Heather Matarazzo has overcome Hollywood’s scrutiny, which once deemed her “unf–kable.”
The “Princess Diaries” star has been quite vocal about the sexism female stars often endure when pursuing a career in Hollywood, something she knows about all too well.
“Things that I’ve been saying for a while are starting to get more attention,” the 32-year-old actress told MTV News Friday about the fight for equal rights she’s been involved in for several years now.
“I’ve been fighting for equal rights amongst the gay and lesbian community and women’s rights (for years),” she said. “It seems as though it’s starting, finally, to get more attention, so I feel people are noticing more.”
Her feminist views came to light again recently following Rose McGowan’s Twitter post sharing a casting note for an upcoming Adam Sandler film she found offensive. Shortly after McGowan’s tweet, which included a note urging actresses to wear “push up bras” to enhance cleavage, her agent fired her for speaking out.
“I just got fired by my wussy acting agent because I spoke up about the bulls–t in Hollywood,” she later tweeted.
“I’m very, very grateful for, and looking for (more) people like Lexi Alexander and Rose (McGowan) — and Jessica Chastain, who just came out in support of (Rose),” Matarazzo told MTV. “There’s a growing number of us. Lexi’s been talking about a growing equality in this industry for as long as I can remember, but getting to see more women that are of a higher visibility like Jessica Chastain — it’s really, really encouraging.”
When Matarazzo first started her Hollywood career in the 1990s she quickly saw the inequalities in the way actresses were treated in comparison to their male counterparts. In a February blog post titled “What the F–k is F–kable?” she detailed a time when at a young age she was told that according to Hollywood standards she was “unf–kable.”
“The bigger point that I was making in that blog was the perception that I have about myself, and how easy it is to advocate one’s own power based off what other people say. You’re saying I’m not f–kable; then that must be true,” she explained.
“Getting to the other side of that and saying ‘oh, that’s a lie, that’s actually not true’ … that’s when my perception changed about myself,” the “Welcome to the Dollhouse” star continued.
Matarazzo discovered a newfound confidence in herself the moment she stopped letting other’s ideas shape who she is and that’s what she wants to instill in other women in Hollywood, she says.
“It doesn’t negate the fact that, of course, there are people that are sexist, that are shallow, that are only looking at the outside in terms of what women can bring to a screen,” she said. “But that’s always been the case. For me, (it’s about) personally not believing the hype and the lie, and then getting to see actual change in the opportunities that I’ve been given once I stopped believing that lie that I wasn’t f–kable.
“We do have a choice at the end of the day to say yes or to say no,” Matarazzo added. “I’d rather be able to … know that I’ve made a choice that’s right for me, (rather) than saying yes because I don’t want my agents to be upset with me.”
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