---
name: "Rose Matafeo"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/rose-matafeo"
fi1m_id: "rose-matafeo"
imdb_id: "nm4194124"
tmdb_id: 1868823
wikidata_id: "Q16234799"
roles: ["Actor","Director"]
born: "25 February 1992"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 3
average_as: "actor"
average_over: 1
updated: "2026-10-07T17:12:03.776341+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Rose Matafeo

## Identity

Rose Matafeo

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/rose-matafeo
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** rose-matafeo
- **IMDb ID:** nm4194124
- **TMDB ID:** 1868823
- **Wikidata ID:** Q16234799
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rose_Matafeo, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q16234799, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4194124/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1868823

Actor and director. Born 25 February 1992 in Auckland, New Zealand.

## Details

- **Work:** Actor, Director
- **Born:** 25 February 1992, Auckland, New Zealand
- **Active:** 2021–present
- **Titles on Fi1m:** 3: 1 acting, 1 directing, 1 other
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1990s 80 (1), 2020s 67 (2)
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rose_Matafeo, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q16234799, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4194124/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/1868823

## Streaming the US now

- **The Roku Channel:** [*Have I Got News for You*](https://film.one/tv/have-i-got-news-for-you.md) (80)
- **HBO Max:** [*Starstruck*](https://film.one/tv/starstruck.md) (79)
- **Disney+:** [*Moana 2*](https://film.one/film/moana-2.md) (55)

For United States; add `?region=XX` for another country.

## Fi1m on Rose Matafeo

> Rose Matafeo can deliver a joke and regret it before she has finished speaking. We rate the quickness and kindness of *Starstruck*, though its stories sometimes need more than her charm.

In *Starstruck* (2021), Rose Matafeo can keep talking while her face registers that she should have stopped. Her Jessie has a joke ready for every silence and little protection against the response. We laughed at how little being the funniest person present helps her, because Matafeo lets us see the regret before the line is finished. She makes Jessie good company without asking us to think she always behaves well.

Stand-up and sketch work came first, with *Funny Girls* among the programmes she wrote and performed in. The stand-up hour *Horndog* (2018) led to *Starstruck*; between them came the lead role of Zoe in *Baby Done* (2020). Creating her own series gave her room to make the funny woman the romantic lead, with all her irritating habits intact. Across its three series, from 2021 to 2023, the ordinary-woman-meets-film-star premise stays grounded in awkward conversations rather than glamour.

Writing with Alice Snedden and Nic Sampson, Matafeo makes Jessie quick enough to recognise a bad idea and quite capable of pursuing it anyway. Nikesh Patel's Tom gives her someone worth talking to: he listens, and his pleasure in her company never needs much announcing. We rate *Starstruck* for that kindness, though it can feel slight when charm is doing most of the work. Its small scale usually suits her, but there are limits to how far an amusing exchange can carry a story.

Will Hanke's flat daylight keeps London from looking like a romantic reward. The editing by André Rodrigues, Christopher Watson, Robbie Morrison and Nik Hindson gives reactions the last beat of a scene, allowing Matafeo's timing to include the other actor. Directors including Karen Maine, Snedden and Matafeo herself keep the attention on the faces. There is nothing fussy here to distract from the moment Jessie hears herself.

*Moana 2* (2024) gives her much less to work with as the voice of Loto, an inventor whose job description largely substitutes for a personality. Matafeo earns a couple of laughs, but cannot make the thinly written crew worth the extra company. For a proper introduction, start with *Starstruck* rather than the boat.

## Biography

Rose Matafeo is a New Zealand comedian, actress and writer. She was born on 25 February 1992 in Auckland and began performing stand-up comedy at the age of 15.

She created, wrote and starred in the BBC and HBO Max series *Starstruck* (2021–2023). Her other screen credits include voicing Loto in the animated film *Moana 2* (2024), appearing in *The Breaker Upperers* (2018) and *Dead Pixels* (2019), and playing Jessie in *Starstruck*. She has also appeared on panel shows including *Taskmaster*.

In 2018 Matafeo won the Edinburgh Comedy Award for Best Show for her stand-up performance *Horndog*. She received a BAFTA nomination for her work on *Starstruck*.

*Sources: imdb.com, en.wikipedia.org, nzonscreen.com.*

## On Fi1m (3)

### Performed in (1) — the average rests on these

- *Moana 2* (2024), Fi1m 55, as Loto (voice) — [page](https://film.one/film/moana-2.md)

### Directed (1)

- *Starstruck* (2021), Fi1m 79, as Jessie — [page](https://film.one/tv/starstruck.md)

### Also credited (1) — thanks, archive footage, uncredited

- *Have I Got News for You* (1990), Fi1m 80, as Self — [page](https://film.one/tv/have-i-got-news-for-you.md)

## Complete filmography (19)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *New Zealand Spy* (2026), series, as Sue Nightingale
- *Small Town Scandal* (2026), series, as Carol
- *Demi Adejuyigbe: Is Going to Do One (1) Backflip* (2025), Thanks
- *Rose Matafeo: On and On and On* (2024), Writer, Executive Producer
- *Moana 2* (2024), as Loto (voice) — Fi1m 55, [page](https://film.one/film/moana-2.md)
- *Starstruck* (2021), series, as Jessie · Writer, Director, Creator — Fi1m 79, [page](https://film.one/tv/starstruck.md)
- *Baby Done* (2020), as Zoe
- *Rose Matafeo: Horndog* (2020), Executive Producer, Writer
- *Dave Gorman: Terms and Conditions Apply* (2019), series, Actor
- *Golden Boy* (2019), series, as Ruth · Director
- *Dead Pixels* (2019), series, as Daisy
- *Upfront: The Queens of Comedy* (2018), Actor
- *The Breaker Upperers* (2018), as Check Out Chick
- *Squinters* (2018), series, as Talia
- *Climaxed* (2017), series, as Hannah
- *Funny Girls* (2015), series, as Various
- *Taskmaster* (2015), series, as Phone (voice) — Fi1m 82, [page](https://film.one/tv/taskmaster.md)
- *W1A* (2014), series, as Chloe
- *Comedy Blaps* (2011), series, as Rose

## Gallery

- ![Rose Matafeo](https://film.one/media/person/10366/gallery-e852a33d19a0.jpg) Rose Matafeo — Bryan Berlin, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/05/Rose_Matefeo_at_the_2024_Edinburgh_Festival_Fringe.jpg/1280px-Rose_Matefeo_at_the_2024_Edinburgh_Festival_Fringe.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Rose Matafeo in March of 2025 (2026)](https://film.one/media/person/10366/gallery-974830604531.jpg) Rose Matafeo in March of 2025 (2026) — Kanielditson, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cc/Rose_Matafeo_March_2025.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Rose Matafeo and Paul Williams at the 2025 Edinburgh Festival Fringe](https://film.one/media/person/10366/gallery-a0f9a7f8d1f0.jpg) Rose Matafeo and Paul Williams at the 2025 Edinburgh Festival Fringe — Bryan Berlin, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f8/Rose_Matafeo_and_Paul_Williams_at_the_2025_Edinburgh_Festival_Fringe.jpg/1280px-Rose_Matafeo_and_Paul_Williams_at_the_2025_Edinburgh_Festival_Fringe.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Rose Matafeo, comedian, at the 2024 Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Edinburgh, Scotland.](https://film.one/media/person/10366/gallery-ca5c73745f03.jpg) Rose Matafeo, comedian, at the 2024 Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Edinburgh, Scotland. — Bryan Berlin, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a3/Rose_Matafeo_at_the_2024_Edinburgh_Festival_Fringe_2.jpg/1280px-Rose_Matafeo_at_the_2024_Edinburgh_Festival_Fringe_2.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Rose Matafeo, comedian, at the 2024 Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Edinburgh, Scotland.](https://film.one/media/person/10366/gallery-f3478bbfe528.jpg) Rose Matafeo, comedian, at the 2024 Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Edinburgh, Scotland. — Bryan Berlin, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fd/Rose_Matafeo_at_the_2024_Edinburgh_Festival_Fringe_3.jpg/1280px-Rose_Matafeo_at_the_2024_Edinburgh_Festival_Fringe_3.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)
- ![Rose Matafeo, comedian, at the 2024 Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Edinburgh, Scotland.](https://film.one/media/person/10366/gallery-92dd88ca1be2.jpg) Rose Matafeo, comedian, at the 2024 Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Edinburgh, Scotland. — Bryan Berlin, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (https://thumb.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1b/Rose_Matafeo_at_the_2024_Edinburgh_Festival_Fringe_4.jpg/1280px-Rose_Matafeo_at_the_2024_Edinburgh_Festival_Fringe_4.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail)

## Awards

### Other awards — 3 won

- Edinburgh Comedy Awards 2018: Edinburgh Comedy Awards (won)
- Fred Award 2017: Fred Award (won)
- Billy T Award 2013: Billy T Award (won)

*From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.*

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/rose-matafeo