What The Little Girl From Mrs. Doubtfire Looks Like Now

In a 2013 blog post, Mara Wilson opened up about why she decided to quit acting after such a successful run on the big screen. "Film acting is not very fun," she wrote. "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." She went on to describe how "dehumanizing" auditions can be, as well as how inherently "ridiculous" it is to even be a celebrity in the first place. 

A few years later, Wilson expanded on her lost love for the big screen in a 2016 interview with NPR. She explained how the death of her mother, which happened when Wilson was 8 years old, combined with what she viewed as her career-peak performance in "Matilda," led to her becoming "kind of disenchanted with acting, with Hollywood." 

Wilson kept acting for a few years, however, because it was "a crutch" that helped her deal with the depression and anxiety she experienced after her mother's death — but even the sense of stability she felt from her career soon faded.

Although she quit acting, Mara Wilson went on to study at New York University and didn't dismiss her creative juices. Over the years, she's developed a rather fine resume as a writer. She wrote a book all about her life called "Where Am I Now?: True Stories of Girlhood and Accidental Fame." She also wrote a play and penned several articles that landed in high-profile places such as McSweeney's, the Daily Beast, and Elle.

One particular piece called "7 Reasons Child Stars Go Crazy (An Insider's Perspective)," written for Cracked, made national headlines due to Wilson's humorous, yet completely on-point rundown of why actors such as Lindsay Lohan and Amanda Bynes struggled to find their footing as adults. "If I were to talk to Lindsay Lohan, I'd encourage her to get the hell out of acting and into something soothing," she wrote. "Take up botany or something." Wilson continued, "But she wouldn't be likely to listen to me — and not only because I'm younger and way less hot than her. It's because she's been acting all her life, she has little education, and in her mind, there's nothing else she could do."

If you're unfamiliar with internet challenges, welcome to the world wide web! It's weird here. Anyway, challenges are an entire genre of internet video in which people participate in anything from dance crazes, to dangerous Kylie Jenner lip-based activities, to dumping ice water on their heads for charity. They can be literally anything, which is why, more than two decades after the film was released, "Matilda" became the inspiration for one such challenge in 2018. (No, we do not know why, and we would argue no earthly being does.)

Regardless of how the Matilda Challenge came to pass, Mara Wilson absolutely loved it, which is pretty much the holy grail of any celebrity-based challenge. She gave her seal of approval by sharing a video on Facebook of a young girl hilariously pretending to have telekinesis, a trick she pulled off by having several ineffectively obscured helpers tossing items around the room while she pointed at them using her "powers." Eat your heart out, George Lucas.

Though Mara Wilson seems extremely well-versed in all things internet, podcasting was not something she embraced with abandon. In fact, according to the FAQ section of her website, she said, "The great thing about podcasts is anyone can make one. The bad thing about podcasts is anyone can make one." We're not sure when she wrote these sentiments, but she also felt at the time, "If you have a small audience, there really isn't much payoff for me. I know that sounds cruel, but think about what you do for a job, and imagine if people wanted to you to do it for free and without much recognition."

Wilson then said she really only does podcasts that she's a fan of, or ones that are favors for friends, but something must have changed somewhere along the way. A quick Google search for "Mara Wilson podcast" returns several pages of appearances she's made over the years, including one for something called "Pounded in the Butt by My Own Podcast." So yeah, that's either an extremely good friend of hers, or Wilson certainly seems to have relaxed her stance on podcasting a bit.

Mara Wilson's sexuality became a hot topic in June 2016 when she tweeted, "I *used* to identify as mostly straight. I've embraced the Bi/Queer label lately." It was part of a series of tweets that Wilson decided to share in the wake of the mass shooting in Orlando that claimed the lives of more than 50 people at the LGBTQ+ Pulse nightclub, according to People.  

Though she was open with her followers, even sharing the above photo of her 18-year-old self hanging out at a gay club, Wilson decided to press pause on the conversation for a while, tweeting, "I think I'm going to stay off Twitter for a few days. I had no idea this would be such a thing, but I guess it's flattering."

In September 2017, she returned to the topic in an interview with Ariel Goldberg in which she said the reason that she came out was to "show solidarity with her community," and that she'd like to see bisexuality de-stigmatized, particularly within the entertainment world. Wilson summed up her feelings by saying that embracing someone's sexuality is a simple matter of respect. "You don't need to understand something completely to be okay with it," she said.

As a writer who promotes her own work, Mara Wilson uses social media, in part, to share her projects with her fans. You really don't have to look any further than her prolific use of both Facebook and Twitter to realize that she also happens to love the medium. However, in a 2014 interview with Longreads, Wilson lamented that Twitter, her "favorite social media platform," is "not good of [sic] taking care of harassment." 

She expanded on her feelings in a 2018 piece she wrote for Elle, in which she outlined some pretty scary treatment she endured from a fellow Twitter user. "He had threatened to sexually assault me and several of my friends, kill our pets and partners, and even my friend's newborn baby," Wilson wrote. "He found phone numbers and addresses, tweeted them publicly, and reminded us that he lived in New York and could easily show up at our homes if we didn't do what he wanted."

Wilson even confessed that she "would not hesitate to leave Twitter and Facebook if there was a better alternative," but that she sticks around for the promotional benefits, the ability to crowdfund worthy causes, and the positive interactions she has with fans. "The truth is that no one actually cares about the platform," Wilson wrote. "They care about the people who use them."

Some may think that being a child actor is glamorous, but that's actually far from the truth. In 2021, Mara Wilson wrote an op-ed for The New York Times called "The Lies Hollywood Tells about Little Girls." In the article, Wilson opened up about some of the more difficult aspects of being famous at such a young age. 

"I spent my 13th birthday locked in a hotel room in Toronto," she wrote. Shockingly, Wilson wasn't given the day off to celebrate the big day, and she was even forced to work, making matters even worse. "It was July 2000, and I was on a press tour to promote the movie 'Thomas and the Magic Railroad.' I had been promised a day off for my birthday, but when I arrived from Los Angeles the night before, I learned I would be talking to reporters all day." 

Sadly, Wilson had already become accustomed to working on her birthday, revealing in the article that she turned eight while making 1996's "Matilda," and turned nine while shooting 1997's "A Simple Wish." Despite being used to having to work on her birthday, Wilson was especially disappointed, having been told she wouldn't have to work on that particular day. Even worse was the fact that Wilson was honest about her disappointment while speaking to a journalist, which led to reports that she was spoiled and ungrateful, when the truth was much sadder.

While Mara Wilson found fame at an extremely young age, she didn't necessarily feel beautiful or glamorous. In a May 2023 interview with The Guardian, Wilson discussed the idea that many young stars end up ruining their careers, their downfalls perpetuated by the tabloids and the public, all of whom seem to be wishing them to fail. Rather than taking on destructive behaviors such as alcohol or drugs, Wilson instead turned the pressure inward. "I definitely had a self-destructive streak, but it took a different mode," she told The Guardian. "For me, it was a lot of hating myself and saying, like, you're a loser, you're a failure, you're ugly."

When she lost out on a role to Kristen Stewart, Wilson put even more pressure on herself, and the self-hatred reached a fever pitch. "You think, 'I'm ugly, I'm fat' — and there were actual websites and newspapers and movie reviewers saying that about me." She continued, "It got to the point where I became much more guarded, more anxious and depressed and cynical, and when you're like that, it's very hard to land a role, because in an audition, you have to be open and honest." 

Unfortunately, the pressure of working in such a public-facing industry weighed heavily on Wilson, and she thought of herself in an incredibly negative light, which must have been very difficult to handle.

As well as living with OCD, Mara Wilson also found herself facing body dysmorphia, which was in part brought on by the negative press she faced as a young actor. During a 2022 appearance on the podcast "Mayim Bialik's Breakdown," Wilson explained, "Body dysmorphia's a big thing and it's something that I'm still dealing with to this day." She later continued, "I was starting to think, 'Oh, I'm ugly, I'm hideous, nobody look at me.' ... And I had people in newspapers, adults in newspapers saying that I was ugly. Saying that I was, quote, 'Odd looking.' Saying that I was not cute anymore." Reading these opinions and constantly hearing about her looks had an impact on the young star, who started to internalize some of the things being written and said about her.

During an interview with the International OCD Foundation in 2020, Wilson opened up about body dysmorphia again, detailing how it ties into her OCD diagnosis. "We are not obsessions, we are not compulsions, we are not intrusive thoughts or body dysmorphia or checking rituals," the "Balloon Farm" star explained. "What defines us is how we live our lives despite our struggles." 

Rather than focusing on the negative thoughts and challenges she faces on a daily basis, Wilson was keen to explore all aspects of her life, including the positives. While body dysmorphia still seemingly impacts her on a regular basis, Wilson has made sure she helps others dealing with the very same issues.

While Mara Wilson's career as a child actor had its positives and negatives, she revealed in an interview with The Guardian that she "always felt safe" while working on movie sets as a young star. However, she continued, "There were definitely some sketchy, questionable things that happened at times — adults that told dirty jokes, or sexually harassed people in front of me." It's good to know that Wilson's experience as a child actor wasn't all bad though, and that she generally felt protected while she was working, even if there were some instances in which she witnessed inappropriate behavior. 

However, that doesn't mean that people didn't sometimes cross the line and expect too much of her as a child actor, as she noted that there were "people who did things like ask me if it was OK if I worked overtime, instead of asking my parents, but I never felt unsafe." She continued, "I think that's because I worked with a lot of really wonderful directors, who were used to working with children." 

It certainly sounds as though Wilson's time as a young actor in Hollywood was a double-edged sword, but thankfully, she usually felt safe, which fans of the star will be relieved to hear.

Having worked in the entertainment industry since the early '90s, Mara Wilson has lived most of her life in the spotlight. Despite being remembered for many of her earliest roles, in films like "Mrs. Doubtfire" and "Matilda," Wilson has been blazing a new trail for herself as an adult. Most importantly, she refuses to let Hollywood define her, and instead has been embracing her uniqueness and finding a new sense of self-worth. "I don't know if they really know what to do with a short, curvy, Jewish brunette," she told The Guardian of her experience in Hollywood. "I don't want anybody telling me, 'You need to lose 30lb and get a nose job.'"

Rather than agreeing to change herself to fit Hollywood's narrow definition of stardom, Wilson has found her own personality and own sense of beauty in who she is, which is so important. "I defined myself for so long by the media's terms, by Hollywood's terms," she told The Guardian, "instead of defining myself by my own goals, my own relationships, my own life." 

Now that she has come to terms with what happened to her as a child star, Mara Wilson is living her own life on her own terms, which is so exciting to witness.

If you or anyone you know needs help with mental health or body dysmorphia, or has been a victim of sexual harassment, contact the relevant resources below:

The Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741, call the National Alliance on Mental Illness helpline at 1-800-950-NAMI (6264), or visit the National Institute of Mental Health website.

Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).