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Heather Matarazzo, who co-stars as Anne Hathaway's
best friend in the The Princess Diaries 2, opening this
weekend, has just come out of the closet--sort of. "I
met the person I'm so madly crazy in love with," she told the
New York Daily News in an article
today. Although she declined the name the object of her affection,
she did reveal the gender when she said "She's not famous yet.
She will be. She wants to do musical theater and stage, which is
not as demoralizing as the movie business is."
The
21-year-old actress got her start as the lead in the critically-acclaimed
film Welcome to the Dollhouse in 1995 when she was only
eleven years old, playing a character who was cruelly teased by
classmates and called "lesbo," among other things. She
has had steady work since then in a variety of critical and commercial
favorites, including The Princess Diaries, Scream 3, and
recent film festival hit Saved!, co-starring Jena Malone,
Mandy Moore and Macauley Caulkin.
Regarding
Matarazzo's statement, Saved! director Brian Dennely
tells the Daily News that "Any time a person can be honest
with who they are it's a good thing," and that he believes
"any repercussions will be short-lived. Heather's lucky because
she doesn't fall into the typical Hollywood actress category. She's
a true Hollywood individual."
Although
Matarazzo has not publicly defined her sexual orientation, her decision
to be open about the gender of the person with whom she's in love
is a bold move because so few gay or bisexual actresses have done
this during the early part of their careers. The fact that Matarazzo
tends to be more of a character actress and has established acting
credibility in independent films will likely make that easier, but
Matarazzo is still treading relatively new ground here.
Her
timing couldn't be better, though. With
a handful of younger actresses like Matarazzo and Tammy
Lynn Michaels coming out, later-career actresses like Jodie
Foster and Portia de Rossi wearing
matching wedding rings with their partners, and shows like Ellen's
talk show and The L Word on TV, coming out is no longer
the career killer it once was.
The
more actresses who are willing to casually come out like Matarazzo
has just done, the easier it will become. |
