Heather Matarazzo Biography

Heather Christina Marie Matarazzo (born November 10, 1982) is an American actress. Her breakthrough role was Dawn Wiener, a dorky girl in the film Welcome to the Dollhouse (1995). She played Lilly in The Princess Diaries (2001) and The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement (2004). Her other movies include The Devil's Advocate (1997), Scream 3 (2000), Sorority Boys (2002), Saved! (2004), and Hostel: Part 2 (2007).

Early life

Matarazzo was born and raised in Oyster Bay, New York, the daughter of Camille, a homemaker, and Ray Matarazzo, a data processing manager for a bakery chain. Matarazzo is of Irish descent, and was adopted and raised by the Matarazzos, a strict Catholic Italian American family.

Career

Matarazzo began acting at the age of six; after commandeering the microphone at an AIDS benefit for children, she was given the card of a talent manager with whom she remained for ten years.

In 1997, she won an Independent Spirit Award for her performance in Welcome to the Dollhouse. Matarazzo has expressed pleasure in being allowed to play interesting characters, some of whom "are ostracized for various reasons." She has commented that she is most proud of her performance in 1999's Our Guys: Outrage in Glen Ridge, in which she played a mentally challenged girl who is raped by football players. In 1999 to 2000 she portrayed Heather Wiseman in the short-lived TV series, Now and Again. In 2000 she appeared in the teen romantic comedy film The Princess Diaries as Lilly Moscovitz and reprised her role in the 2004 sequel The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement.

Matarazzo has made appearances on several hit TV shows including Roseanne, Law & Order, The L Word, Greys Anatomy and Strangers With Candy. Matarazzo starred opposite Thaao Penghlis in the world premiere of Charles Evered's play Class at Cape May Stage in Cape May, New Jersey in May and June 2010.

In 2011, Matarazzo announced that she would begin working on her directorial debut, a television series to be based on a memoir by author Diane Hanks, titled Summer Camp: A Memoir.

Personal life

Matarazzo is openly lesbian. On July 31, 2008, Matarazzo's publicist announced that Matarazzo was engaged to musician Caroline Murphy. She was the keynote speaker at the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network of Boston's annual conference. In 2012, popular media news outlets announced that Matarazzo and Murphy had split amicably. On January 11, 2018, Matarazzo proposed to her girlfriend, comedian and writer Heather Turman, and the two are currently engaged.

Matarazzo revealed that she was scheduled to be at a meeting on the 15th floor of One World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, shortly after the attacks occurred.

In 2017, Matarazzo was awarded an honorary doctorate of Fine Arts from online education enabler InterActive.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1995	Welcome to the Dollhouse	Dawn Wiener	Independent Spirit Award for Best Debut Performance Nominated"?Satellite Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy Nominated"?Young Artist Award for Best Younger Actress in a Feature Film
1997	Hurricane Streets	Ashley
	The Deli	Sabrina
	The Devil's Advocate	Barbara
1998	54	Grace O'Shea
	The Hairy Bird	Theresa "Tweety" Goldberg
1999	Getting to Know You	Judith
2000	Company Man	Nora
	Scream 3	Martha Meeks
2001	The Princess Diaries	Lilly Moscovitz
2002	Sorority Boys	Katie
2003	The Pink House	Charlotte
2004	Saved!	Tia
	Freshman Orientation	Jessica
	The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement	Lilly Moscovitz
2005	Believe in Me	Cindy Butts
2007	Hostel: Part II	Lorna
2010	Mangus!	Jessica Simpson
2013	Culling Hens	Mistress
2015	Sidewalk Traffic	Freda Rabinowitz
	Sisters	Denny
2016	Her Composition	Gallery Owner
2016	Girl Flu	Lilli
2016	The Great WTYT 960 Billboard Sitting Contest!	Jezebel
2016	Smothered by Mothers	Annie
2016	Culling Hens	Mistress
2016	Are You Afraid of the '90s?	Jessica	short film
2018	Don't Worry, He Won't Get Far on Foot	Shannon

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1993	The Adventures of Pete and Pete	Natasha	2 episodes
1996	Townies	Bethany	4 episodes
1997	ER	Alyssa Gunther	Episode: "Random Acts"
	Roseanne	Heather	4 episodes
1998	Law & Order	Stephanie Sutter	Episode: "Burden"
1999	Our Guys	Leslie Faber	Television movie
1999-2000	Now and Again	Heather Wiseman	22 episodes Nominated"?Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress on Television Nominated"?Young Artist Award for Best Younger Supporting Actress in a Drama Series
2000	Strangers with Candy	Renee	Episode: "Is My Daddy Crazy?"
2002	St. Sass	Margo	Television movie
2006-2009	Exes and Ohs	Crutch	8 episodes
2007	The L Word	Stacey Merkin	4 episodes
2008	Law & Order	Janice Dunlap	Episode: "Sweetie"
	Life on Mars	June	Episode: "The Real Adventures of the Unreal Sam Tyler"
2014	Stalker	Emily	Episode: "Fanatic"
2015	Grey's Anatomy	Joan Paulson	2 Episodes
	Raymond & Lane	Reverend Mother	Episode: "Climb Every Mountain"