Gaetano John Matarazzo III (; ; born September 8, 2002) is an American actor. He began his career on the

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

stage as Benjamin in '' Priscilla, Queen of the Desert'' (2011–12) and as

Gavroche Gavroche () is a fictional character in the 1862 novel ''Les Misérables'' by Victor Hugo. He is a boy who lives on the streets of Paris. His name has become a synonym for an urchin or street child. Gavroche plays a short yet significant role i ...

in ''

Les Misérables ''Les Misérables'' ( , ) is a French historical novel by Victor Hugo, first published in 1862, that is considered one of the greatest novels of the 19th century. In the English-speaking world, the novel is usually referred to by its origin ...

'' (2014–15). Matarazzo gained recognition for playing

Dustin Henderson '' Stranger Things'' is an American science fiction horror television series created for Netflix by the Duffer Brothers, set in the fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana, in the 1980s. The first season, set in November 1983, focuses on the inve ...

in the

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

science-fiction-horror drama series '' Stranger Things'' (2016–present). He also hosted the Netflix show '' Prank Encounters'' (2019–2021).

Early life

Gaetano John Matarazzo III was born on 8 September 2002, in

New London New London may refer to: Places United States *New London, Alabama *New London, Connecticut *New London, Indiana *New London, Iowa *New London, Maryland *New London, Minnesota *New London, Missouri *New London, New Hampshire, a New England town ** ...

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

, to Gaetano Jr. and Heather Matarazzo (no relation to the actress of the same name), but raised in

Little Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey Little Egg Harbor Township is a township in Ocean County, New Jersey. As of the 2010 United States Census, the township's population was 20,065, reflecting an increase of 4,120 (+25.8%) from the 15,945 counted in the 2000 Census, which had in tur ...

, and is of

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

descent. He was born with

cleidocranial dysplasia Cleidocranial dysostosis (CCD), also called cleidocranial dysplasia, is a birth defect that mostly affects the bones and teeth. The collarbones are typically either poorly developed or absent, which allows the shoulders to be brought close togeth ...

(CCD). He has an older sister and a younger brother.

Career

He pursued vocal training at Starlight Performing Arts Center in

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

. In 2011, he competed and won third place with his vocal solo titled “Ben” at the Starpower Talent Competition Nationals in

Uncasville, Connecticut Uncasville is an area in the town of Montville, Connecticut, United States. It is a village in southeastern Montville, at the mouth of the Oxoboxo River where it flows into the Thames River. The name is now applied more generally to all of the ea ...

. His first professional credit was in the

musical '' Priscilla, Queen of the Desert'', for which he was cast as a replacement in 2011. Following the production, he took part in a special "Cast of 2032" professional youth performance of ''

Godspell ''Godspell'' is a musical composed by Stephen Schwartz with book by John-Michael Tebelak. The show is structured as a series of parables, primarily based on the Gospel of Matthew, interspersed with music mostly set to lyrics from traditional hym ...

'' at

Circle in the Square Theatre The Circle in the Square Theatre is a Broadway theater at 235 West 50th Street, in the basement of Paramount Plaza, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. It is one of two Broadway theaters that use a thrust stage that extends ...

in 2012. In 2013, he joined the ''

'' 25th Anniversary Tour in the United States in the role of

; the following year, he played the same role in the

Tony Tony may refer to: People and fictional characters * Tony (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Gregory Tony (born 1978), American law enforcement officer * Motu Tony (born 1981), New Zealand international rugby leagu ...

-nominated 2014 Broadway revival of the musical. Matarazzo made his screen acting debut in a 2015 episode of ''

The Blacklist ''The Blacklist'' is an American crime thriller television series that premiered on NBC on September 23, 2013. The show follows Raymond "Red" Reddington (James Spader), a former U.S. Navy officer turned high-profile criminal who voluntarily s ...

''. After he was cast as

in '' Stranger Things'', the character's background was modified to have CCD as well. The show's first season premiered in July 2016 to critical acclaim. Over the next several years, Matarazzo also appeared in music videos and various reality and competition shows. On May 11, 2018, it was announced that he was cast in the animated film, ''Hump''. He began hosting the Netflix

hidden camera A hidden camera or spy camera is a camera used to photograph or record subjects, often people, without their knowledge. The camera may be considered "hidden" because it is not visible to the subject being filmed, or is disguised as another obje ...

series '' Prank Encounters'' in 2019; he also served as an executive producer. That year, he also appeared in the Hollywood Bowl production of ''

Into the Woods ''Into the Woods'' is a 1987 musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Lapine. The musical intertwines the plots of several Brothers Grimm fairy tales, exploring the consequences of the characters' wishes and quests. T ...

''. He provided the voice of Buba in ''

The Angry Birds Movie 2 ''The Angry Birds Movie 2'' is a 2019 computer-animated action comedy film based on Rovio Entertainment's '' Angry Birds'' video game series, produced by Columbia Pictures, Sony Pictures Animation, and Rovio Animation, and distributed by Sony Pi ...

''. In May 2022, it was announced that Matarazzo would return to Broadway, joining the final cast of the musical ''

Dear Evan Hansen ''Dear Evan Hansen'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, and a book by Steven Levenson. The musical follows Evan Hansen, a high school senior with social anxiety, "who invents an important role for himself in a tr ...

'' as Jared Kleinman. He starred in the

Paramount+ Paramount+ is an American subscription video on-demand service owned by Paramount Global. The service's content is drawn primarily from the libraries of CBS Media Ventures (including CBS Studios), Paramount Media Networks (formerly Viacom Media ...

film '' Honor Society'' with

Angourie Rice Angourie Rice ( ; born 1 January 2001) is an Australian actress. She began her career as a child actress, coming to attention for her roles in ''These Final Hours'' and ''The Nice Guys''. She is known for her portrayal of Betty Brant in the Mar ...

, which was released on July 29, 2022. He voiced as the dragon in

Cartoon Saloon Cartoon Saloon is an Irish animation film, short film and television studio based in Kilkenny which provides film TV and short film services. The studio is best known for its animated feature films '' The Secret of Kells'', ''Song of the Sea'', ...

's film adaptation of

Ruth Stiles Gannett Ruth Stiles Gannett Kahn (born August 12, 1923) is an American children's writer best known for ''My Father's Dragon'' and its two sequels—collectively sometimes called the My Father's Dragon or the Elmer and the Dragons series or trilogy. Educ ...

's '' My Father's Dragon'' novel series. It was announced in December 2022 that Matarazzo would be returning to Broadway as Toby in Thomas Kail's revival of Sondheim and Wheeler's ''

Sweeney Todd Sweeney Todd is a fictional character who first appeared as the villain of the penny dreadful serial '' The String of Pearls'' (1846–47). The original tale became a feature of 19th-century melodrama and London legend. A barber from Fleet Stre ...

,'' alongside

Josh Groban Joshua Winslow Groban (born February 27, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actor. His first four solo albums have been certified multi-platinum, and he was charted in 2007 as the number-one best selling artist in the United States, wi ...

and Annaleigh Ashford.

Philanthropy

He uses his platform to raise awareness of CCD and fundraise for CCD Smiles, an organization that helps cover costs of oral surgeries for people with CCD. In February 2020, he was as part of Andrew Barth Feldman & Adrian Dickson’s ''

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop-culture Cultural impact of S ...

'' musical parody fundraiser ''SW: A New(sical) Hope'' to help raise funding for NEXT for AUTISM. Matarazzo joined the cast of ''Elf'' for a virtual table reading on December 13, 2020 in support of the Democratic Party of Georgia's campaign in the 2021 Georgia runoff elections.' On April 6, 2021, Matarazzo participated in an hour-long charity ''

Among Us ''Among Us'' is a 2018 online multiplayer social deduction game developed and published by American game studio Innersloth. The game was inspired by the party game Mafia and the science fiction horror film '' The Thing''. The game allows ...

'' stream on ''

The Tonight Show ''The Tonight Show'' is an American late-night talk show that has aired on NBC since 1954. The show has been hosted by six comedians: Steve Allen (1954–1957), Jack Paar (1957–1962), Johnny Carson (1962–1992), Jay Leno (1992–2009 and 201 ...

Twitch Twitch may refer to: Biology * Muscle contraction ** Convulsion, rapid and repeated muscle contraction and relaxation ** Fasciculation, a small, local, involuntary muscle contraction ** Myoclonic twitch, a jerk usually caused by sudden muscle co ...

account with Jimmy Fallon, Questlove,

Tariq Trotter Tariq Luqmaan Trotter (born October 3, 1973), better known as Black Thought, is an American rapper, actor and the lead MC of the Philadelphia-based hip hop group the Roots, which he co-founded with drummer Questlove (Ahmir Thompson). Regarded ...

Captain Kirk Douglas "Captain" Kirk Douglas (born September 30, 1973) is an American guitarist and singer who performs with the hip hop band The Roots. He joined The Roots in 2003. His first album with The Roots was 2004's ''The Tipping Point'', where he split gui ...

, Sykkuno,

Valkyrae Rachell Hofstetter (born January 8, 1992), better known as Valkyrae, is an American Internet personality. She has been YouTube's most-watched female streamer since 2020, and appeared on ''Forbes 30 Under 30 list in 2022. She was named "Gamin ...

Corpse Husband Corpse Husband (born August 8, 1997), commonly abbreviated as Corpse and stylized as CORPSE, is an American YouTuber and musician. Corpse is best known for his music and "faceless" work on YouTube. He is mostly known for his horror story narra ...

, and his '' Stranger Things'' co-star

Noah Schnapp Noah Cameron Schnapp (born October 3, 2004) is an American actor. He gained recognition for playing Will Byers in the Netflix science fiction horror series '' Stranger Things''. His film roles include Roger Donovan in Steven Spielberg's histo ...

, with proceeds going towards

Feeding America Feeding America is a United States–based nonprofit organization that is a nationwide network of more than 200 food banks that feed more than 46 million people through food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters, and other community-based agencies. ...

. In December 2021, he played

Dungeons and Dragons ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (RPG) originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. (TSR). ...

with

Jack Black Thomas Jacob Black (born August 28, 1969) is an American actor, comedian, and musician. He is known for his acting roles in the films '' High Fidelity'' (2000), ''Shallow Hal'' (2001), ''Orange County'' (2002), '' School of Rock'' (2003), ''E ...

and other stars in the ''Lost Odyssey: Promised Gold'' livestream event that benefited

Extra Life In video games, a life is a play-turn that a player character has, defined as the period between start and end of play. Lives refer to a finite number of tries before the game ends with a game over. It is sometimes called a chance, a try, rest ...

and the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. During the first week of November 2022, he performed in the musical '' Parade'' to ensure that the performing arts can be enjoyed at an affordable rate for fans at the

New York City Center New York City Center (previously known as the Mecca Temple, City Center of Music and Drama,. The name "City Center for Music and Drama Inc." is the organizational parent of the New York City Ballet and, until 2011, the New York City Opera. and t ...

Filmography

Film

Television

Music videos

Theater

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* *
Gaten Matarazzo
on ''

Playbill ''Playbill'' is an American monthly magazine for theatergoers. Although there is a subscription issue available for home delivery, most copies of ''Playbill'' are printed for particular productions and distributed at the door as the show's pr ...

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Matarazzo, Gaten 2002 births 21st-century American male actors American people of Italian descent American male film actors American male stage actors American male television actors American male voice actors American male child actors Living people Male actors from Connecticut Male actors from New Jersey People from Little Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey Shorty Award winners