Marie Matiko (born September 12, 1970) is an American actress.

Early life

Marie Matiko is of

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

and Filipino descent, born in Los Angeles County and grew up in

Huntington Beach Huntington Beach is a seaside city in Orange County, California, Orange County in Southern California, located southeast of Downtown Los Angeles. The city is named after American businessman Henry E. Huntington. The population was 198,711 duri ...

. She grew up wanting to become a concert pianist. In high school, she auditioned for

The Young Americans The Young Americans is a non-profit organization and performing group based in Southern California. First founded in 1962 by Milton C. Anderson, the group was credited with being the first show choir in America, mixing choreography with choral ...

, where she was taught singing, dancing and performing in a conservatory setting. She was an

environmental engineering Environmental engineering is a professional engineering discipline that encompasses broad scientific topics like chemistry, biology, ecology, geology, hydraulics, hydrology, microbiology, and mathematics to create solutions that will protect and ...

major at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

. While still in college, she auditioned for the first national tour of ''

Miss Saigon ''Miss Saigon'' is a stage musical by Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil, with lyrics by Boublil and Richard Maltby Jr. It is based on Giacomo Puccini's 1904 opera ''Madame Butterfly'', and similarly tells the tragic tale of a doomed roma ...

''. She traded an ROTC scholarship for the role of "Gigi/Mimi" when she was picked by producer

Cameron Mackintosh Sir Cameron Anthony Mackintosh (born 17 October 1946) is a British theatrical producer and theatre owner notable for his association with many commercially successful musicals. At the height of his success in 1990, he was described as being "th ...

for the first national tour of ''

''. While on the road, she continued taking academic classes at community colleges. She was inspired by The Joy Luck Club to pursue film acting and after leaving ''Miss Saigon'', Matiko returned to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

to pursue it. In 2008, Matiko finished her degree from UCLA during the Hollywood Writer's Strike.

Film and television

Matiko is known for her starring roles as Julia in ''

The Art of War ''The Art of War'' () is an ancient Chinese military treatise dating from the Late Spring and Autumn Period (roughly 5th century BC). The work, which is attributed to the ancient Chinese military strategist Sun Tzu ("Master Sun"), is com ...

'' and as Betty in the 2006 film ''

Date Movie ''Date Movie'' is a 2006 American romantic comedy parody film written by Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer, directed by Seltzer, and produced by Paul Schiff and Friedberg. It was released on February 17, 2006 by 20th Century Fox and stars Alys ...

''. For her performance in ''The Art of War'', she garnered the nomination for Best Actress in a Feature Film at the 2001

AX Awards An axe ( sometimes ax in American English; see spelling differences) is an implement that has been used for millennia to shape, split and cut wood, to harvest timber, as a weapon, and as a ceremonial or heraldic symbol. The axe has many for ...

(the Asian-American Film and TV awards). Matiko was one of the AX Awards Top 20 Newcomers in 2006. In New Line Cinema's ''

The Corruptor ''The Corruptor'' is a 1999 American action film directed by James Foley, starring Chow Yun-fat and Mark Wahlberg. The film was released in the United States on March 12, 1999. Plot NYPD Lieutenant Nick Chen is head of the Asian Gang Unit. Hi ...

'', produced by Oliver Stone, Marie Lan Matiko debuted on film as the love interest of Chow Yun-Fat. Challenging acting work from the start, she won the role of May, a heroin-addict and indentured servant trapped by NY Chinatown's Triads. Under the direction of James Foley ('' Glengarry Glen Ross''), Chow Yun-Fat and Mark Wahlberg share textured scene work alongside Matiko. In Fox's 2007 release ''Date Movie'', Matiko made her comedic debut alongside

Fred Willard Frederic Charles Willard (September 18, 1933 May 15, 2020) was an American actor, comedian, and writer. He was best known for his roles in the Rob Reiner mockumentary film '' This Is Spinal Tap'' (1984); the Christopher Guest mockumentaries '' W ...

and Jennifer Coolidge, playing Betty. In the 2007 ''Dennis the Menace Christmas,'' she played Mrs. Walsh-Mellman, Dennis's grade school teacher. Matiko also voices the group

therapist Therapist is a person who offers any kinds of therapy A therapy or medical treatment (often abbreviated tx, Tx, or Tx) is the attempted remediation of a health problem, usually following a medical diagnosis. As a rule, each therapy has indi ...

of Dennis's frustrated parents. Additional film and television credits include Universal's ''

Mystery Men ''Mystery Men'' is a 1999 American superhero comedy film directed by Kinka Usher (in his feature-length directorial debut) and written by Neil Cuthbert, loosely based on Bob Burden's '' Flaming Carrot Comics'', and starring Ben Stiller, Hank Azar ...

'', TBS's '' Counterstrike'', CBS's ''

The District ''The District'' is an American crime drama and police procedural television series which aired on CBS from October 7, 2000, to May 1, 2004. The show followed the work and personal life of the chief of Washington, D.C.'s police department. Pr ...

'' and Michael Mann's ''

Robbery Homicide Division ''Robbery Homicide Division'' (''RHD'') is an American police procedural television series that ran on CBS from September 27, 2002 to April 21, 2003, created by Barry Schindel with executive producers Michael Mann and Sandy Climan. Overview Th ...

''. Matiko voiced Gong Li's parts in Michael Mann's ''

Miami Vice ''Miami Vice'' is an American crime drama television series created by Anthony Yerkovich and produced by Michael Mann for NBC. The series stars Don Johnson as James "Sonny" Crockett and Philip Michael Thomas as Ricardo "Rico" Tubbs, two M ...

'' and voiced opposite

Lucy Liu Lucy Alexis Liu is an American actress. Her accolades include winning a Critics' Choice Television Award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards and a Seoul International Drama Award, in addition to nominations for a Primetime Emmy Award. Liu has sta ...

and Patrick Warburton in the

Carsey-Werner The Carsey-Werner Company (previously known as Carsey-Werner Productions and Carsey-Werner-Mandabach Productions, before that, Carsey Productions and also known as Carsey-Werner Television) is an independent production company founded in 1981 by ...

Production,

UPN The United Paramount Network (UPN) was an American broadcast television network that launched on January 16, 1995. It was originally owned by Chris-Craft Industries' United Television. Viacom (through its Paramount Television unit, which pr ...

's '' Game Over'' in television's first full-length CGI cartoon. She was also in

Forbidden Warrior ''Forbidden Warrior'' is a 2005 martial arts fantasy action film starring Marie Matiko, Sung Kang and Karl Yune. It was directed by Jimmy Nickerson, and produced by Glen Hartford and Daniel Toll. The film is notable in resembling a low-budget Ho ...

, where Matiko plays Seki, the forbidden warrior. Matiko was also on the popular TV series ''

Xena Xena is a fictional character from Robert Tapert's '' Xena: Warrior Princess'' franchise. Co-created by Tapert and John Schulian, she first appeared in the 1995–1999 television series ''Hercules: The Legendary Journeys'', before going on to ...

'' playing the roles of Pao Ssu and K'ao Hsin, the twin daughters of Xena's spiritual mentor,

Lao Ma This is a list of significant characters from the television programs ''Hercules: The Legendary Journeys'', its prequel '' Young Hercules'', and '' Xena: Warrior Princess''. Main characters * Hercules (portrayed by Kevin Sorbo as an adult, Ian B ...

. Her characters are on several collectible ''Xena:The Warrior Princess'' trading cards.

Outside acting

*Matiko founded and ran the non-profit Vivace Conservatory, with co-founder Ariel Felix. Vivace is a non-profit performing arts school located in

Los Angeles Chinatown Chinatown is a neighborhood in Downtown Los Angeles, California, that became a commercial center for Chinese and other Asian businesses in Central Los Angeles in 1938. The area includes restaurants, shops, and art galleries, but also has a reside ...

. The purpose of the organization is to nurture pride, self-discipline and passion in disadvantaged inner-city youth and minorities for the arts. in regards to Vivace, she stated: *Matiko was the celebrity spokesperson for the California Asian American Democratic Caucus. *Matiko also sits on the board of advisors for the San Diego Asian American Film Festival.

Filmography

Film and TV Movies

Television

References

External links

*
Marie Matiko's official siteRotten TomatoesYahoo! movies
{{DEFAULTSORT:Matiko, Marie American film actresses Living people American actresses of Chinese descent American actresses of Filipino descent 1970 births UCLA Graduate School of Education and Information Studies alumni American actresses of Japanese descent American film actors of Asian descent California Democrats Actresses from Huntington Beach, California The Young Americans members 21st-century American women