For Mara Wilson, playing Matilda was not always magical.
In fact, the actress recently reflected on the pressures she felt as a child star, specifically around being able to live up to her titular character in the 1996 film Matilda when meeting fans.
“I saw that they were disappointed that I wasn’t as smart, pretty, nice, as they expect you to be,” Mara told The Guardian in an interview published Monday May 15. “I think they were expecting me to be Matilda, and she’s wonderful, but she’s not real.”
“She’s brilliant in every single way. She’s smart, and kind and powerful,” the 35-year-old continued of Matilda. “Then they met me, this nerdy, awkward teenager who got angry sometimes, but couldn’t even channel her anger into powers.”
And she admitted it often felt like she was living in her character’s shadow, much like “the way you would with a fabulous older brother or sister.”
Mara added, “I was never going to live up to that.”
