What has life been like for Tina Majorino since she played the side ponytail-sporting Deb in Napoleon Dynamite? We’re taking a look back at her earliest roles and everything she’s been up to in the years after that indie comedy became a cult phenomenon.
A tiny Tina Majorino first hit the scene in 1992 in the short-lived ABC sitcom Camp Wilder part of the famous TGIF lineup which included hits like Full House, Family Matters, and Boy Meets World. But not every TGIF show was a hit, and there always seemed to be one show in the lineup that wasn’t up to par with the other three. Unfortunately, Camp Wilder belonged to latter category, and the show was cancelled after only 19 episodes.
Camp Wilder revolved around Ricky Wilder, a 28-year-old nurse who becomes the sole guardian of her two teenage siblings after their parents’ deaths, in addition to raising her own 6-year-old daughter, Sophie — who was played by Majorino. Their home is turned into a sort of daycare for her siblings and their friends, which comes to be known as “Camp Wilder.” Famous faces like Hilary Swank, Jerry O’Connell, and Jay Mohr appeared on the show but it was Majorino’s character who got one of the most progressive storylines of the series. Toward the end of the show’s run, the six-year old tells her family that she wants to be a boy, reflecting progressive transgender awareness a couple of decades before virtually any other show.
Who could forget Waterworld, one of Hollywood’s biggest flops? Directed by Kevin Reynolds, Waterworld told the story of an Earth after the polar ice caps melted, flooding the planet’s land surfaces and creating… well, a water world. The movie starred Kevin Costner as a sort of evolved fish man who helps save a kidnapped girl named Enola, played by Majorino, who had a mysterious tattoo on her back that ends up being a map to dry land.
Unfortunately, the big-budget flick got middling reviews, with Roger Ebert calling it a picture he’s “not unhappy to have seen, but can’t quite recommend,” and it hasn’t exactly gone down in history as a beloved sci-fi action film, despite its cult following. Keep watching to see what Deb from Napoleon Dynamite looks like today!
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Camp Wilder | 0:14
Waterworld | 1:23
Napoleon Dynamite | 2:04
Veronica Mars | 2:40
Big Love | 3:31
Grey’s Anatomy | 4:18