Tina Majorino

American actress and musician Tina Majorino rose to fame as a child star in the mid-90s. After a subsequent hiatus from show business, Majorino reemerged in a big way with the smash hit Napoleon Dynamite.

Tina Marie Majorino was born February 7, 1985 in Westlake, California. Of Italian descent, Majorino’s parents were Robert Majorino and Sarah Black.

Majorino, going the route of many actors, decided to enter the business from an early age. She made her onscreen debut in 1992 with the role of Sophie Wilder in Camp Wilder. Her costars included Mary Page Keller, Jerry O Connell, Jay Mohr, and Hilary Swank.

Jumping quickly into film, Majorino next starred in When a Man Loves a Woman with Andy Garcia, Meg Ryan, and Ellen Burstyn. She took a similarly supporting role in the 1994 comedy Corrina, Corrina, which also starred Ray Liotta, Joan Cusack, and Whoopi Goldberg.

But these supporting roles quickly translated into leading roles. This was first true with her family drama Andre, in which she shared the screen with a young Joshua Jackson.

Making her a household name in the child acting ring, Majorino next won a role in the big-budget flop Waterworld with Kevin Costner, Jeanne Tripplehorn, and Dennis Hopper. Taking the rest of the year off, Majorino’s following project didn’t come until 1996 with Un Angelo a New York with Karen Black and Mischa Barton.

Unfortunately for Majorino, 1997’s Santa Fe was a critical flop. Proving a busy year for her, however, her 1997 made-for-TV movie True Women was met with more success. Her supporting cast was extremely strong with Dana Delany, Annabeth Gish, Angelina Jolie, and Rachael Leigh Cook.

Similarly, her other 1997 made-for-TV movie was a hit. Before Women Had Wings starred Oprah Winfrey, Ellen Barkin, and Julia Stiles.

Majorino next took a small break before coming back as the title character in 1999’s Alice in Wonderland. Based on the Lewis Carroll novel, this adaptation also featured Robbie Coltrane, Ben Kingsley, Christopher Lloyd, Pete Postlethwaite, Miranda Richardson, Martin Short, and Gene Wilder.

Although this last project offered large exposure, Majorino completely dropped out of the business until 2004. But she came back in a big way when she starred as Deb in the independent hit Napoleon Dynamite with Jon Heder, Jon Gries, Efren Ramirez, and Aaron Ruell.

Thrusting her back into the spotlight, Majorino began working extensively in television. From 2004 on, Majorino became the recurring character of Cindy “Mac” Mackenzie on Veronica Mars. She routinely appeared opposite Kristen Bell and Enrico Colantoni.

She can currently be seen as Heather Tuttle on Big Love with leads Bill Paxton and Chloe Sevigny.

Outside of acting, Majorino and her brother Kevin formed the band known as The AM Project. More than just a flippant side project, Majorino is actually formally trained as an opera singer.

She also displayed a special intellectual aptitude and graduated from high school when she was just fifteen. Additionally, she is formally trained in dance. She even choreographed the now famous dance scene by Heder in Napoleon Dynamite.