Matilda Wormwood, also known by her adoptive name Matilda Honey, is the fictional

title character The title character in a narrative work is one who is named or referred to in the title of the work. In a performed work such as a play or film, the performer who plays the title character is said to have the title role of the piëce. The title o ...

of the bestselling 1988 children's novel ''

Matilda Matilda or Mathilda may refer to: Animals * Matilda (chicken) (1990–2006), World's Oldest Living Chicken record holder * Mathilda (gastropod), ''Mathilda'' (gastropod), a genus of gastropods in the family Mathildidae * Matilda (horse) (1824–1 ...

'' by

Roald Dahl Roald Dahl (13 September 1916 – 23 November 1990) was a British author of popular children's literature and short stories, a poet, screenwriter and a wartime Flying ace, fighter ace. His books have sold more than 300 million copies ...

. She is a highly precocious five and a half (six and a half in the 1996 film) year old girl who has a passion for reading books. Her parents do not recognize her great intelligence and show little interest in her, particularly her father, a secondhand car dealer who verbally abuses her. She discovers she has

telekinetic Telekinesis () (alternatively called psychokinesis) is a purported psychic ability allowing an individual to influence a physical system without physical interaction. Experiments to prove the existence of telekinesis have historically been cri ...

powers which she uses to her advantage. She then gets adopted by Miss Honey, who has taught her at her school, who is very nice to her and does notice her intelligence. In the

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

two-part adaptation of the novel, she is played by Lauren Mote, and in the 1996 film, she is portrayed by American actress

Mara Wilson Mara Elizabeth Wilson (born July 24, 1987) is an American actress. As a child, she played Natalie Hillard in the film ''Mrs. Doubtfire'' (1993) and went on to play Susan Walker in ''Miracle on 34th Street (1994 film), Miracle on 34th Street'' (19 ...

. In the 2022 film, she is played by

Alisha Weir Alisha Weir (born 26 September 2009) is an Irish actress and singer, best known for her leading roles in the films ''Matilda the Musical'' (2022) and ''Abigail'' (2024); for the latter, she received a Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Young ...

Fictional biography

Matilda is a young girl of genius intelligence, having developed skills such as walking and speech at an early age. At 18 months she was able to converse at an adult level, and was reading on a par with adults by the age of four. These characteristics however are ignored or dismissed by her parents who want her to watch television in order to discourage her literacy skills. Matilda, in return, plays practical jokes on her parents (her father in particular), such as replacing her father's hair tonic with her mother's platinum blonde hair dye and gluing her father's favourite hat to his head with "Super-Super Glue".

Special abilities

Matilda's intellect has given her telekinetic abilities, which she discovered in class one day after inadvertently tipping over a glass of water containing a live newt on Miss Trunchbull. Matilda decides to exercise this ability at home by levitating a

cigar A cigar is a rolled bundle of dried and Fermentation, fermented tobacco leaves made to be Tobacco smoking, smoked. Cigars are produced in a variety of sizes and shapes. Since the 20th century, almost all cigars are made of three distinct comp ...

. She continues to refine her talent, and learns of Miss Honey's traumatic childhood at the hands of her aunt and guardian, Miss Trunchbull, after her father Magnus' unexpected death. Matilda develops a scheme in revenge against Miss Trunchbull, and in class one day she levitates a piece of chalk to the blackboard while Miss Trunchbull is visiting the room and tormenting the students, posing as the spirit of Magnus and threatening to punish Miss Trunchbull by name if she does not leave her inheritance to his daughter. Horrified, she completely vanishes from existence following the events of Matilda's practical joke, leaving her house and worldly possessions to her niece, without any information established relating to her current whereabouts. After the position of headmaster is taken by a different teacher, Matilda is moved to the year six classroom, but finds herself unable to summon her telekinetic abilities. One day, Miss Honey suggests that her previously unused potential was fuelling her telekinesis, but now she is being suitably challenged she has no potential left to spare on her special talent.

Portrayals

In the 1996 film Matilda was portrayed by American

child actress The term child actor or child actress is generally applied to a child acting on stage, television, or in movies. An adult who began their acting career as a child may also be called a child actor, or a "former child actor". Closely associated te ...

. Newborn Matilda was portrayed by two sets of twins: Alissa and Amanda Graham and Trevor and James Gallagher; nine-month-old Matilda was portrayed by Kayla and Kelsey Fredericks; toddler Matilda by Amanda and Caitlin Fein and four year by Sara Magdalin. In the musical Stratford production Matilda was portrayed by three young actresses:

Adrianna Bertola Adrianna Jean Bertola (born 9 February 1999) is an English actress who rose to attention playing Gretl von Trapp in '' The Sound of Music'' and Sharice Brooks in '' Casualty''. She also played Violet Beauregarde in '' Charlie and the Chocolate ...

, Josie Griffiths, and

Kerry Ingram Kerry Danielle Ingram (born 26 May 1999) is an English actress, known for her roles as Shireen Baratheon in the HBO series ''Game of Thrones'' and Rebecca Sidebottom in the Netflix series ''Free Rein''. Career Before being cast in ''Matilda'' ...

. When the production moved to the West End Ingram was the only one who transferred and three new actresses were brought in: Cleo Demetriou,

Sophia Kiely Sophia Elsie Kiely (born 2000) is an English Olivier Award-winning child actress who played the title role in ''Matilda the Musical''. Kiely shared the role with Cleo Demetriou, Kerry Ingram, and Eleanor Worthington Cox. Career Kiely pl ...

and

Eleanor Worthington Cox Eleanor Winifred Worthington Cox (born 21 June 2001) is an English actress from Merseyside best known for portraying Matilda Wormwood in ''Matilda the Musical''. Eleanor won a 2012 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role in ...

. Since then, Matilda has been portrayed by over 100 different actresses. In the 2022 film she is played by

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wormwood, Matilda Child characters in film Child characters in literature Child characters in musical theatre Female characters in film Female characters in literature Female characters in musical theatre Fictional American people Fictional Canadian people Fictional English people Fictional adoptees Fictional bibliophiles Fictional characters who use magic Fictional child prodigies Fictional telekinetics Fictional victims of child abuse Literary characters introduced in 1988 Matilda (novel) Roald Dahl characters