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

Early life

Marie Matiko is of

Chinese Chinese may refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China. **'' Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic ...

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 Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles and sometimes abbreviated as LA County, is the most populous county in the United States, with 9,663,345 residents estimated in 2023. Its population is greater than that of 40 individua ...

and grew up in

Huntington Beach Huntington Beach is a seaside city in Orange County, California, United States. The city was originally called Pacific City, but it was changed in 1903 to be named after American businessman Henry E. Huntington. The population was 198,711 as o ...

. 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 Academic discipline, discipline related to environmental science. It encompasses broad Science, scientific topics like chemistry, biology, ecology, geology, hydraulics, hydrology, microbiolo ...

major at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

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

Miss Saigon ''Miss Saigon'' is a sung-through musical theatre, 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 ''Madama Butterfly'', and similarly tells th ...

''. She traded an

ROTC The Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC; or ) is a group of college- and university-based officer-training programs for training commissioned officers of the United States Armed Forces. While ROTC graduate officers serve in all branches o ...

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 "t ...

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, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

to pursue it. In 2008, Matiko finished her degree from UCLA during the

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * 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 compos ...

'' 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 stars Alyson Hannigan, Adam Campbell, Sophie Monk, Tony Cox, Jen ...

''. For her performance in ''The Art of War'', she garnered the nomination for Best Actress in a Feature Film at the 2001 AX Awards (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. The film was written by Robert Pucci, and produced by Dan Halsted. The film stars Chow Yun-fat and Mark Wahlberg. The film was released in the United States on March 12 ...

'', produced by

Oliver Stone William Oliver Stone (born ) is an American filmmaker. Stone is an acclaimed director, tackling subjects ranging from the Vietnam War and American politics to musical film, musical Biographical film, biopics and Crime film, crime dramas. He has ...

, 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 ''Glengarry Glen Ross'' is a 1983 stage play written by the American playwright David Mamet. It is a two-act tragedy that depicts two days in the lives of four desperate Chicago real estate agents who are prepared to engage in any number of un ...

''), 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 Frederick Charles Willard Jr. (September 18, 1933 May 15, 2020) was an American actor and comedian. He is best known for his work with Christopher Guest in his mockumentary films ''This Is Spinal Tap'' (1984), ''Waiting for Guffman'' (1996), ''Be ...

and

Jennifer Coolidge Jennifer Coolidge (born August 28, 1961) is an American actress and comedian. Known for her work in the comedy genre, Coolidge is the recipient of several accolades, including a Golden Globe Award and two Primetime Emmy Awards. In 2023, she wa ...

, 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 A therapist is a person who offers any kinds of therapy. Therapists are trained professionals in the field of any types of services like psychologists, social workers, counselors, etc. They are helpful in counseling individuals for various mental ...

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), written by Neil Cuthbert, loosely based on Bob Burden's '' Flaming Carrot Comics'', starring Ben Stiller, Hank Azaria, ...

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

The District ''The District'' is an American crime drama and police procedural television series that 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. P ...

'' and Michael Mann's ''

Robbery Homicide Division The Special Investigation Section (SIS), unofficially nicknamed the "Death Squad", is the tactical detective and surveillance unit of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD). It is organized under the Robbery–Homicide Division (RHD), a divis ...

''. 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 Tubbs, Ricardo "Rico" Tub ...

'' and voiced opposite

Lucy Liu Lucy Alexis Liu (; born December 2, 1968) is an American actress, producer, and artist. Widely regarded as a trailblazer for Asian Americans in arts and entertainment, Asian American representation in Hollywood, Los Angeles, Hollywood, she is t ...

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 operated from 1995 to 2006. It was originally a joint venture between Chris-Craft Industries (later sold to News Corporation)'s subsidiary, United Television, ...

's ''

Game Over "Game over" is a message in video games which informs the player that their play session has ended, usually because the player has reached a loss condition. It also sometimes appears at the successful completion of a session, especially in ga ...

'' in television's first full-length CGI cartoon. She was also in Forbidden Warrior, where Matiko plays Seki, the forbidden warrior. Matiko was also on the popular TV series ''

Xena Xena is a fictional character from the '' Xena: Warrior Princess'' franchise, portrayed by New Zealand actress Lucy Lawless and co-created by Robert Tapert and John Schulian. She first appeared as a villain in the 1995–1999 television serie ...

'' playing the roles of Pao Ssu and K'ao Hsin, the twin daughters of Xena's spiritual mentor, Lao Ma. 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 American, Chinese and other Asian American, Asian businesses in Central Los Angeles in 1938. The area includes restaurants, shops, and art ...

. 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 California Democrats Actresses from Huntington Beach, California The Young Americans members 21st-century American actresses