Child actor Mara Wilson: Film acting is 'not very fun', auditions were 'brutal and dehumanizing'

Wilson

She stole our hearts in Mrs. Doubtfire and Matilda, but the pint-sized, adorable little girl is all grown up now, and wants nothing to do with film anymore: 'Only about half of the people asking me, Are you still acting? seem to take what I want into consideration.'

Wilson and Robin Williams, 1993

Now that Mara Wilson, 25, is an adult and has a voice, she's started an interesting blog (launched in December). A recent post in which she describes how she feels about her career as a child actor is getting some attention. Mara is a graduate of NYU and a playwright.


Said Mara on celebrity: "The celebrity aspect is nothing short of ridiculous, and auditioning is brutal and dehumanizing. Every time I see a pretty young girl on the subway reading sides for an audition, my only thought is, 'Man, am I glad I’m not doing that anymore.' I never feel nostalgia, just relief."


On demanding, creepy fans who can be very selfish: "I didn’t write Matilda or direct the movie, I just played the part. Still, what I did was important to them. I can understand why they want me to continue acting. But interestingly enough, only about half of the people asking me “Are you still acting?” seem to take what I want into consideration." (Reminds us of Kate's fans, who demand to know when the next special will be made without any regard for how the children feel about filming again.)


In an interview with her college newspaper in 2009, Mara had this to say about an encounter with fans: "I came to NYU for academic purposes and it was strange to me when I lived in Weinstein and I would find people knocking on my door late at night, like Thursday night at 12 am. I would open the door in my pajamas and there’d be a crowd of freshman girls, saying ‘Are you Mara?’ ‘Uhhh, yeah’. And they’d say “Well, we just really wanted to meet you.” And then they’d look really disappointed, because they probably expected at least for me to be wearing more than my pajamas. I felt bad, like I was letting them down because I wasn’t being glamorous, because I wasn’t the exciting person they thought I would be. And then they would often ask me to party with them. And I never did, I mean, I am really not a partier, and second of all, would you party with people you didn’t know who showed up at your door late at night on a school night? Would they have done that? No. There were safety issues."

On tedious days on the set (Mara began acting at age five): "Here is something no real celebrity will ever tell you: film acting is not very fun. Doing the same thing over and over again until, in the director’s eyes, you “get it right,” does not allow for very much creative freedom. The best times I had on film sets were the times the director let me express myself,* but those were rare."

And though she has never spoken of it publicly, Mara's mother was diagnosed with stage four breast cancer during the middle of filming Matilda. Mara, who was just eight years old, had to go on with the job and finish. Her mother died shortly after.


On Dancing With the Stars: "And no, you will not ever see me on Dancing With The Stars. Sorry.

Here's wishing Mara lots of success in her career, and we extend our gratitude for her part in a modern classic: 

A Run-By Fruiting

Mrs. Doubtfire at MOVIECLIPS.com