Holly Hills

Holly Hills
Name	Holly Elizabeth Hills Piper Elizabeth Matthews (online)
Gender	Female
Age	12-14
Occupation	Middle school student
Status	Alive
Actor	Peyton Roi List
First appearance	Diary of a Wimpy Kid (online)
Last appearance	Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Wrecking Ball

“	Isn’t your name “Fregley?”	”
	— Holly to Greg at the skating rink

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 Diary of a Wimpy Kid books and in the live action film adaptations. Holly Hills is the most popular girl in Greg's grade, but she is considered to be the fourth 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.

History

Holly's debut in Rodrick Rules

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).

Film adaptation

Holly first appeared in the beginning of the film at the back-to-school roller rink event. Greg sees her skating beautifully and immediately develops a crush on her at first sight. Similarly, Chirag Gupta also has an interest in her and is aware of how she would be way out of his and Greg's league. Chirag is the one to explain, in a creepy way by looking her up including real personal information, to Greg who she is and how her family just moved into the neighborhood on the north side of town, implying she is also rich. She initially is weirded out by Greg, Chirag, and Rowley because Chirag scares her off by revealing all he learned about her before she even introduces herself. Greg, however, does attempt to ask her to skate with him during couple's skate but gets thwarted by Rodrick when he plays hard rock music getting all the goth teenagers to storm into the rink. This embarrasses Greg in the process as their mother addresses Greg on the mic to be rescued by his father while everyone at the rink is watching, including Holly.

Greg attempts to sit next to her on the first day of class. However, he fights it over with Patty Farrell but then is forced to sit in the front of the class as the teacher, Mr. Draybick assumes Greg would be a troublemaker like Rodrick, being his brother and Mr. Draybick's former student. She is then seen coming to church, where Greg refused to go after Rodrick plants a chocolate bar on Greg's seat in the car (whom Greg thought it was Manny's fault), leaving a stain on the bottom of his pants to avoid being embarrassed in front of her. She then witnesses in shock as Greg tackles and fights with Rodrick for pulling the jacket hiding Greg's stain, humiliating him in front of everyone, who really thought the stain was poop.

At one point, Greg attempts to get her to notice him by writing a complimentary note about her hair smelling good. However, the note was intercepted by Patty, whom despises Greg, thought it was for her and tells on him. Mr. Draybick then reads the note aloud getting Greg laughed at and forcing his desk to be moved next to him during quiet study time. Later on in the year, Holly makes a well-done presentation for the A Hundred Years Ago report which earned praise from her classmates. Greg turns in Rodrick's old paper for the assignment as his own, and Mr. Draybick asks him to read it aloud to the class. Greg was laughed at, as he realized Rodrick accidentally gave him the wrong paper that was done by their dad because Rodrick was too lazy and pretended to be dumb to do it himself. Holly was also seen by Greg laughing a little with how silly it was. In the hallway, when Greg said hi to her, she responded mistaking him for Fregley, the weirdest kid in school, which really crushes Greg's self-esteem.

Greg meets Holly at the retirement home, where he is forced to spend time with his grandfather as punishment for the weekend with Rodrick. Holly is there visiting her grandmother who recently moved into the home. She says hello to Greg and apologizes for mistaking him for Fregley and the two become friends and bond over them having a mean older sibling and a younger sibling who never gets in trouble. She does, however, assure despite the hard time Rodrick is giving Greg now will pass and they will set things right as brothers. When Greg writes about the experience in his diary, Rodrick gets possession of it and attempts to give it to Holly to embarrass Greg. While Greg attempts to chase Rodrick to get it back, he was still in his underwear. Greg only realizes it when he sees Rodrick making his way to Holly in the lobby and picks up a plant to hide himself and swiftly steal the diary back before Holly sees him.

Holly shows up with her family to the Talent Show. When Susan encourages Greg to be Rowley's assistant for his magic act due to Scotty developing stage fright, Greg refused to avoid being embarrassed, to which Susan catches on that it is for a girl. Susan tries to pry asking Greg who is this girl, to which Greg, of course refused to tell. However, Susan sees Greg looking behind at Holly, to which Susan thought was indeed very cute. Greg, however, in order for his parents to lift Rodrick's punishment and allow him to perform in the talent show, makes a deal with his mom by agreeing to help Rowley with his act. Greg and Rowley turned the magic act into a comedy act and gets praised and applauded by the audience including Holly, whom comes backstage to congratulate Greg for a good show. Her last line was noticing how Greg and Rodrick made up.

While Holly has nothing to do with it, she was also used at some point during the film as Chirag impersonates her. Knowing of Greg's interest in her, Chirag writes a note in her handwriting to Greg to meet in the art room before lunch. Here, Chirag disguises himself as Holly and turns around, revealing himself to Greg. This startles Greg to acknowledge Chirag's existence and lose the game Greg started throughout the year, Invisible Chirag, humiliating Greg in front of witnesses in the process.

The Last Straw

Greg has a crush on Holly for the majority of the book and tries many things to get her attention.

At one point, she can be seen talking to Bryce Anderson with Greg hiding in the bushes attempting to embarrass Bryce through a Throw Your Voice Ventriloquism Kit.

At the roller rink during couples' skate, Greg tries to ask Holly to skate with him but she mistakes him for Fregley, causing him to lose interest in her. She writes in his yearbook that he seems okay, so Greg might get some interest back, but that is spoiled when she writes a message in Rowley’s yearbook.

Dog Days

Holly is briefly seen in church when Greg is talking about her older sister, Heather.

Film adaptation

By this point, Holly is already good friends with Greg and Rowley. She is first seen with Patty Farrell at the last day of school and quickly says hi to the guys as they are passing her, with Patty, whom still dislikes Greg appearing greatly annoyed. Greg declares to Rowley that he needs to make a connection with her before school is out, as a lot could change during the summer. Here, Greg fantasized that Holly would marry Chirag over the summer if he failed to keep in touch with her during vacation. In class, during free play, he asks Holly to sign his yearbook and write her phone number. However, the bell rings and Patty rushes Holly out the school, leaving 2 digits missing of her phone number. Greg stampedes out through the crowd to get her to attempt to finish signing his yearbook, however, Holly gets interrupted again as her sister, Heather, picks her up and quickly tells her to rush in. Greg realizes he got friend-zoned by Holly as she signed his yearbook to say he is a good friend while she signs Rowley to say, he is cute. With Greg unsuccessful on having her full phone number, he tries the hundred possible 2-digits missing to determine which is hers, but to no avail.

When Greg gets invited by Rowley as his guest to go to the Plainview Heights country club, he learns Holly is also a member and she teaches the younger kids tennis lessons. He tries to interest her by planning to play a game the next day, despite Rowley's objection as they never played before. Greg's desire turns into a nightmare as Patty is also a member and is Holly's double partner and continues to serve with attacking Greg. Holly, realizing the boys have never played, initially chuckles when Greg said he played tennis on the Nintendo Wii, then offered to give him pointers. Greg enjoyed every moment with her as she was holding him to get him in the right stance. The session gets interrupted by Heather, yet again, who forces Holly out as they need to leave to get invitations and supplies on the way for Heather's upcoming Sweet 16 party.

So that he can continue to spend time with Holly and get out of an unpaid internship his dad signed him up for, Greg lies to his father and claims he got a job at the country club. Eventually, he gets uninvited by Rowley and cannot get into the club without being a member's guest. Initially Rowley told him he just was not going to the club that day. Rodrick, who has an interest in Heather, reminds Greg he has to go to "work", or he will get in trouble by their dad. Greg continues to sneak himself in, in that process, he realized Rowley lied and actually was at the club and talking to Holly. Holly, feeling what could be awkward tension between the two, excuses herself. Rowley revealed to Greg that he lied to spare Greg's feelings as his parents ordered him not to invite Greg anymore and feels guilty and avoids Greg. Greg tries to get Holly's attention by going into the high dive but gets scared and falls into the pool and loses his swim trunks. The little girl he insults as just a little kid, spites him by tossing his drawers across the pool, leaving him to stay in the pool naked. Holly invites him to get ice cream but declines by saying he is trying to cut some pounds, to avoid being seen naked. He had to stay in the pool all day naked.

Greg sneaks in again and sees Rowley and Holly hanging out. Initially, he accused Rowley of having a lying problem for seeing him at the club without telling Greg. Rowley, however, reminds Greg they did not talk today, and he never said anything about being at the club. Rowley then questions how Greg has continued to get into the club without him. Holly present in the discussion scolds Greg for sneaking in. The discussion gets interrupted by Heather, yet again, continuing to vent to Holly about her Sweet 16 party, this time frustrated that the DJ she hired has cancelled. Greg interjects and encourages Heather to invite Löded Diper, knowing Rodrick's interest in Heather and how much it would mean to Rodrick of getting his band the gig. In return, Greg and Rowley get invited as the band's roadies.

Near the end of the summer, at Heather's Sweet 16, Holly continues to be condescended by Heather and accused of making Heather's party about herself since Greg and Rowley are her friends at this party, not employees. Greg feels embarrassed in front of Holly, who initially feels shocked at Rodrick's performance, but found it hilarious and awesome at Rodrick's chaos for the party, saying Heather wanted a party people will remember and this is one no one will ever forget. She holds Greg's hand, implying their new relationship to blossom. Her final appearance is at the film's close in which she and Rowley get invited as Greg's guest at the Municipal pool with the Heffleys enjoying the pool and the picnic together.

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 dumps the eggs in the trash can.

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.

The Third Wheel

Holly shows up on Greg's Relationship Chart, where she is shown to be attracted to Bryce Anderson.

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 crossed out on Greg's M.A.S.H. which could potentially be her.

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

In the books, Holly receives minimal focus and is granted only one line. It is implied that, despite Greg's obsession with her, she barely knows him. Because of this, she doesn't show any notable personality traits. However, 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 adaptations, 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. This makes her athletic and she doesn't mind getting her pictures taken. With a girl-next-door attitude, she exudes a sweet and caring nature, emanating a heart of gold. She is down-to-earth as well.

Furthermore, these adaptations 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 story-line, 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 colored 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-colored hair that sits nicely on her shoulders and a skirt that covers her knees. Holly is fully colored in Poptropica, she has light skin, blonde hair, her earring is pink and seen in summer themed red attire. 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.
• Rodrick has a romantic interest in her sister, Heather, the same way Greg has an interest in her.
• 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 protagonists 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 close 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 lives on Pleasant Street.
• 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 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 described in The Last Straw (book series) and shown in Rodrick Rules (film series). In the books, this causes Greg to lose interest in her; in the movies, he felt upset but doesn't lose interest in her, and Holly even apologizes to Greg about the incident.
• After her biggest 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 lived in the city for a long time. In The Last Straw, Susan Heffley mentions that Holly was also in the preschool in town.
• The relationship between her and Greg is based on the relationship between Sandy Olson and Danny Zuko from the musical movie 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: Rodrick Rules (2022 film) (in the alternate poster next to Patty Farrell)
• 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

See Holly Hills/Gallery