Oh, Waterworld.
While the 1995 Kevin Reynolds-directed film was viewed as a massive box-office flop, it
proved one thing...
Tina Majorino, the little girl who played Enola, had enormous talent.
So, where is this youngster today and where has her acting career taken her?
She took a break from showbiz
Definitely a move that most Hollywood A-listers would gawk at, Tina Majorino decided to take
time away from the limelight after her big screen success to do some soul searching.
She explained to The Daily Emerald in 2006, she, quote, "needed to find out who she was."
So, she left showbiz for five years ... even though she was a successful child star.
She elaborated:
"I definitely was comfortable enough with myself that it wasn't going to be the end
all, be all if I tried and couldn't make it back."
Fortunately for Majorino, Lady Luck was on her side, and she quickly returned to movies
and TV.
The major difference between now and then?
Now, she picks projects that allow her to experience things that she never would in
real life, making every day on set an entirely new adventure.
She explained:
"I always get asked if I've made a conscious choice to just now do television and that's
definitely not the case.
It's just that with these roles that I've been able to play, they've just appealed to
me a lot."
She avoided the party circuit
Majorino's decision to ditch the Hollywood life before it became too dicey was because
she recognized the pitfalls of the dangerous side of showbiz.
Leaving the scene at 13, she noted that she needed to get out to let herself grow and
develop.
In an interview, the Corrina, Corrina star said that she still wasn't active in the mid-2000s
social circuit even when she returned to Tinseltown.
Keep in mind: Starlets such as Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan, and Nicole Richie were making
headlines for their hard-partying reputations at the time.
She said:
"There are a lot of young actresses not setting very good examples and there should be some
that show us that that's not really how it's done.
… [Because] of the temptations in this business you have to have some kind of reality that
you can fall back on instead of just always living in this world of make-believe ... because
that's really what it is."
Speaking to Stumped magazine, Majorino admitted she's proud she didn't succumb to the pitfalls
of Hollywood, admitting,
"I don't think that there was ever a moment where I could have gone Corey Feldman.
I try to stay pretty true to the way I am each day because I'm my biggest critic."
She couldn't star in comedies
Although she acted out the role of adorably awkward Deb in Napoleon Dynamite so naturally,
Tina Majorino actually took on the part in the comedy cult classic because she viewed
it as a challenge.
She told Rolling Stone:
"…it was always a little off-putting when people would say, 'Oh no, you're too serious.'
The fact that [Director Jared Hess] would even let me come in and read really appealed
to me.
Even if I didn't get the role, I just wanted to see what it was like to audition for a
comedy, as I'd never done it before."
In an interview with MovieWeb, Majorino explained that she never had the opportunity to do comedies
when she was younger.
Instead, she claimed, she was constantly cast in very dark and serious dramatic roles, which,
unfortunately, led to her being typecast.
"My daddy finally did it: He shot himself in the head."
Typecasting aside, her parents reportedly wouldn't even allow her to audition for comedies.
According to Entertainment Weekly, Majorino's parents even offered their adult daughter
their two cents about the script for an unassuming little comedy called Napoleon Dynamite, telling
her they didn't think it was funny at all.
Reigniting her movie career
Turns out dear old mom and dad were… basically as wrong as they could've possibly been.
Napoleon Dynamite was a smash hit, and Majorino was along for the ride.
The movie holds a very special place in her heart, too.
She gushed to Bello:
"I read Napoleon Dynamite and instantly I was like, 'I don't even care if I get it,
I have to audition for this movie!
I think I was 17 … and I was like, 'this is hilarious.'
That film was a huge lesson for me in following my gut.
It was pure magic and 100% reignited my love of filmmaking."
"I think this matches your season, Pedro."
"Thank you."
The film remains one of the biggest cult classic comedies of the mid-2000s.
An underdog in cinema, the movie had a budget of only $400,000, but it grossed about $44.5
million.
What made the film so endearing was that it was, quote, "so autobiographical," according
to Jared Hess, the movie's co-writer and director.
He told Rolling Stone that he based Majorino's innocent character partly on his wife.
He dished on their similarities, explaining:
"Her mom made her a dress when she was going to a middle school dance and she said, 'I
hadn't really developed yet, so my mom overcompensated and made some very large, fluffy shoulders.'
Some guy dancing with her patted the sleeves and actually said … "
"I like your sleeves… they're real big."
She got animated
Not many people remember the animated series Napoleon Dynamite, but it existed for a brief
period of time.
Director Jared Hess even managed to get the entire original cast back for the short-lived
series.
Alas, audiences didn't receive it as well as the movie.
According to The New York Times, the deadpan humor was gone in the animated rendition,
replaced by the slapstick style of jokes familiar in shows like The Simpsons and Family Guy.
Although the show only lasted six episodes, Majorino still thought it was, quote, "perfect."
In an interview with HitFix, she explained that she was hesitant to do a sequel to the
film because fans were "nervous [they] were gonna ruin the first one."
As for the cartoon, she thought it allowed the cast an opportunity to be "silly" using
a different format that wouldn't detract from the film.
She explained:
"We can be outlandish if we want to and it doesn't matter.
It's not going to tarnish the first thing that we did."
She nabbed a major role
After the success of Napoleon Dynamite, Majorino pivoted to TV, and 2006 saw the bubbly actress
starring alongside Kristen Bell as a series regular in the teen detective series Veronica
Mars.
In fact, the show's writer, Rob Thomas, actually created the role of Veronica's best friend
Cindy "Mac" Mackenzie just for Majorino.
Thomas first met the actress when she was 11 years old.
According to Texas Monthly, she read one of his books, Rats Saw God, and contacted him
to help her with a book report.
During their interview, Majorino asked what he wanted to do next.
Thomas told her he was hoping to transition into TV and film.
In true Majorino fashion, the pint-sized star graciously told him she'd done some film work
herself.
When Thomas politely asked her what movies she'd been in, Majorino finally revealed that
she'd appeared in the three heavy-hitter films Waterworld, Corrina, Corrina, and When a Man
Loves a Woman.
Just like that, the duo made a pact that they would work together in the future.
Years later, Thomas created a role just for her.
Majorino told Texas Monthly:
"I was like, man, this is so cool.
He's just one of the rare people in Hollywood that means it, when he tells you something."
She starred in a music video
Another easter egg of a Majorino sighting?
She was in a 2011 music video for Pink's "F---in' Perfect."
The actress was a massive Pink fan before she was even approached to star in the video.
Majorino told Access Hollywood:
"Her people just called up my manager and said, 'She has 30 minutes to give us an answer.'
And I just said, 'Yes, I'll do it' […] I really believe in the message of the song
[...] and [think] that [Pink's] such a brave woman and that she's really super talented."
Majorino went on to gush about Pink's strength for releasing music with meaningful messages
... and the fact that she couldn't care less what other people think.
In the video, Majorino plays a troubled woman who reflects on past life experiences where
she was told she wasn't worthwhile or good enough.
A truly versatile actress, Majorino was the ideal candidate for the role.
As video director Dave Meyers told PopCrush:
"Just looking at her credits … she just has that sort of indie, off-the-mainstream-path
angle about her.
We both got excited about her and thought Tina would be a perfect fit."
She's a Potterhead
Just like the rest of the world, celebs are Harry Potter fans, too.
Among the likes of Ariana Grande, Selena Gomez, and Jennifer Lawrence, Tina Majorino is also
a total Potterhead.
The actress once revealed her adorable obsession in an interview with VH1's Kate Spencer, explaining:
"I love Harry Potter so much.
My 29th birthday party was Harry Potter-themed.
My dad dressed up as Dumbledore."
When asked who she was, she mentioned she was, quote, "obviously" a Gryffindor.
With her home decorated with house flags and guests wearing school scarves, Majorino clearly
proved she is a die-hard Potter fan!
Majorino also admires Potter creator and author J.K.
Rowling.
She gushed:
"Her imagination is unbelievable and I'm so fascinated by her as an author.
We all need time to escape from reality, and going to Hogwarts is and always will be one
of my fantasies."
She's very picky about her parts
It didn't take long for Tina Majorino to become a fan-favorite playing Mac in Veronica Mars.
Once the series ended, she even got an offer to play a role in the CW series iZombie, another
project by Veronica Mars creator and writer Rob Thomas ... but, believe it or not, the
starlet turned that one down.
In an interview with Stumped Magazine, Majorino explained that she's scrupulous when picking
projects.
She told the mag:
"The exciting thing for me with any project is the prospect of being challenged in some
sort of way.
Whether it's a big budget project or whether it's a low budget project, it doesn't really
matter on what scale it is to me if it's got good character fibers.
That's pretty much what I base my decisions on."
Meanwhile, Thomas still had the talented actress on his wish list in 2018.
He told TVLine:
"I'd love to get Tina Majorino.
We did offer her one role, but it wasn't her cup of tea, which I totally got."
A character's shocking fate
Season 9 of Grey's Anatomy featured yet another character getting brutally killed off the
show.
This time it was Tina Majorino, who joined the cast as Heather "Mousey" Brooks, an intern.
Since Majorino's time on the show was so short-lived, many fans were perplexed by Brooks' lack of
character development.
“Oh crap!
Dr. Webber!"
Though Dr. Brooks' death was quite the shocker, it didn't slow Majorino down a bit, and she
hopped right into her next project: Legends.
In an interview with TNT, she gushed about her character, Maggie Harris:
" …[It's] kind of an exciting thing to me because …"
" ...really anybody on the show could turn into anyone … "
She landed a huge role in Scorpion
After taking on multiple roles as highly intelligent characters, 2017 saw Majorino in yet another
brainy part, this time as Florence, a chemist on the final season of the CBS show Scorpion.
The series followed Walter O'Brien, a genius computer hacker who, along with his team,
helps police combat global threats and save lives.
Per TVLine, Florence moves next door to the team, initially not getting along well with
the rest of the team members.
When she finally does, this causes even more controversy.
Although the series had previously been met with positive reviews, CBS canceled it in
2018, meaning Majorino's run didn't last long.
Although it was a brief stint, the actress who once played Enola from Waterworld still
managed to form a tight bond with the cast, regularly posting photos with people involved
on the show to her Instagram and sharing quirky behind-the-scenes peeks like, well, this one:
"Go, for ... for Instagram now."
"Tina rockin' it."
"Oh yeaaaah!"
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