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Ghostface is back — and so is Martha Meeks.
“Scream 3” alumna and Oyster Bay native Heather Matarazzo returns to the slasher film series as Meeks in the highly anticipated release of the new “Scream” movie on Friday, Jan. 14.
And many fans are thrilled about it. “Scream” franchise diehards fretted for months over whether Matarazzo, 39, would join fellow “Scream” stars Courtney Cox, Neve Campbell and David Arquette in the series’ fifth movie, and first in 11 years.
Quoting a “Scream” (2022) movie review this week in the The Portland Mercury, “Matarazzo is marvelously back” as Martha Meeks. In “Scream 3,” released in 2000, a 17-year-old Meeks is introduced as the little sister of Randy Meeks, a character that legions of “Scream” followers wish had not met his demise in “Scream 2” and was still around to appear in the new movie.
The next year, Matarazzo starred in the mega hit “Princess Diaries,” alongside Anne Hathaway, Mandy Moore and the legendary Julie Andrews. Earlier, as an 11-year-old, she earned rave reviews playing the lead in the indie flick “Welcome to the Dollhouse” in 1995. She received the Independent Spirit Award for Best Debut Performance.
Busy Long Island high school years
During her time at Oyster Bay High School, the 2000 graduate split time between her education and her budding film and television career. Below is her photo in the high school’s 2000 yearbook.
Matarazzo has appeared in dozens of films and television programs in an acting career that now spans more than a quarter-century. Her other big screen credits include “The Devil’s Advocate,” “54,” “Saved!,” “The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement,” and more recently, “Sisters.”
On television, she has appeared in “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Roseanne,” “ER,” and “Law and Order,” among other hit shows.
‘Scream’ (2022) trailer
The new “Scream” movie will have limited showings on Thursday, Jan. 13, before its wider theatrical release the next day. It’ll be slashing in movie theaters across Long Island and the country. The film has received positive reviews from movie critics.
Click below to view the movie’s two-minute official trailer.
Heather Matarazzo (at left) with her “Princess Diaries” (2001) co-stars Anne Hathaway and Mandy Moore. (Source: Facebook)
