Danielle Fishel — who famously portrayed Topanga Lawrence in the beloved ’90s series “Boy Meets World” — faced significant body image struggles during the height of the show’s success.
In a new interview, Fishel opened up about navigating life as a child star and explained how her years of insecurities nearly ended her on-camera career.
“I was aware, even if nobody said it to me directly . . . that as far as the people in power were concerned, my body was a problem,” Fishel, 44, said in an interview with Us Weekly. “I remember around the time of [1998’s] prom episode being aware that they didn’t want me wearing something sleeveless.”
Toward the end of the series, Fishel felt she was “no longer attractive,” because she had put on weight.
“I just so did not want to be there; I was uncomfortable on set every day,” she said. “There was this feeling that I was no longer attractive, because I had gained weight. I just wanted to be anywhere other than on set. I was probably a curmudgeon.”
During the show’s last season, the executives addressed her weight gain in one episode titled, “She’s Having My Baby Back Ribs.” In the episode, Topanga pretends to be pregnant as she struggles with body insecurities.
Now, watching back, Fishel said those feelings of inadequacy almost ended her on-camera career moving forward.
“I feel some cognitive dissonance because I’m aware that what my eyes are seeing doesn’t match up with the way I feel watching,” she admitted. “It just doesn’t feel good. The season 7 episodes are tainted with the feeling of incredible insecurity and fear of being on camera, which was hard for me to shake and probably why I didn’t really want to go forward with a career on camera.”
“I wouldn’t say or do [anything] differently other than be more accepting and loving of myself,” she added.
Fishel became a household name on the hit series “Boy Meets World,” starring as Topanga Lawrence. She landed the role at age 12 and starred in the show for seven years.
The former child star, who recently competed on “Dancing with the Stars,” previously spoke about how her loved ones kept her grounded in Hollywood, despite her childhood fame.
“My family didn’t need me to have a job, but they allowed me to have a job, because I wanted it. And because of that, they then made sure I still came home from work and picked up the dog poop in the backyard,” the actress said.
“Every morning I still had to make my bed, and they never let me go to like, you know, teen nightclubs,” Fishel explained.
The star said her mom told her, “‘If you don’t want to do this anymore, you just say the word, and I will whip this car around so fast your head will spin.’”
Fishel explained that her mom’s advice would always come to mind when she started taking things for granted.
“My mom would remind me that this was, at one time, a dream for me. And if it no longer becomes a dream, then let it go.
“And then I would think to myself, ‘Is this still a dream? No, it’s still a dream.’ And you just keep going,” the actress said.
During her time on “DWTS,” Fishel said she was feeling “comfortable in my body, more like I kind of know what I’m doing, more familiar with just the space and what the days and nights are like.”
“My confidence has definitely grown each week,” despite how difficult the choreography can be.
