| “ | "Hi Fregley" | ” |
| — Holly to Greg in the hallway | ||
Holly Elizabeth Hills (known as Piper Elizabeth Matthews in the online book) is the younger sister of Heather Hills who serves as a major love interest for Greg Heffley in the early books and the Diary of a Wimpy Kid film adaptations. Holly is the most popular girl in Greg's grade, but she is considered to be the 4th prettiest girl in their grade, however, the top three prettiest girls are mentioned to all have boyfriends. It is implied that Holly and Greg became a couple in the film adaptation of Dog Days. She lives on Pleasant Street.
History
Rodrick Rules
Greg writes a short skit for the talent show, naming it, The Boy Whose Family Thinks He's a Dog. Greg admits that one of the reasons he wrote it was so that he could get closer to Holly (who he was planning for her to play the mom).[1]
The Last Straw
Greg has a crush on Holly for the majority of the book and tries many things to get her attention. At the roller rink during couples' skate, Greg tries to ask Holly to skate with him but she asks if his name is Fregley and he loses interest in her. She writes in his book that he seems okay, so Greg might get some interest back, but that is spoiled when she writes a message in Rowley's book.
Dog Days
Holly is briefly seen in church when Greg is talking about her older sister, Heather.[2]
The Ugly Truth
Holly appears when Nurse Powell hands out eggs for an assignment in her class The Facts of Life. Later, Holly can be seen among the girls who decorated their eggs. She also cries when Nurse Powell bins the eggs.[3]
Cabin Fever
Holly is shown sitting between Greg and Dean Delarosa when the teacher reads the message on Greg's Secret Santa gift out loud.[4]
The Third Wheel
Holly shows up on Greg's Relationship Chart, where she is shown to be attracted to Bryce Anderson.[5]
Wrecking Ball
Greg's M.A.S.H with holly's name on it.
Holly has a name appearance, but she doesn't appear physically, her forename is on Greg’s M.A.S.H. which could potentially be her.[6]
Piper Matthews.
Online
In the online version, she is known as Piper Matthews and serves as Greg's love interest for a majority of the book.
Piper attends a school named St. Peters. At the end of the book, Greg goes to a roller-rink at Crossland and the seventh-graders of St. Peter's all get to go. In the hope of finding her there, Greg goes to the roller-rink and takes Rowley. However, he sees Piper skating with Ben Fielders and holding hands with him.
Personality
While Holly receives minimal focus in the books and is granted only one line, her character undergoes more extensive development in the movies. There, she emerges as a multidimensional personality, unveiling various aspects of her life.
In the film adaptation, Holly's character is enriched as she is portrayed as a member of a girls' soccer team, a professional model, and a former class president during her sixth-grade year, as disclosed by Chirag Gupta. With a girl-next-door attitude, she exudes a sweet and caring nature, emanating a heart of gold.
Furthermore, the movies reveal that Holly has an older sister with a somewhat unpleasant disposition and a younger sister who is somewhat spoiled, drawing parallels to Greg's experiences with his own brothers. This shared experience becomes a point of connection and bonding between Holly and Greg.
In the climactic scene of the third film, an intriguing development unfolds as Holly holds Greg's hand after the resolution of an incident involving Heather. This gesture hints at a potential mutual attraction between the two characters, suggesting that Holly might harbor feelings for Greg as well.
Through the additional depth given to Holly's character in the movies, the audience gains a deeper appreciation for her personality and her role in the storyline, adding a layer of complexity to the overall narrative. It was revealed that she was the only four-year-old in preschool who wasn't potty-trained, as told by Susan, as shown in The Last Straw when Greg and Rowley were going to the Roll-A-Round roller rink in Susan's car. She also hasn’t appeared since Hard Luck and didn't appear in the Long-Haul film adaptation.
Appearance
Holly's appearance is thought by boys at Larry Mack Junior Middle School (Westmore Middle School in the movies) to be very attractive, according to how Greg describes her. She is coloured black and white, like everybody else in the book. Her notable features include a round, largely sized diamond earring, an ear with an arrow depicted as the insides, she has light-coloured hair that sits nicely on her shoulders and a skirt that covers her knees. In the movie, she has long, wavy golden-blonde hair, creamy pale skin, hazel-green eyes and is slightly taller than Greg (in the second movie but around the same height or even slightly shorter than Greg in the rest of the books and movies). This is normal because girls hit their growth spurt earlier than boys.
Trivia
- Based on estimates made from illustrations of her, Holly Hills is most likely between 4' 10" (147.32 cm) and 5' 0" (152.4 cm) tall. However, this is only conjecture, as her height has never been definitively stated within the series.
- In the third film, Greg and Holly appear to become a couple, but in the book, they aren't. In fact, Greg fails to impress Holly because her friends took her back to the rink, much to Greg’s annoyance, and she does not have that big of a role anymore, due to Greg stating in the book that he is officially done with girls.
- It is possible that she also dislikes Heather as she does in the movies. as does Greg to Rodrick due to Rodrick's usual pranks.
- She is probably the most fan-favorited out of all of Greg's crushes.
- She is shown to be attracted to Bryce Anderson.
- In Diary of a Wimpy Kid Online, she is known as Piper Matthews and doesn't go to Greg’s school. She attends St. Peters.
- Despite generally only making cameos (or being mentioned) in the books and only being a major character in The Last Straw, in the movies (like Patty) her role was given far more appearances and screen time to the point of being one of the main characters in Rodrick Rules (even though she is not even shown in this book, just mentioned) and Dog Days (where she is only mentioned once while Greg sees Heather Hills.)
- She and Greg are friends in the movies, while, in the books, they are distant acquaintances.
- In the Rodrick Rules movie, she mentions that she has a younger sister.
- She appears in Rodrick Rules as the mom in "The Boy Whose Family Thinks He's a Dog." This is Greg's first attempt to get a chance to talk to her.
- In Last Straw, Susan Susan Heffley states that she was the only one in her kindergarten to still wear diapers at the age of 4.
- When she confuses Greg for Fregley, the books and movies go different ways: it is The Last Straw for the books and Rodrick Rules for the movies, and in the books, Greg loses interest in her; in the movies, he is upset but doesn't lose interest in her, and Holly even apologizes to Greg about the incident.
- After her most important appearance in The Last Straw, many of Greg's classmates look very much similar to Holly only with some minor detail. This may be because Jeffrey Chang once said that to Greg, all girls look the same.
- She possibly makes a cameo in Hard Luck, as when Greg is imagining his future, he can be seen with a woman who looks a lot like Holly It is unknown whether or not it was her because, in The Last Straw, Greg says he lost interest in her after she thought he was Fregley.
- In The Third Wheel, she can be seen on Greg's relationship chart showing she likes Bryce Anderson.
- Jeff Kinney said that he intentionally gave Holly Hills a name that was an alliteration to show how she was a popular student.
- Despite playing a major role in The Last Straw, she only has one spoken line: "Isn't your name Fregley?"
- In the films, she is new in the area, living in the cul-de-sac of 432 North Embury Lane due to her father getting a promotion, but in the books she lives along in the city. In The Last Straw, Susan Heffley mentions that Holly was also in the preschool in the town.
- The relationship between Her and Greg is based on the relationship between Sandy Olson and Danny Zuko from Grease (1978).
Appearances
- Diary of a Wimpy Kid (online) (as Piper Elizabeth Matthews)
- Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules
- Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules (film)
- Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw
- Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days
- Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Ugly Truth (cameo)
- Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Cabin Fever (cameo)
- Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Third Wheel (cameo)
- Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Wrecking Ball (possible name appearance)
- Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days (2012 film)
- The Wimpy Kid Movie Diary
- Wimpy Boardwalk
Gallery
References
- ↑ Rodrick Rules, pages 174-176
- ↑ Dog Days, page 144
- ↑ The Ugly Truth, pages 108-110
- ↑ Cabin Fever, page 120
- ↑ The Third Wheel, page 116
- ↑ Wrecking Ball, page 161