Mara Wilson on her experience as a child star
Mara Wilson shot to fame at the age of 9 following her portrayal of Matilda in the 1996 movie.
The actress recently spoke to Yahoo! Movies, to promote the documentary Showbiz Kids, which she features in.
During the chat, she opened up about her experience as a child star.
The actress admitted, 'I had generally good experiences in Hollywood.'
'That changed a little bit as I got older but the worst things that happened came either through the media or by people who considered themselves fans but were making me uncomfortable.'
View this post on Instagram
Mara continued, 'The public perception messes people up.'
'Getting fan letters from creepy old men when you’re a child – that messes you up,' she added.
'What I really hope is when people see this film they don’t try to impose their own narrative on it and actually try to listen to us because there’s a lot that we have to say that just hasn’t been heard.'
View this post on Instagram
Earlier in the interview, Mara said there's an element of, 'people pleasing,' that comes with being a child star.
She added, 'I also just didn’t understand the magnitude of things. It felt easy come, easy go to me.'
'It was just something fun that I liked doing instead of an actual career – which is what it was.'
View this post on Instagram
Mara continued, 'It was a life-altering commitment that I made when I was five.'
'I don’t think my parents would’ve done it had they known I was going to be even remotely popular.'
'For them it was just a fun experience. They didn’t think I’d be in newspapers or magazines.'
Matilda
Mara admitted she loved working on Matilda, but it was also a very tough time in her life.
Her mother was suffering with cancer and as soon as filming wrapped, the early stages of her OCD kicked in.
She said she was having, 'terrible panic attacks and obsessively washing [her] hands.'
Mara shared, 'There were times where I felt like I couldn’t go outside because I didn’t know who was going to recognise me. I had imposter syndrome.'
'I felt like I always had to be perfect and live up to the character of Matilda.'
Mara finished, 'It was like being recognised for somebody else’s achievements and a tremendous amount of pressure.'
