Liesel Matthews

images - sounds - biography - comments - links

Images:

shillPages - over 30 pictures from A Little Princess [not currently up]

Sound:

Liesel sings "Kindle My Heart" 11 kHz WAV format [not currently online] [By Patrick Doyle, from A Little Princess Soundtrack, (P) 1995 Warner Bros. on Varese Sarabande records]
A Little Princess: Original Motion... - Hear sound samples online
cover

Biographical Information:

From R Joshua Eyre (eyrej@caedm.et.byu.edu)

Liesel Matthews: (Taken from the official A Little Princess Press Kit and various articles)

Months before cameras were set to roll, the filmmakers embarked upon a search for Sara Crewe. Says director Cuaron, "We understood from the very beginning that this script has a soul, and this soul is Sara Crewe. So we knew that no matter what we did, the movie was not going to work if we didn't have a great Sara."

The filmmakers conducted a talent search that encompassed cities in the United States, Canada, and Europe. They saw tapes and photos of nearly 10,000 young girls. Their search ended in Chicago with 10-year old Liesel Matthews.

"When we looked at the tests, we all picked Liesel independently -- not because she was so much better that everyone else, because many were terrific," remembers producer Johnson, "but she had qualities that worked perfectly for Sara Crewe. Looking at her on film, we could see that she had an inner life and a strong sense of imagination and contentment."

Director Cuaron concurs, "Liesel is very complex; she can be very funny or very emotional; she has her own mind. Sometimes she can be like a character taken out of a book of adventures, and that reflects in the movie. "The script for 'A Little Princess' made me cry," says Liesel Matthews.

After the screening of "A Little Princess" at Chicago's Webster Street Theatre, Liesel stood in the lobby surrounded by squealing young fans. Returning a signed notebook to a girl about her age, Matthews, 11, giggled and said "Are you sure you really want this?" Matthews considers acting a hobby. It's "embarrassing," she says " when all the attention is on me."

Matthews is not new to the actor's life. Her mother is a former member of the drama department at Chicago's Roosevely University, and her stepfather is an attorney who has produced local shows. In 1989 her mother cast her and her brother Matt, then 7, in a university production of "Macbeth."

By 1993, Matthews was often working in the Chicago stage at night. Last year a talent scout saw her in "To Kill a Mockingbird" and invited her to L.A., where she won the Princess role. "I wanted someone who wasn't worried about technique," says director Alfonso Cuaron. "Liesel was more interested in having fun than establishing a career. That's rare."

After a three-month shoot in L.A., Matthews is still not committed to an acting career. "We don't want her to feel limited," says her mother. Matthews will take a year off, then think about her next project. "If I leave school to make a movie," she says, "it's bound to affect my education. My entire life will change. I'm not ready for that. I'm just a little girl."



Other comments and questions sent in by you...(back a few years ago) - Add your own comments

Shes as suit as angel cake
- Ms.Lara

liesel's real name is liesel Pritzker Bagley, not mathhews. she is now 13. she goes to josephs sears school in Keilworth(home sweet home) (a rich, prepy, suburb of Chicago). She will be in eight grade in the start of the school year
- Macleod

how old is she
- jeff

she is beautiful!!!!!!!!!!!
- anonymous

Air Force One was an awesome movie !
- anonymous

She is the prettiest girl on film!!!!!!!!!!!!
- An admirer

How old ishe now?
- Teejay

You might wanna mention she just performed as "Alice Marshall" in the new movie "Air Force One" starring Harrison Ford. She wasn't half bad at the role, either.
- Paul

I would like to speak with her, how do i do that? I am 16 my friend is 17, and we have a few questions for her. We thought that her performance in Air Force One was great, we went to the Alta Vista search engine and found this homepage, We are big fans, just e-mail me and tell me how i would go about talking to liesel.
- Pete and Dave



Other links

Internet Movie Database entry
All Movie Guide entry
Josh Eyre's Little Princess page [long since down]

Return to A Little Princess page


Last modified May 20th, 2003 - and before that August 22nd, 1997
As you can tell this site is somewhat dated. A few links have been moved to working condition. (Though the soundtrack link was once to MusicBlvd which was gobbled by cdnow which was gobbled by amazon... Though its sad that Pentagon.net is now out of business, though they seemed to outlast the bigger partners.) Now the most interesting thing about the star of A Little Princess is the protracted legal battle for the Pritzker family fortune. You can find more about that in the papers. A guess a few billion is just not enough for some people... But its probably the prinicple of the matter...