saturn Award nomination for her work in the show, which ran for one season.

Returning to feature films, she played Lilly Moscovitz in The Princess Diaries. The film was a hit at the box office and spawned a sequel, The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement (2004), for which Matarazzo reprised her role.

She has also kept busy with appearances in smaller budget films such as Company Man (2000), Sorority Boys (2002) and Saved! (2004).

Born and raised in Long Island, New York, Heather moved to Los Angeles in 2002.

Filmography:

The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement (2004)
Saved! (2004)
Home of Phobia (2004)
The Pink House (2003)
Sorority Boys (2002)
The Princess Diaries (2001)
Company Man (2000)
Scream 3 (2000)
Blue Moon (2000)
Cherry (1999)
Getting to Know You (1999)
Cuisine américaine (1998
54 (1998)
Strike! (1998)
Arresting Gena (1997)
The Deli (1997)
The Devil's Advocate (1997)
Hurricane (1997)
Welcome to the Dollhouse (1995)