Natalie Morales is a highly talented actor, director, writer, and activist. Her directorial debut LANGUAGE LESSONS premiered this year at the Berlinale followed by SXSW, where it won the Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature and can be seen here at PIFF. Natalie also directed the recent Hulu film PLAN B, which was released in May.
Natalie recently starred alongside Christina Applegate and Linda Cardellini in the Netflix series Dead to Me. She lent her voice to the Oscar-winning Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and starred in the Twentieth Century Fox action blockbuster Stuber, alongside Dave Bautista and Kumail Nanjiani. She can be seen in Battle of the Sexes playing tennis pro, Rosie Casals, opposite Emma Stone and Steve Carell, and in the Warner Brothers feature The Little Things, alongside Academy Award-winners Denzel Washington, Rami Malek, and Jared Leto.
She starred in NBC’s Abby’s as the titular character, and she recurred on HBO’s The Newsroom and Girls, NBC’s Parks & Recreation, and Netflix’s Santa Clarita Diet, where she was reunited with her Going the Distance co-star, Drew Barrymore. She also voiced “Yolanda Buenaventura” on Netflix’s popular animated series BoJack Horseman. She also created, directed, and stars in the Funny or Die series James Joyce’s Love Letters along with Michaela Watkins, Martin Starr, and Paget Brewster. Natalie recently directed two episodes of HBO’s anthology series Room 104 from the Duplass Brothers.
Natalie is a proud member of Everytown for Gun Safety’s Creative Council. We are delighted to honor Natalie Morales with the Next Wave Award as we are in awe of her versatility and her recent foray into directing feature films. This special honor is presented to a film artist who has an exciting and distinctive voice, takes artistic risks, and has a passionate commitment to independent film and certainly describes Natalie Morales.