“Gaten” is the stage name of Gaetano John “Matarzo” Matarazzo III (born September 8, 2002).
He is an American actor. Benjamin in Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, and Gavroche in Les Misérables were two of the first roles he ever played on Broadway.
Besides starring in Stranger Things as Dustin Henderson and hosting Prank, he is also known for his work in other Netflix original shows.
Early Life
After his father, Matarazzo was given the name Gaetano John Matarazzo III when he was born on September 8, 2002. The Matarazzo family includes his father, Gaetano, and his mother, Heather.
He also has two siblings: an elder sister, Sabrina, and a younger brother, Carmen. When he was a baby, doctors discovered he had cleidocranial dysplasia, a disorder that affects the growth of bones and teeth, but not the brain.
A New Jersey native, Matarazzo was raised by his grandparents, who own a pizza and ice cream business by the name of Matarazzo's in Little Egg Harbor Township, Connecticut, where he was born.
This New Jersey teen went to Pinelands Regional High School, where he graduated in 2012. At the Starlight Performing Arts Center, he also studied voice.
During the 2011 Starpower Talent Competition Nationals in Uncasville, Connecticut, he competed as a nine-year-old. His vocal solo, “White Boy Summer,” took third place.
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Career
From an early age, Matarazzo understood that he wanted to be an actor and a dramatist. As a youngster, he began going to Broadway auditions. He appeared in the Broadway production of “Priscilla, Queen of the Desert” in 2011.
Les Miserables” was presented on Broadway at the Imperial Theatre in 2014. In 2015, he appeared on an episode of “The Blacklist” as a guest star.
It was in 2016 that he was cast in the Netflix series “Stranger Things” as one of the major characters. Almost a thousand other young performers auditioned for the part, and Matarazzo was chosen from among them.
Science fiction horror series that portrays a small child going missing and the unusual supernatural phenomena that occur in the community in conjunction with this event is depicted on this program.
Young performers, including Matarazzo, were greatly commended for their performances in the film's ensemble cast.
Matarazzo portrays Dustin Henderson, a bright youngster who enjoys “Dungeons and Dragons” and other high-tech hobbies and pursuits. The first season was a huge success, with record-breaking numbers of people tuning in to Netflix from across the world.
For the second and third seasons, the show was resurrected and debuted in 2017 and 2019. To date, the show has been nominated for and won six Primetime Emmy Awards, in addition to several other prestigious honors.
Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series went to the cast of the first season as well. The Shorty Award for Best Actor went to Matarazzo. Due to the Covid-19 epidemic, Netflix has scheduled the fourth season for release in 2022.
Gaten Matarazzo Net Worth
His net worth is $5 million. Gaten Matarazzo is an American actor. As one of the stars of Netflix's science fiction-horror thriller, “Stranger Things,” Gaten became a household name. Due to his work on the program, Matarazzo has won and been nominated for several accolades. Netflix's “Prank Encounters” is Gaten's other project.
Stranger Things Salary
The average episode compensation for the show's first season's kid actors was $10,000. That amounted to a total of $80,000.
During the second season of Stranger Things, Galen Matarazzo earned $30,000 each episode.
In March of this year, it was disclosed that his season three compensation had been increased to $250,000 per episode! The third season's eight episodes cost about $2 million to produce before taxes and fees. For the fourth season's nine episodes, he received $2.25 million.
While working on “Stranger Things,” Matarazzo continued to audition and earn other roles in television, cinema, and theatre.
In addition to “Stranger Things,” he appeared on “Ridiculousness,” “Lip Sync Battles,” “Drop the Mic,” and “Prank Encounters” as himself. It was on “Nickelodeon's Unfiltered” when he appeared as himself in 2021.
For Katy Perry and Computer Games, he starred in music videos this year. In 2020, he participated in the music video for Green Day's “Meet Me On The Roof.”
Philanthropy
It's no secret that Matarazzo has a condition called cleidocranial dysplasia. Since his character in “Stranger Things” was genetically altered to have the illness, it has gotten a lot more attention.
Since CCD affects the jaw and teeth, Matarazzo raises awareness of the disorder and funds a non-profit that helps cover the price of oral operations for those with it. Dentures are a need for Matarazzo, who himself is a denture wearer.
In order to generate money for CCD Smiles, he utilizes his social media accounts to promote various fundraising activities.
2021 saw him take part in a one-hour charity webcast on “The Tonight Show's” Twitch account, which earned money for the charity Feeding America.
Jimmy Fallon, Questlove, Kirk Douglas, Corpse Husband, and Noah Schnapp, Matarazzo's “Stranger Things” co-star, were among the other stars that took part.
Personal Life
Despite having known each other previous to Matarazzo's stint on “Stranger Things,” he and Lizzy Yu have been dating since March of 2018. It's not uncommon for the pair to publish images of themselves together on social media.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Is Gaten Matarazzo's Disease?
Despite the fact that Matarazzo, 18, suffers from a genetic disorder that has impacted his bone and tooth growth, he continues to play sports. Cleidocranial dysplasia, or CCD, occurs in one in a million births and can be inherited or caused by a random genetic mutation, according to CCD Smiles.
Is Gaten Matarazzo on Blacklist?
On Netflix's Stranger Things and NBC's The Blacklist, Gaten Matarazzo plays Dustin Henderson and Finn, respectively.
