Meet 13-year-old Mattea Conforti, the Muny’s Matilda

Thirteen-year-old Mattea Conforti is practically an acting veteran. She’s been on Broadway (Matilda, Sunday in the Park with George, and Frozen), television (Gotham, Ollie and Moon, and The Good Cop), and film (3 Generations, and The Super and The Viper Club). Now, the New Jersey resident takes on her next adventure: playing Matilda in Roald Dahl’s Matilda at the The Muny this August.

Here, Conforti tells SLM about the realities of theatre, experience, goals, and what it’s like to play the role of Matilda for a second time.

What is your favorite part about acting?

Seeing what the audience takes in from it, even if it’s not an audience, even if it’s just the people around me. Just getting to see their reaction and just playing off of that, that’s really powerful to me, and I love doing that.

Is there a role that you’ve played that stands out to you?

I’m not just saying this because I’m doing an interview for it right now, but Matilda because she really represents what people don’t usually think of when they think of Broadway. She’s small but she’s mighty. She can do what others can’t. Just because she’s small doesn’t really mean that she can’t do the impossible, she’s just as powerful as the adults.

I know that you’ve acted in both television shows, movie roles, and in theatre, what’s different about performing in a theatre production?

When you’re performing in a theatre production, you get to play off the audience a lot, you get to see how they respond to it and you get multiple chances to do it, too. You only get that one chance when you’re on stage but you can also do it again the next day. In TV, you don’t perform “big.” In theatre, you have to perform very big so that the people in the back can hear you, but in TV, the cameras are right up close to you, so you have to make your movements more subtle. And, you get multiple takes, so you have more time to run your lines. Although TV seems easier, Broadway is a lot of fun.

I know the last time you played Matilda was in 2016. How does it feel to come back to this character?

It feels like I’m going to get this whole new perspective on it because, when I did it in 2016, I was really young and I really didn’t know what was going on the whole time because it was my first Broadway show. Now that I’ve had a little bit more experience and I kind of know what I’m doing, I feel like I’ll get a whole new perspective out of it.

What do you like about the role of Matilda?

Matilda is kind of that girl who breaks down all stereotypes. She can do whatever adults can do, she’s very powerful and I think it’s really nice for audience members to see that a kid can be just as powerful as adults.

What is special about playing her at the Muny?

I’m really excited to be outdoors.

How do you prepare for roles?

My mom and I usually go over lines, we talk about the blocking. And during a day of rehearsal, I’ll maybe jot down some notes. That’s what I did in Matilda, they had me jot down a lot of notes—they had me jot down notes about what I was doing that day or the choreography, the blocking, the lines, so that helped me remember what I would do the next day.

Do you ever get nervous before a show?

Yes. Before, when the show was first starting, I used to get so nervous, but then once I was on stage I was totally fine. Really, nervous is the same feeling as excitement, so when you’re nervous, just think about that and you’ll be like, “Oh, I’m going to be fine.” It really means that you just care about the role, if you’re nervous, because you don’t want to mess up.

What do you do to make yourself feel better?

Sometimes I take a moment with myself. Like: “You’re going to be fine, you’ve done this a million times, you can do this.” People aren’t there to see you mess up, and they’ve never heard it before. So, if you mess up, it’s not like they’re going to know that you’ve messed up because it’s probably their first time coming to the show.

What is the hardest part about acting and taking on a new role?

For me, the hardest part about acting is when you do one role and you have this mindset of what that character is supposed to be like, and then you book another thing and you have to change that mindset about what that character is like.

What is the most rewarding part about acting?

The audience. I mean, seeing them clap every night. It just brings a huge smile to my face.

What’s a part that you’ve always wanted to play and haven’t yet?

Dot in Sunday in the Park with George. I was in that show before, but just seeing what she does in that show and what Annaleigh Ashford brought to that role, it’s just so beautiful and I want to be a part of that.

Most girls your age spend their days in school, but you spend them in rehearsals. What do you do for school?

I go to a public school. So, when I’m not rehearsing or whenever I have time off, I go to school. When we’re at rehearsal, we usually get tutors, so I’m still schooling. I actually don’t miss that much school. I used to miss a lot more when I was in Frozen in the beginning of the year, but when I wasn’t doing any more shows, I was in school a lot more. And for night shows, I’d go to school and then go to night shows.

What do you do in your free time?

I like to play lacrosse, dance. I like to play field hockey. I also just hangout out with my brother and sister. I like hanging out with my friends. We like to go to the lake a lot and go kayaking, paddle boarding, or just hanging out there.

Have you been to St. Louis before?

No, I’m really excited to go. It’s just a whole new place. I don’t really know what’s there, I just like going places.

What are your career plans for the future?

I really hope that I become this really big actress and I can further my career even more. I really don’t want to do acting my whole life, because I also want to become a doctor when I’m older, I want to deliver babies. I want to do both.

Catch Conforti in the Muny’s last show of their 101st season, Roald Dahl’s Matilda, playing August 5–11. Visit The Muny website for more details and tickets.