What has life been like for Tina Majorino since she played the side ponytail-sporting
Deb in Napoleon Dynamite?
We're taking a look back at her earliest roles and everything she's been up to in the years
after that indie comedy became a cult phenomenon.
A tiny Tina Majorino first hit the scene in 1992 in the short-lived ABC sitcom Camp Wilder
part of the famous TGIF lineup which included hits like Full House, Family Matters, and
Boy Meets World.
But not every TGIF show was a hit, and there always seemed to be one show in the lineup
that wasn't up to par with the other three.
Unfortunately, Camp Wilder belonged to latter category, and the show was cancelled after
only 19 episodes.
Camp Wilder revolved around Ricky Wilder, a 28-year-old nurse who becomes the sole guardian
of her two teenage siblings after their parents' deaths, in addition to raising her own 6-year-old
daughter, Sophie -- who was played by Majorino.
Their home is turned into a sort of daycare for her siblings and their friends, which
comes to be known as "Camp Wilder."
Famous faces like Hilary Swank, Jerry O'Connell, and Jay Mohr appeared on the show but it was
Majorino's character who got one of the most progressive storylines of the series.
Toward the end of the show’s run, the six-year old tells her family that she wants to be
a boy, reflecting progressive transgender awareness a couple of decades before virtually
any other show.
Who could forget Waterworld, one of Hollywood's biggest flops?
Directed by Kevin Reynolds, Waterworld told the story of an Earth after the polar ice
caps melted, flooding the planet's land surfaces and creating… well, a water world.
The movie starred Kevin Costner as a sort of evolved fish man who helps save a kidnapped
girl named Enola, played by Majorino, who had a mysterious tattoo on her back that ends
up being a map to dry land.
Unfortunately, the big-budget flick got middling reviews, with Roger Ebert calling it a picture
he's "not unhappy to have seen, but can't quite recommend," and it hasn't exactly gone
down in history as a beloved sci-fi action film, despite its cult following.
By 2004, Majorino had grown up and out of her childhood roles, but that didn’t stop
her from going back to high school at 19 years-old to play Deb in the oft-quoted, quirky indie
comedy Napoleon Dynamite.
“Well, is anyone else here?
trying to earn money for college.”
“Your mom goes to college!”
From the beginning of the movie, it felt like Napoleon and Deb were meant to be, but Napoleon's
ego and his eccentric family kept getting in the way.
Thankfully, after a bit of high school drama, a funky election, a lonely prom, and a couple
of good deeds, Napoleon and Deb found their way to a romantic game of tetherball.
The CW's Veronica Mars was one of those teen shows that developed an adult audience because
it was just that good.
Kristen Bell starred as Veronica Mars, the daughter of a disgraced chief of police who
took it upon herself to solve her best friend's murder.
Majorino played Cindy "Mac" Mackenzie, a computer whiz who had always felt a little out of place
in her family.
She utilized Veronica's services to help confirm that she was in fact switched at birth and
was actually the biological daughter of one of the wealthiest families in Neptune.
Mac and Veronica's friendship was a gal pal match made in heaven, with Mac's tech smarts
and Veronica's sleuthing skills coming in handy while they tried to solve the series'
many mysteries.
Majorino returned as Mac in the 2014 Veronica Mars film, and rumor has it she’ll return
for Hulu’s revival of the beloved neo-noir show.
HBO's Big Love followed the story of a polygamist fundamentalist Mormon family living in Utah
and all of the drama that accompanied their lifestyle.
Majorino played Heather Tuttle, a young, super conservative and devout Mormon who was best
friends with Sarah Henrickson the eldest daughter of Bill and Barb -- played by Amanda Seyfried.
Heather and Sarah work at a fast food restaurant together for a short time and Heather keeps
the fact that her father is a state trooper to herself, considering that what her best
friend's family is doing is pretty much illegal.
Big Love actually marks the second TV series in which Majorino and Seyfried acted together.
Though they never shared any scenes, they both appeared in Veronica Mars.
Seyfried played Veronica's best friend Lily Kane, whose murder Veronica spent most of
the show’s first season trying to solve.
The cast of Grey's Anatomy truly feels like a revolving door sometimes, with Ellen Pompeo's
Meredith Grey holding everything together.
Majorino's Heather Brooks came aboard in season 9, right after a big plane crash season finale
that killed off a number of main characters.
Brooks was an overly energetic, enthusiastic, and bubbly character who was mostly played
for laughs as a total annoyance.
“Oh, cool, is that a epidural hemorrhage?
Oh, sorry, I’m interrupting.
You guys were having a moment or something.”
The intern did have a super sweet side, as well as a temporary romantic dalliance with
another Grey's mainstay, Dr. Alex Karev.
But alas, Majorino couldn’t escape Shonda Rhimes’ axe.
In Grey's Anatomy's tenth season, Brooks was electrocuted during a storm, subsequently
having to undergo brain surgery to clear a hemorrhage.
She sadly didn't make it, and the other interns and doctors realized how much of a joy she
truly was only after she was gone.
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