âBoy Meets Worldâ Star Will Friedle Just Got Seriously Real About Child Stardom And Having To Accept That âYouâve Lived The First Line Of Your Obituary By The Time Youâre 17â
In case you missed it, the former child stars of Boy Meets World launched a rewatch podcast back in 2022, and itâs fair to say that they havenât held back when it comes to sharing behind-the-scenes anecdotes and memories.
For context, the ABC sitcom premiered in 1993 and ran until 2000, with Rider Strong, Danielle Fishel, and Will Friedle merely children when the series launched.
Danielle was 12 when she was cast as the main character's (Cory) love interest, Topanga, Rider was 13 when he was cast as Coryâs best friend, Shawn, and Will was 17 when he landed the role of Coryâs big brother, Eric.
Since launching their podcast, Pod Meets World, the trio have spoken candidly about everything from filming âhorribly uncomfortableâ intimate scenes as teenagers, to their controversial relationship with convicted sex offender Brian Peck.
And in this weekâs episode, Will got seriously real about the impact that both sitcom acting and being a child star can have on a person.
The actor, now 47, reflected on living âthe first line of your obituary by the time youâre 17,â and also opened up about the addictive nature of performing in front of a live audience each week â and how difficult it can be when that suddenly goes away.
With Rider absent from the episode due to jury duty, Will and Danielle sat down with actor and musician Leisha Hailey, who was a guest star on an episode of Boy Meets World back in 1996.
Leisha went on to enjoy huge success in the hit TV series The L Word, but admitted during her conversation that she preferred the sitcom format of performing in front of a live audience.
âI really think that what you had is the dream job,â she told the podâs hosts.
âI think so, too,â Will immediately agreed. âThereâs the joy of you rehearsing all week and youâre leading up to show night. Then the audience comes in, you feel the energy, and the thing that I always loved was some of the stuff that was getting all the laughs during the week isnât getting the same laughs from the audience.â
âTheyâre laughing at stuff you werenât expecting,â he continued. âItâs the greatest thing, youâre reading them while theyâre reading you and youâre trying to figure out the best way to dance.â
Leisha agreed and said that filming Boy Meets World reminded her âso much of theater,â before admitting to Danielle and Will: âI donât even understand how you guys let that go. Like, how did you get through that?â
âItâs been a rough 23 years,â Danielle joked, before Will offered an incredibly articulate insight into why so many sitcom actors end up struggling outside of work.
âWe joke about it but itâs easy to see how sitcom actors, especially young sitcom actors, fall into that unfortunate stereotype of drinking or drugs or going down the wrong path,â he explained. âBecause, as weâve said so many times, Thursday night youâre somebody and youâre in front of an audience and Friday morning youâre not.â
âThere are some shocks, but you could kind of tell the people that werenât going to be able to transition as easily,â Will continued. âItâs looking for that rush, that audience becomes a drug, and itâs literally gone in one day.â
And Leisha was obviously taken off-guard by this concept, saying: âI never equated it to the rush of the audience, I always thought it must be an age thing. You know, just growing up and then: âWho am I?ââ
This prompted Will to open up about the realities of child stardom, saying: âWell, thereâs something interesting about knowing, chances are, youâve lived the first line of your obituary by the time youâre 17.â
âYou can go off and have a great life, a wonderful life, whatever you want to do, but chances are itâs going to say: âWill Friedle from Boy Meets World was killed today by a lion,ââ he joked. âI mean, there can be a difficulty in that transition for some people, which is why being a child actor is usually a whole separate thing to starting to act when youâre 19.â
âYeah, like, your identity is cemented and youâre trying to either chase it or leave it behind,â Leisha agreed.
And she went on to reiterate just how blown away she was by Willâs comments about performing in front of a live audience, sharing: âThe audience thing is very interesting because from spending one week with you guys, I remember that feeling and how much fun it was.â
âI canât imagine seven years, week after week, like, what that would do to me,â she added. âHow much I would miss it.â
It's worth mentioning that none of the former cast members of Boy Meets World have ever had any known issues with substance abuse, with Will, Danielle, and Rider often expressing their gratitude that they came away from both child fame and sitcom acting relatively unscathed.
If you or someone you know is struggling with substance abuse, you can call SAMHSAâs National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357) and find more resources here.
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