American director, writer and actress
Marielle Heller
|
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Heller in 2016
|
Born
| Marielle Stiles Heller
(
1979-10-01
)
October 1, 1979
(age 44)
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Occupations
| |
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Years active
| 2000?present
|
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Spouse
|
|
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Children
| 2
|
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Relatives
| Emily Heller
(sister)
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Marielle Stiles Heller
(born October 1, 1979) is an American director, screenwriter and actress.
[1]
She is best known for directing the films
The Diary of a Teenage Girl
(2015),
Can You Ever Forgive Me?
(2018), and
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
(2019), as well as acting in
The Queen’s Gambit
(2020).
Early life
[
edit
]
Heller was born in
Marin County, California
,
[2]
to Steve Heller, a chiropractor, and Annie Stiles-Heller, an artist and art teacher.
[3]
[4]
She grew up in nearby
Alameda
, along with her younger brother and sister, Nate and
Emily
.
[5]
Her father hails from a
Jewish
family in New York.
[6]
[7]
Heller started off as an actor, calling acting her "first love."
[8]
She was part of the Alameda Children's Musical Theater, where she participated in as many as four plays a year, including the roles of Rabbit in
Winnie the Pooh
,
Templeton the rat
in
Charlotte’s Web
, and Polly in
The Magician's Nephew
.
[3]
With time, she graduated to community theater, as well as productions at Saint Joseph Notre Dame High School.
[3]
She graduated in 1997.
[9]
She studied
theatre
at
UCLA
and then at the
Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
in London.
[10]
Additionally, she was honored with a Lynn Auerbach Screenwriting Fellowship and The Maryland Film Festival Fellowship.
[11]
Career
[
edit
]
After returning to the US, she worked as an actor at the
Magic Theatre
, the
American Conservatory Theater
,
Berkeley Repertory Theatre
, and the
La Jolla Playhouse
.
[3]
She was in the world premiere of
David Edgar
’s
Continental Divide
directed by
Tony Taccone
.
[12]
She also acted in shows
Spin City
and
Single Dads
."
[13]
The Diary of a Teenage Girl
was Heller's debut film, that she both wrote and directed. It is based on the 2002
graphic novel
titled
The Diary of a Teenage Girl: An Account in Words and Pictures
by
Phoebe Gloeckner
,
[14]
which she received as a Christmas present from her sister in 2006.
[3]
The story's protagonist, Minnie, is a 15-year-old girl living in the
San Francisco Bay Area
in 1976 who begins an affair with her mother's 35-year-old boyfriend, Monroe. Heller was taken with Minnie's character, a young woman who is confident in her sexuality and, noting the lack of films that represent young women in such a way, she set to adapting the graphic novel to play. With Gloeckner's blessing, she worked the script into a screenplay.
[15]
The film premiered at the
Sundance Film Festival
on January 24, 2015, and later received a
limited release
in August 2015.
[16]
The film stars
Bel Powley
as Minnie. Previously, Heller was selected as a 2012
Sundance Screenwriting Fellow
and 2012 Sundance Directing Fellow,
[17]
where she had submitted the script for the Sundance writer and director workshop. She then proceeded to direct a teaser for the film using grant money from the writer's workshop. The film received critical acclaim at Sundance, and was in competition in the U.S. Dramatic category. The film also won the Grand Prix of the Generation 14plus at the
Berlin International Film Festival
in 2015.
[18]
In 2016, the film was named best first feature at the Independent Spirit Awards.
[3]
Heller's writing credits include screenplays, theatrical plays, and pilots for
ABC
and
20th Century Fox
, such as the ABC pilot
The Big Apple
and a film for
Disney
, titled
Renegade X.
[10]
Heller next directed
Can You Ever Forgive Me?
about literary forger and writer
Lee Israel
, based on the author's memoir.
[19]
She teamed up again with Archer Gray, who she first worked with on
Diary
.
With a limited budget, filming a movie set in the 1990s was a challenge.
[19]
She cast
Melissa McCarthy
in the title role based on the actress's performance in the 2014 film
St. Vincent
.
[21]
They shot on location in bookstores where Israel had sold her forgeries, including the Argosy Bookstore and Westsider Rare & Used Books.
[3]
The film premiered at the
Toronto International Film Festival
on September 8, 2018.
[21]
It was released on October 19, 2018, by
Fox Searchlight
.
[19]
[8]
In January 2018, it was announced that Heller would direct
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
, a film that chronicles an interview
Tom Junod
conducted with child entertainer
Fred Rogers
for
Esquire
magazine, and how the encounter impacted the journalist's life.
[19]
The screenplay was written by Emmy-nominated producers Micah Fitzerman-Blue and
Noah Harpster
.
[22]
Tom Hanks
, who portrays Mr. Rogers, agreed to join the project once Heller signed on as director, as they had met previously through Hanks' son,
Colin
.
[23]
[3]
It was filmed in
Pittsburgh
.
[3]
Heller played a breakout acting role in the Netflix show
The Queen's Gambit
as Alma Wheatley.
[24]
[25]
Heller is friends with the director
Scott Frank
and was going to play the part of Beth's biological mother, until the original actress fell out.
[25]
Media image and directing style
[
edit
]
Heller has said she is drawn to stories about people "trying to talk about something that people are uncomfortable talking about" and "human beings trying to navigate through the world."
[8]
Drawn to storytelling, she progressed from an actor, to a writer, finally beginning to direct when she dreaded turning her screenplay for
Diary
to someone else.
[13]
She has said that becoming a mother made her change the kind of stories she tells, because she wants "to do good in the world".
[8]
In 2020, she was listed, among others, as one of the several female directors snubbed for Academy Awards and Golden Globes nominations for Best Directing, as only men were nominated. Fellow director
Greta Gerwig
, who also was not nominated, included Heller in her list of women who could have been competing for the Golden Globe. Actress
Natalie Portman
, as a sign of protest, wore a dress embroidered with the names of these women, including Heller, on the 2020 Oscars red carpet.
[26]
Filming days for
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
adhered to a shooting schedule of 10-hour days that did not break for lunch so that Heller and other cast and crew members could potentially still have nights with their children. She believes sustainable working hours on film sets will allow more female directors to continue working after they have families.
[27]
Personal life
[
edit
]
Heller is married to comedian
Jorma Taccone
,
[15]
having met at UCLA while studying acting.
[3]
Together they have a son, born in December 2014,
[28]
and a daughter born in August 2020.
[
citation needed
]
They live in
Brooklyn, New York
.
[3]
Heller's brother, Nate, is a musician who composed the scores for all three of her feature films.
[3]
Her sister,
Emily Heller
, is a stand-up comic, as well as a producer and writer for the HBO comedy series
Barry
.
[3]
Her brother-in-law,
Asa Taccone
, is the lead singer of the band
Electric Guest
, and her father-in-law,
Tony Taccone
, is a theater director. When asked about her greatest source of inspiration, she answered, "Every member of my family, each of whom is completely their own person, and works on being thoughtful and creative every day. And I find inspiration in all of my friends, and my husband, all of whom are working toward living life as an artist every day."
[12]
Filmography
[
edit
]
Director
[
edit
]
Film
Television
Actor
[
edit
]
Film
Television
Year
|
Title
|
Role
|
Notes
|
2001
|
White Power
|
Party People
|
Short
|
2002
|
Spin City
|
Carrie
|
Episode: "Eyes Wide Open"
|
2005
|
Awesometown
|
Waitress
|
Short
|
2008
|
All-For-Nots
|
Heather
|
2 episodes
|
2009
|
Single Dads
|
Jill
|
Episode: "Meeting Girls in the Park"
|
2020
|
The Queen's Gambit
|
Alma Wheatley
|
Series regular
|
2021
|
MacGruber
|
MacGruber's mother
|
Recurring
|
Theatre
[
edit
]
This list is adapted from her biography on
The Nervous Breakdown
:
[12]
Awards and nominations
[
edit
]
Critics' Choice Television Awards
Actors' awarded performances
Under Hellers's direction, these actors have received the
Academy Award
nominations for their performances in their respective roles.
References
[
edit
]
- ^
SAITO, STEPHEN (August 5, 2015).
"Interview: Marielle Heller on Seeing Herself in "The Diary of a Teenage Girl"
"
.
The Moveable Fest
. Retrieved
December 18,
2018
.
- ^
"Register"
.
FamilySearch
. Retrieved
September 29,
2023
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
j
k
l
m
Guthmann, Edward (October 15, 2018).
"Alameda's Marielle Heller Is One Hot Hollywood Director"
.
Oakland Magazine
. Archived from
the original
on December 18, 2018
. Retrieved
December 18,
2018
.
- ^
"Marielle Heller Annie Stiles-Heller Photostream"
.
- ^
"Alameda's Marielle Heller Is One Hot Hollywood Director"
. November 1, 2018. Archived from
the original
on November 1, 2018
. Retrieved
December 26,
2023
.
- ^
"Cast and crew of 'A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood' felt deep connection to city with Tree of Life tragedy"
.
- ^
"Marielle Heller's Land of Make-Believe"
.
The New Yorker
. December 13, 2019.
- ^
a
b
c
d
Dawn, Randee.
"Seeing truth in the fraud"
.
Los Angeles Times
. New York
. Retrieved
December 18,
2018
.
- ^
"Marielle Heller '97"
.
Saint Joseph Notre Dame High School
. March 19, 2014. Archived from
the original
on April 4, 2019
. Retrieved
December 18,
2018
.
- ^
a
b
"Marielle Heller"
.
Playscripts, Inc
. Retrieved
March 9,
2016
.
- ^
"MD Film Fest | About The Festival | Producers Club"
.
www.md-filmfest.com
. Archived from
the original
on December 21, 2015
. Retrieved
January 10,
2016
.
- ^
a
b
c
"21 Questions with Marielle Heller"
. June 6, 2010. Archived from
the original
on March 29, 2019
. Retrieved
December 18,
2018
.
- ^
a
b
Majumdar, Antora (September 6, 2018).
"TIFF 2018 Women Directors: Meet Marielle Heller ? "Can You Ever Forgive Me?"
"
.
Women and Hollywood
. Retrieved
January 3,
2019
.
- ^
SMITH, C. MOLLY (January 29, 2016).
"
'Diary of a Teenage Girl' challenged perceptions of young women and sex"
.
EW
. Meredith Corporation
. Retrieved
December 18,
2018
.
- ^
a
b
Handler, Rachel (August 6, 2015).
"
"The Diary of a Teenage Girl" Director Marielle Heller Is Here to Remind You: Women Have Sexual Thoughts Too"
.
Cosmopolitan
. Retrieved
December 18,
2018
.
- ^
Davis, E.,
"Watch: Kristen Wiig, Alexander Skarsgard, & Bel Powley Star In The New U.K. Trailer For
Diary Of A Teenage Girl
"
,
IndieWire
, July 1, 2015.
- ^
Heller, Marielle (June 7, 2012).
"MARIELLE HELLER AT THE SUNDANCE DIRECTORS LAB, PART ONE"
.
Filmmaker Magazine
. Retrieved
December 18,
2018
.
- ^
"Prizes & Honours 2015"
.
www.berlinale.de
. Retrieved
July 11,
2018
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
Milder, Ben (May 1986). "Groucho, can you ever forgive me?".
Survey of Ophthalmology
.
30
(6): 404.
doi
:
10.1016/0039-6257(86)90097-4
.
- ^
a
b
Ford, Rebecca (September 5, 2018).
"WE GET SCARED WHEN WOMEN CHARACTERS ARE IDIOSYNCRATIC': Director Marielle Heller on Melissa McCarthy going to 'really dark places' as a washed-up writer in Can You Ever Forgive Me?"
.
Hollywood Reporter
.
424
(29): 66
. Retrieved
December 31,
2018
.
- ^
Nolfi, Joey (March 19, 2018).
"Marielle Heller insists Tom Hanks' 'beautiful' Mr. Rogers movie 'not a biopic,' reveals plot details"
.
MSN
. Archived from
the original
on December 18, 2018
. Retrieved
December 18,
2018
.
- ^
Desta, Yohana (March 20, 2018).
"Soulful, Inspiring Mister Rogers Movie Trailer Just Might Make You Cry"
.
Vanity Fair
. Retrieved
March 20,
2018
.
- ^
"The Queen's Gambit"
.
IMDB
.
- ^
a
b
"In Hollywood, Women are seen as 'a Risk'
"
.
The New York Times
. November 30, 2020.
- ^
"
'Fashion statements: Oscars stars use their clothes to make political points"
.
TheGuardian.com
. February 10, 2020.
- ^
"
'A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood's' Marielle Heller Pushes for 'Sustainable' Hours on Movie Sets"
. November 22, 2019.
- ^
Goldstein, Gregg (January 3, 2015).
"10 Directors to Watch: Secrets of Marielle Heller's Sundance 'Diary'
"
.
Variety
. Retrieved
December 18,
2018
.
- ^
McNary, Dave (May 31, 2016).
"Melissa McCarthy to Play Novelist and Literary Forger Lee Israel (EXCLUSIVE)"
.
Variety
. Retrieved
May 31,
2016
.
- ^
Giliberti, Luca (January 18, 2021).
"2021 Critics' Choice TV Awards: Full List of Nominations by Shows"
.
Gold Derby
. Retrieved
January 19,
2021
.
External links
[
edit
]
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International
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National
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Artists
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Other
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