Carmen Matarazzo is an American musician, drummer and stage actor best known as the younger brother of Stranger Things star Gaten Matarazzo. However, describing Carmen only as Gaten’s brother is becoming increasingly outdated. He has spent years performing as the drummer of the family-connected rock band Work in Progress and has developed a growing musical-theater career in New Jersey.
Born on November 10, 2003, Carmen is 22 years old as of August 2026. He grew up in the Little Egg Harbor area of New Jersey with his siblings Gaten and Sabrina Matarazzo and graduated from Pinelands Regional High School.
His stage résumé has expanded significantly in recent years. Carmen played Tobias Ragg in Sweeney Todd in 2023, Moritz in Spring Awakening at Algonquin Arts Theatre in 2024 and Mark Cohen in RENT in 2025. Most recently, in August 2026, he played Berger in Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical at Algonquin Arts Theatre.
This biography explores Carmen Matarazzo’s age, family, education, music, acting career, relationship with Gaten Matarazzo, girlfriend rumors, current work and net worth, while separating well-supported facts from claims repeated by celebrity websites without reliable evidence.
Who Is Carmen Matarazzo?
Carmen Matarazzo is a drummer and musical-theater actor from New Jersey who is also the younger brother of actor Gaten Matarazzo.
He first became known to a wider audience through his family connection to Gaten, who plays Dustin Henderson in Netflix’s Stranger Things. Yet Carmen has a genuine performing career of his own. He helped form Work in Progress, a rock band featuring Gaten and their sister Sabrina, and later moved more deeply into acting and musical theater.
By 2026, his stage credits had grown beyond high-school and local productions to leading or important roles in Sweeney Todd, Spring Awakening, RENT and Hair. His most recent documented role, Berger in Hair, shows that theater has become an important part of his professional identity rather than simply a childhood activity.
Carmen Matarazzo Bio/Wiki:
| Fact | Details |
|---|---|
| Full name | Carmen Matarazzo |
| Date of birth | November 10, 2003 |
| Age | 22 as of August 2026 |
| Nationality | American |
| Birth country | United States |
| Hometown/upbringing | Little Egg Harbor area, New Jersey |
| Parents | Heather Matarazzo and Gaetano John Matarazzo Jr. |
| Brother | Gaten Matarazzo |
| Sister | Sabrina Matarazzo |
| Education | Pinelands Regional High School graduate |
| Profession | Actor, musician and drummer |
| Band | Work in Progress |
| Instrument | Drums |
| Notable stage roles | Tobias in Sweeney Todd, Moritz in Spring Awakening, Mark in RENT, Berger in Hair |
| Girlfriend | Current relationship not publicly verified |
| Height | Not reliably verified |
| Weight | Not reliably verified |
| Net worth | No verified public figure |
The strongest current evidence supports Carmen’s identity as an actor/drummer, his Pinelands education and his growing New Jersey theater career.
Carmen Matarazzo Early Life
Carmen grew up in Little Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey, in a family where music and performance were normal parts of everyday life. Gaten has described the family home as musically active, with Sabrina influencing the music her younger brothers listened to and their father introducing them to artists and rock records.
Carmen is the youngest of three siblings. His older sister Sabrina developed an interest in singing and acting, while Gaten began performing professionally at a young age and later became internationally famous through Stranger Things.
Carmen’s route into performance developed somewhat differently. Music, particularly drumming, became one of his strongest early interests. That interest eventually helped create Work in Progress, making Carmen an important part of the band’s origin story rather than someone who simply joined after Gaten became famous.
Carmen Matarazzo Education
Carmen attended Pinelands Regional High School in New Jersey and is confirmed by Discover Jersey Arts as a graduate of the school.
The school was also important to his artistic development. Carmen performed in school and regional theater productions and worked with other musicians who eventually became part of Work in Progress.
His documented stage credits from this period include Robertson Ay in Mary Poppins, Professor Plum in Clue: On Stage, Ernst in Spring Awakening, Lucas in The Addams Family, and Captain von Trapp in The Sound of Music.
There is no strong public source confirming a specific college, university degree or current higher-education program. Therefore, websites making precise claims about his university education should be treated cautiously unless supported by a school or by Carmen himself.
Carmen Matarazzo Age, Birthday, Height, Weight and Appearance
Carmen Matarazzo was born on November 10, 2003, making him 22 years old in August 2026. He will turn 23 on November 10, 2026. Famous Birthdays and several other biographical databases consistently give the same birth date.
His exact height and weight are much less certain. Different celebrity websites publish conflicting figures. Some list him around 5 feet 8 inches, while other pages have given substantially different measurements. There is no authoritative theater biography, personal interview or professional profile confirming a precise height or weight.
Carmen Matarazzo Age and Appearance Table
| Feature | Information |
|---|---|
| Age | 22 |
| Birthday | November 10, 2003 |
| Height | Not reliably verified |
| Weight | Not reliably verified |
| Hair | Dark/curly in recent public photos |
| Build | Slim |
| Public image | Musician and stage performer |
For an accurate biography, the conflicting physical measurements found on entertainment blogs should not be treated as established facts.
Carmen Matarazzo Nationality and Ethnicity
Carmen Matarazzo is American. He was born in the United States and grew up in New Jersey.
His ethnicity is less clearly documented in first-person sources. The wider Matarazzo family has Italian roots, and Gaten’s public biography also references Italian and several other European ancestral backgrounds. However, Carmen has not published a detailed statement describing his own ethnic identity.
For that reason, the most accurate wording is that Carmen is American with family roots that include Italian ancestry, rather than assigning him a detailed ethnic label based solely on information published about his brother.
Claims about his religion are similarly poorly sourced and should not automatically be copied from general celebrity-biography websites.
Carmen Matarazzo Family
Carmen is one of three children born to Heather Matarazzo and Gaetano John Matarazzo Jr. IMDb’s biography for Gaetano states that he and Heather have three children: Sabrina, Gaten and Carmen.
Carmen Matarazzo Family Table
| Family Member | Relationship | Known For |
|---|---|---|
| Gaetano John Matarazzo Jr. | Father | Father of Sabrina, Gaten and Carmen |
| Heather Matarazzo | Mother | Mother of the Matarazzo siblings |
| Sabrina Matarazzo | Older sister | Singer/performer; Work in Progress vocalist |
| Gaten Matarazzo | Older brother | Actor, Broadway performer, Stranger Things star |
| Carmen Matarazzo | Youngest sibling | Drummer and stage actor |
One common online confusion involves actress Heather Matarazzo, known from The Princess Diaries. She is not Gaten or Carmen’s mother; she simply shares the same name. The actress publicly clarified that she and Gaten are not related.
Carmen Matarazzo and Gaten Matarazzo
Carmen’s older brother Gaten Matarazzo is best known internationally for playing Dustin Henderson in Stranger Things, but their relationship also extends into music and theater.
The brothers performed together in Work in Progress, with Carmen on drums and Gaten sharing lead vocals with Sabrina. The Los Angeles Philharmonic’s official biography for Gaten specifically identifies Carmen as part of the band.
An especially interesting connection came in 2023. Carmen was cast as Tobias Ragg in Sweeney Todd at the Levoy Theatre in New Jersey. Around the same time, Gaten was preparing to play the same character on Broadway in the Josh Groban-led revival. Discover Jersey Arts interviewed Carmen about the unusual situation and how the brothers exchanged ideas about approaching Tobias.
That moment showed that Carmen was developing a serious theatrical path parallel to his brother’s work.
Carmen Matarazzo Girlfriend and Relationship Status
Several older celebrity websites say Carmen dated a woman named Summer, with some claiming the two met during theater rehearsals around 2018 or 2019. However, even those sources conflict about exactly when the relationship began and whether they were officially a couple.
More importantly, there is no strong recent 2026 source confirming that Carmen and Summer are still together. Therefore, a current biography should not simply state “Summer is Carmen Matarazzo’s girlfriend” as if that relationship has been recently verified. The safest current description is:
Carmen was publicly linked with Summer in older online coverage, but his present relationship status is not reliably confirmed.
There is also no credible evidence that Carmen is married or has children.
Carmen Matarazzo Social Media Presence
Carmen has appeared regularly in social-media material connected with his family and Work in Progress, but current online biographies disagree about whether various personal accounts are still active or officially his.
Because of that uncertainty, unverified Instagram, TikTok or Facebook accounts should not automatically be treated as official. His most dependable public presence currently comes from theater programs, arts organizations, music platforms and coverage involving his siblings.
What Is Carmen Matarazzo Doing Now?
As of August 2026, Carmen’s most recent verified work is stage acting. He completed a run as Berger in Hair at Algonquin Arts Theatre on August 16, 2026, just days before this article’s current reference date.
His recent progression is notable:
Moritz in Spring Awakening → Mark in RENT → Berger in Hair.
That pattern suggests Carmen is actively building experience in musical theater, particularly productions with strong rock or contemporary musical elements. No authoritative source currently shows that he has abandoned drumming or Work in Progress permanently, but his strongest recent public credits are theatrical.
Carmen Matarazzo Career
Carmen’s career has two main parts: music and theater. Earlier biographies often describe him simply as a drummer or “Gaten Matarazzo’s brother,” but that now misses a large part of his recent development. His stage credits between 2023 and 2026 show increasingly substantial roles in well-known musicals.
His career progression also appears natural rather than manufactured around his brother’s fame. He began playing drums with friends, performed in school and community theater, and continued appearing in regional productions after graduating.
Carmen Matarazzo and Work in Progress
Carmen was an important early member of Work in Progress, a New Jersey rock band that also included Gaten and Sabrina Matarazzo. According to Gaten’s account of how the band started, Carmen had already been drumming and wanted musicians to play with. He began jamming with friend Matt Grayson; other musicians joined, and eventually Gaten and Sabrina were added as vocalists.
Spotify’s artist biography describes the group as originating in Little Egg Harbor, New Jersey, with Carmen on drums. It also notes performances at venues including The Troubadour in Los Angeles, The Stone Pony in Asbury Park and Gas Monkey in Dallas. That background is important because it shows that Carmen helped create the musical project rather than merely participating because of Gaten’s celebrity.
Work in Progress Songs
Work in Progress released its first two original songs, “Dream Eater” and “Waste My Time,” on July 5, 2019. NME covered the releases and described the project as a family-linked band featuring Carmen, Gaten and Sabrina. Carmen also has a songwriting credit on “Dream Eater.” Shazam’s recording credits list Carmen alongside Gaten, Sabrina and other members of Work in Progress.
The band began largely with covers, drawing influence from rock, alternative, emo and pop-punk. An Audacy interview described artists such as Green Day, My Chemical Romance and Fall Out Boy as part of the group’s musical world. Although Work in Progress brought Carmen wider attention, his later career has increasingly focused on acting.
Carmen Matarazzo Theater Career
Carmen’s theater résumé is now one of the strongest parts of his biography. Before his major recent roles, he appeared in Mary Poppins, Clue: On Stage, Spring Awakening, The Addams Family and The Sound of Music.
Discover Jersey Arts described him in 2023 as an actor/drummer, a useful description because it captures both sides of his professional interests.
Carmen Matarazzo Theater Credits
| Production | Role | Year / Context |
|---|---|---|
| Mary Poppins | Robertson Ay | Early regional/high-school credit |
| Clue: On Stage | Professor Plum | Early theater credit |
| Spring Awakening | Ernst | Early production |
| The Addams Family | Lucas | Early production |
| The Sound of Music | Captain von Trapp | Early production |
| Sweeney Todd | Tobias Ragg | Levoy Theatre, 2023 |
| Spring Awakening | Moritz | Algonquin Arts Theatre, 2024 |
| RENT | Mark Cohen | Algonquin Arts Theatre, 2025 |
| Hair | Berger | Algonquin Arts Theatre, 2026 |
These later roles show a clear move from school/community appearances toward increasingly demanding musical-theater characters.
Carmen Matarazzo in Sweeney Todd
In February 2023, Carmen played Tobias Ragg in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street at the Levoy Theatre in Millville, New Jersey. The production ran from February 10 through February 19. The role attracted additional attention because Gaten was preparing to play Tobias in the Broadway revival shortly afterward.
The Jersey Arts interview surrounding the production is one of the strongest direct sources on Carmen’s career because it discusses him as a performer rather than only as Gaten’s sibling. It also demonstrated Carmen’s interest in Stephen Sondheim’s work and represented a noticeable step forward from his earlier school productions.
Carmen Matarazzo in Spring Awakening
Carmen continued expanding his theater career with Spring Awakening. Algonquin Arts Theatre officially cast him as Moritz in its August 2024 production. The theater’s biography noted that he had already played Moritz earlier that year and that the Algonquin production marked his debut with the organization.
Moritz is a much more demanding dramatic role than many of Carmen’s earlier credits and offered him the opportunity to combine acting, singing and the rock-influenced musical style already familiar from his work as a drummer. This performance also began a relationship with Algonquin Arts Theatre that continued with increasingly prominent roles.
Carmen Matarazzo in RENT
In August 2025, Carmen returned to Algonquin Arts Theatre as Mark Cohen in RENT. Mark is one of the central characters in Jonathan Larson’s musical, making the role another important step in Carmen’s stage development. New Jersey Stage and Broadway World both documented Carmen in the cast.
By this point, it was increasingly inaccurate to describe Carmen simply as a musician who occasionally acted. His sequence of Sweeney Todd, Spring Awakening and RENT showed a continuing commitment to musical theater.
Carmen Matarazzo in Hair
Carmen’s most recent major publicly documented role as of August 2026 is Berger in Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical. Algonquin Arts Theatre staged Hair from August 8 through August 16, 2026, with Carmen among the leading cast as Berger. Recent production photography and coverage confirm his role.
Berger is a central figure in the musical’s counterculture “tribe,” giving Carmen another substantial role that requires both musical energy and strong stage presence. This very recent credit is also important for SEO accuracy: older Carmen Matarazzo biographies often end with his teenage music activity and completely miss the fact that he is still actively performing in theater in 2026.
Is Carmen Matarazzo in Stranger Thing?
No. Carmen Matarazzo is not known for acting in Stranger Things. His brother Gaten Matarazzo plays Dustin Henderson in the Netflix series. Carmen’s own documented acting career has primarily been on stage in New Jersey rather than in the television series.
The confusion usually comes from searches for “Carmen Matarazzo Stranger Things,” because his surname is so strongly connected with Gaten. Carmen’s independent credits should therefore be described through musical theater and Work in Progress, not by implying that he acted alongside Gaten in the Netflix show.
Carmen Matarazzo Net Worth
Carmen Matarazzo’s exact net worth is not publicly verified. Some celebrity sites claim that he is worth approximately $1 million, usually attributing the figure to music, live performances and commercials.
However, these pages provide no reliable financial documentation, business valuation, salary information or asset records supporting that number.
The best answer is therefore that Carmen’s net worth is unknown. His brother Gaten’s earnings from Stranger Things should not be used to estimate Carmen’s personal finances.
Lesser-Known Facts About Carmen Matarazzo
- Carmen is the youngest of the three Matarazzo siblings, and he helped inspire the earliest version of Work in Progress because he wanted other musicians to jam with while he was developing as a drummer.
- He is also a credited songwriter on “Dream Eater,” not merely the drummer performing on the track.
- His theater connection with Gaten produced an unusual coincidence in 2023: both brothers played Tobias Ragg in Sweeney Todd in different productions within weeks of one another.
- Carmen’s stage career has continued after that moment rather than disappearing. By 2026, he had progressed to major roles including Mark Cohen in RENT and Berger in Hair.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Carmen Matarazzo?
Carmen Matarazzo is an American drummer and stage actor. He is also the younger brother of Stranger Things actor Gaten Matarazzo and a member of the rock band Work in Progress.
How old is Carmen Matarazzo?
Carmen was born on November 10, 2003, making him 22 years old as of August 2026.
Is Carmen Matarazzo Gaten Matarazzo’s brother?
Yes. Carmen is Gaten Matarazzo’s younger brother. Their older sister is Sabrina Matarazzo.
Who are Carmen Matarazzo’s parents?
His parents are Heather Matarazzo and Gaetano John Matarazzo Jr. They have three children: Sabrina, Gaten and Carmen.
Is actress Heather Matarazzo Carmen’s mother?
No. The Princess Diaries actress Heather Matarazzo is not related to Gaten and Carmen Matarazzo. Their mother simply has the same name.
Where did Carmen Matarazzo go to school?
Carmen graduated from Pinelands Regional High School in New Jersey.
What does Carmen Matarazzo do for a living?
Carmen works in the performing arts as an actor and drummer. His recent career has focused particularly on musical theater.
Is Carmen Matarazzo a drummer?
Yes. Carmen is the drummer for Work in Progress, the rock band that also features his siblings Gaten and Sabrina.
Did Carmen Matarazzo write music?
Yes. Carmen is credited as one of the songwriters on Work in Progress’s song “Dream Eater.”
Is Carmen Matarazzo an actor?
Yes. His stage roles include Tobias in Sweeney Todd, Moritz in Spring Awakening, Mark Cohen in RENT and Berger in Hair.
Was Carmen Matarazzo in Sweeney Todd?
Yes. He played Tobias Ragg at the Levoy Theatre in February 2023. His brother Gaten played the same role in the Broadway revival shortly afterward.
Is Carmen Matarazzo in Stranger Things?
No. Gaten Matarazzo, not Carmen, plays Dustin Henderson in Stranger Things.
Who is Carmen Matarazzo’s girlfriend?
Older articles linked Carmen with a woman named Summer, but there is no strong current source confirming that they remain together in 2026. His present relationship status is therefore best described as not publicly verified.
Is Carmen Matarazzo married?
There is no reliable public evidence that Carmen is married.
How tall is Carmen Matarazzo?
His exact height is not reliably verified. Secondary websites publish conflicting figures, so presenting one measurement as fact would be misleading.
What is Carmen Matarazzo’s net worth?
Carmen’s net worth has not been publicly verified. Online estimates of around $1 million appear speculative because no reliable financial documentation supports them.
What is Carmen Matarazzo doing in 2026?
His latest documented role is Berger in Hair at Algonquin Arts Theatre, which ran from August 8 to August 16, 2026.
Conclusion
Carmen Matarazzo may first attract attention because he is Gaten Matarazzo’s younger brother, but his recent career gives him increasingly strong reasons to be discussed separately.
Born on November 10, 2003, Carmen grew up in New Jersey with Gaten and Sabrina in a family strongly connected with music and performance. His interest in drumming helped start Work in Progress, where he performed alongside his siblings and earned songwriting credit on the band’s original music.
His career then expanded substantially into theater. Early roles in productions such as Mary Poppins, Clue, The Addams Family and Spring Awakening were followed by Tobias in Sweeney Todd in 2023, Moritz in Spring Awakening in 2024 and Mark Cohen in RENT in 2025. Most recently, Carmen played Berger in Hair in August 2026.
That recent theater work is the most important update missing from many older biographies. Carmen is no longer accurately described simply as a teenage drummer who happens to have a famous brother. He is developing his own identity as a musician and musical-theater performer.
At the same time, details such as his exact height, current girlfriend and net worth remain poorly documented. Rather than copying unsupported figures, the strongest biography is one that distinguishes those unknowns from his genuinely verifiable accomplishments.
As of 2026, the clearest answer to “Who is Carmen Matarazzo?” is: he is Gaten Matarazzo’s younger brother, but also a New Jersey actor and drummer with a growing theater career of his own.
