Gaten Matarazzo III is an American actor. His career emerged from the Broadway stage as Benjamin in Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, and Gavroche in Les Misérables. He rose to prominence when he played Dustin Henderson in the Netflix science-fiction-horror drama series Stranger Things in 2016. He was also the host of the Netflix show Prank Encounters.
Gaten Matarazzo Biography
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Gaetano John Matarazzo III was born on 8th September 2002, in New London, Connecticut, to parents Gaetano Jr. and Heather Matarazzo (not the actress). He was raised in Little Egg Harbor, New Jersey. He is of Italian descent. He was born with cleidocranial dysplasia (CCD); a birth defect that mostly affects the bones and teeth.
He had a four-hour surgery also for his body.
He is the middle child and has an older sister and a younger brother.
He learned vocal training at Starlight Performing Arts Center in New Jersey. In 2011, he competed at the Starpower Talent Competition Nationals in Uncasville, Connecticut, and won third place with his vocal solo titled “Ben”.
Matarazzo made his acting debut in the Broadway musical Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, for which he was cast as a replacement in 2011. Subsequently, he was part of a special “Cast of 2032” professional youth performance of Godspell at Circle in the Square Theatre in 2012. He partook in the Les Misérables 25th Anniversary Tour in the United States playing the role of Gavroche in 2013, in 2014 he played the same role in the Broadway revival of the musical.
Matarazzo made his on-screen debut in 2015, in an episode of The Blacklist. After that, he joined the cast of Stranger Things as Dustin Henderson, the character was also modified to have CCD as well. In 2018, he was also cast in the animated film, Hump.
Matarazzo started hosting the Netflix hidden camera series Prank Encounters in 2019, which he also produced. That same year, he appeared in the Hollywood Bowl production of Into the Woods and voiced Buba in The Angry Birds Movie 2.
Matarazzo returned to Broadway in 2022 to join the final cast of the musical Dear Evan Hansen. He also starred in the Paramount+ film Honor Society alongside Angourie Rice. He voiced the dragon in Cartoon Saloon’s film adaptation of Ruth Stiles Gannett’s My Father’s Dragon novel series.
Gaten Matarazzo movies and TV Shows
2011–12: Priscilla, Queen of the Desert
2012: Godspell
2012: Radio City Christmas Spectacular
2013-2015: Les Misérables
2015: The Blacklist
2016–present: Stranger Things
2017: Ridiculousness
2017: Lip Sync Battle
2018: Drop the Mic
2019–2021: Prank Encounters
2019: The Angry Birds Movie 2
2019: Into the Woods
2021: Nickelodeon’s Unfiltered
2021: Waffles and Mochi
2022: Honor Society
2022: My Father’s Dragon
2022: Dear Evan Hansen
2022: Parade
2023: Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Matarazzo also appeared in the music videos Swish Swish by Katy Perry and Nikki Minaj, Lost Boys Life by Computer Games, and Meet Me On The Roof by Green Day.
Gaten Matarazzo Awards/Nominations
Matarazzo won the 2017 Screen Actors Guild Awards for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series, and that same he won the Shorty Awards for Best Awards. He also has 6 awards nominations as of December 2022.
Gaten Matarazzo Net Worth
As of 2022, Gaten Matarazzo’s net worth is $5 million.