The Princess Diaries actress Heather Matarazzo might be best known for playing Princess Mia's
best friend Lilly Moscovitz in the 2001 movie and its sequel, The Princess Diaries 2: Royal
Engagement, but there's so much more to her than that iconic role.
Here's a closer look at the beautiful star.
Matarazzo's breakthrough role was in the 1995 coming-of-age film Welcome to the Dollhouse.
She was just 11 years old when she landed the lead role, and she would go on to win
the Independent Spirit Award for best debut performance for her work on the film.
This wasn't her first time acting, though.
Matarazzo began her performance career at the tender age of seven, when she portrayed
a Munchkin in a local production of The Wizard of Oz that was put on as a benefit for children
with AIDS.
Matarazzo captured the attention of a talent scout watching a rehearsal when she scolded
her castmates for not taking the production seriously.
She told The New York Times,
”I grabbed a microphone and essentially told everyone off.
I told them we were working for a good cause, and that everyone should get with it, do their
parts and put smiles on their faces.”
"If you don't want to be here, go home.
But we're doing this for a good cause and we should all be happy to be here and be a
part of it."
The attacks on New York City's World Trade Center on September 11th, 2001, shook the
whole world - and the devastating tragedy hit close to home for Matarazzo.
Had things gone just a little bit differently, the actress might have lost her life that
day.
Matarazzo shared on her Facebook page in 2015 just how close she came to being caught in
the attacks, writing,
"I had a meeting at World Trade Center 1, 15th floor at 9 AM.
My alarm didn't go off.
I woke up at 8:50 AM."
Matarazzo is grateful to be alive, and she still can't believe how things could have
turned out.
She added,
"Every year, on this day, I think about how my alarm didn't go off.
I don't know that I'll ever fully process it."
Matarazzo has struggled to be seen by Hollywood as something other than the nerdy type she's
been pigeonholed as.
She believes that it's this typecasting that has led to her having trouble landing roles,
telling The Guardian in 2017,
"I don't know if I took a step back from Hollywood, or Hollywood took a step back from me."
In order to remain relevant, Matarazzo has auditioned for roles even though she knew
she wasn't right for them.
She explained,
"I had the experience of being a good girl and doing the thing I'm supposed to do.
I literally felt like I'm f---ing dying every time I went before the proverbial gods to
audition for something that I know I wasn't right for.
But I had to do it because it shows I'm willing and open to everything, and I had bills to
pay.
It was frustrating because eventually I didn't get those roles anyway."
With so many major roles under her belt, many might assume that Matarazzo is rich.
Fame hasn't always translated to money for her, though.
While she has a steady stream of acting credits, not all of her jobs have been lucrative.
Many of her roles are in independent films, which sometimes don't pay much money.
She told The Guardian,
"Most people think that I probably get paid a lot of money.
But I really don't and most working actors don't.
I drive a beat-up f---ing Prius and I just bought my first pair of new shoes in over
two years."
Matarazzo has supplemented her income through teaching and co-writing scripts, and has even
considered driving for Lyft in order to make ends meet.
For her, acting isn't about the money.
She added,
"I'm thinking, all I want to be able to do is pay rent, create and bring about stories
to the world that need to be told.
It's not about the awards for me.
It's about a single tweet or the email or a letter that says, 'That movie changed my
life.'"
Early in 2018, Matarazzo announced that she was living her own fairy tale romance and
that she had recently become engaged to her partner, comedian Heather Turman.
In an Instagram post, The Princess Diaries star wrote, in part,
"We kept this to ourselves for a few days, but on 1-11, I asked…..and she said yes.
To death and back, I love you, Turman."
The two met on the set of the comedy movie Stuck.
According to E! News, Matarazzo and Turman were married in late 2018.
The actress shared on Instagram,
"My heart and life will never be the same.
You are my everything."
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