Marie Matiko

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Marie Lan Matiko is an Asian-American actress. Born of Filipino, Japanese, and Chinese heritage, she is known for her starring roles as Julia in The Art of War and as Betty in the 2006 film Date Movie.

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[edit] Early life

Matiko endured a stern cultural upbringing, which ultimately fostered discipline and an inherent passion for the arts, where she could freely express herself. "When I was in grade school, I wanted to become a concert pianist", Matiko said, who began playing piano at just four years of age."I had always been taught to stifle my emotions, so if something upset me, I would go into my room and play an angry concerto."

Matiko was an Environmental Engineering major at UCLA. While still in college, she auditioned for the first national tour of Miss Saigon,and suddenly her career path took a sharp detour. She traded an ROTC scholarship the role of "Gigi/Mimi" when she was picked by producer Cameron Macintosh at her first professional audition for the First National tour of Miss Saigon. Thus, Matiko set out to travel the country. While on the road, she continued taking academic classes at community colleges, in addition to acting, singing and dancing courses. From the Berklee College of Music in Boston to the Cleveland Institute of Music, she sought out the best instructions in virtually every city. After leaving Miss Saigon, Matiko returned to Los Angeles where she embarked on a rigorous regimen of acting lessons. 'I feel I’ve been training like an Olympic athlete,' Matiko said.

[edit] Film and television

Marie Lan Matiko has starred opposite leading men Craig T. Nelson, Tom Sizemore, Wesley Snipes, Mark Wahlberg, Patrick Warburton and Chow Yun-Fat. 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). As a testament to her timeless refreshing presence, Matiko was one of the AX Awards Top 20 Newcomers in 2006.

In New Line Cinema’s The Corruptor, 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 heroine-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 scenework alongside Matiko.

In Fox’s 2007 release Date Movie, Matiko made a notable comedic debut alongside Fred Willard and Jennifer Coolidge, playing Betty Lan Orchid.

In the November 2007 release of Warner Brothers’ Dennis the Menace Christmas, Matiko plays alongside Robert Wagner and Louise Fletcher as Mrs. Walsh-Mellman, Dennis’s grade school teacher. Marie Lan Matiko also voices the group therapist of Dennis’s frustrated parents.

Additional film and television credits include Universal’s Mystery Men, TBS’s Counterstrike, CBS’s The District, and Michael Mann’s Robbery Homocide Division. Marie Matiko voiced Gong Li’s parts in Michael Mann’s Miami Vice and voiced opposite Lucy Liu and Patrick Warburton in the Carsey-Werner Production, UPN’s Game Over in television’s first full-length CGI cartoon. She is also in a children’s film, The Forbidden Warrior, where Matiko plays Seki, the forbidden warrior. She was also on Xena. Marie Lan Matiko's characters are on several collectible XENA: THE WARRIOR PRINCESS trading cards.


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[edit] Outside acting

  • She speaks five languages and has a reputation as a philanthropist.
  • In her fun time, she enjoys extreme sports, skateboarding, snowboarding, scuba, music, and spending time in organic chemical laboratories.
  • Dedicated to something fantastic, Marie Lan Matiko runs her own production company, management consultancy and philanthropy, Creative Think Tank, where she is co-chief strategist and artistic director.
  • Additionally, with Michael Masterman-Smith, UCLA cancer researcher and biotechnologist, CTT currently works with UCLA’s Global Neuro Rescue and pediatric neurosurgeon Dr. Jorge Lazereff to grow medical relief programs for orphaned children worldwide.
  • Marie Lan Matiko also coaches performance technique for the Santa Clara University School of Law moot court teams alongside former director of The Harvard Civil Rights Project and law professor Angelo Ancheta. In her initial year of coaching, her teams placed 2nd and 3rd nationally in their arguments against all of the powerhouses of the Ivy League.
  • Matiko founded and ran the non-profit Vivace Conservatory, with co-founder Ariel Felix. Vivace, is a successful non-profit performing arts school located in Los Angeles’ Chinatown. The purpose of the organization is to nurture pride, self-discipline and passion in disadvantaged inner-city youth and minorities for the arts.
  • Matiko was the celebrity spokesperson for the California Asian American Democratic Caucus.
  • Marie Lan Matiko also sits on the board of advisors for the San Diego Asian American Film Festival, has been invited to present at UCI, UCLA, NY, SIFF and SD film festivals, the National Association of Asian Professionals, along with a

number of universities in Asia.

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