Mara Wilson, known for her role in Matilda, has shared insights about her early career as a child actor.
Wilson, now 37, gained fame at the tender age of six with her role in Mrs. Doubtfire. She went on to star in Miracle on 34th Street and the beloved classic, Matilda.
The film Matilda follows the story of Matilda Wormwood, a gifted young girl whose talents go unrecognized by her neglectful parents.
While at school, Matilda faces the tyrannical headmistress, Miss Trunchbull, who terrorizes her students.
Using her special telekinetic abilities, Matilda seeks justice against her parents and Miss Trunchbull, eventually finding a loving home with Miss Honey.
Despite the film’s popularity among children of the nineties, Wilson has revealed the darker side of her early fame.
During this period, she also faced the tragic loss of her mother to breast cancer.
In an interview with The Guardian, Wilson said, “I felt completely lost, completely unmoored.
“There was who I was before that, and who I was after that. She was like this omnipresent thing in my life. I really believed that she would never die and as I’ve gotten older, she’s taken on even more of a mythical quality in my mind.
“To lose her felt like this incredible upheaval. I didn’t really know who I was.”
Wilson mentioned that her parents believed working in children’s films would provide a safe environment.
However, Wilson stated she was ‘still sexualised’, predominantly by fans.
“I had people sending me inappropriate letters and posting things about me online,” she revealed.
“I made the mistake of Googling myself when I was 12 and saw things that I couldn’t unsee.”
She discovered her images on adult websites and saw her face digitally altered onto other bodies.
Wilson also recalled being asked by journalists if she knew ‘what French kissing was’ when she was just seven.
After Matilda, Wilson acted in A Simple Wish and Thomas and the Magic Railroad in 2000.
She then decided to step back from acting and removed herself from the public eye.
Today, Wilson focuses on writing and provides voice-acting for audiobooks and podcasts.
She has no interest in returning to the limelight, stating she’s ‘not interested in changing herself’.
“I defined myself for so long by the media’s terms, by Hollywood’s terms,” Wilson shared.
“Instead of defining myself by my own goals, my own relationships, my own life.”