If the Madonna universe suddenly made you yell, WAIT, IS THAT MAGGIE FROM YOUNGER?, yes. That is Debi Mazar.
And her connection to Madonna goes back way, way further than Younger.
Debi Mazar really is Maggie from Younger
Mazar played Maggie Amato, Liza’s artist best friend and roommate on Younger. But decades before that show, she and Madonna were already part of the same downtown New York world.
That history is exactly why Mazar shows up in Madonna’s current Confessions II era.
Madonna literally name-checks Debi Mazar in “Danceteria”
Madonna’s official “Danceteria” lyrics include Mazar by name almost immediately, as the song reconstructs the people and places surrounding Madonna’s early New York club years.
Entertainment Weekly explains that the “Danceteria” sequence in Confessions II – The Film is a direct nod to Madonna’s formative nightlife years and specifically points out that Madonna and Mazar met at the now-shuttered club.
PEOPLE also notes that Mazar dances with Madonna during the movie’s gloriously grimy nightclub-bathroom sequence.
This is basically Madonna rebuilding her old New York
That is the trick to understanding a lot of the names and faces in this era. Madonna is mixing current collaborators — including Sabrina Carpenter — with people and references from the scene that formed her decades ago.
So Debi Mazar is not a random celebrity cameo someone thought would be funny.
She is part of the story.
And frankly, realizing that Maggie from Younger has been standing inside Madonna lore this entire time makes me like her even more.
