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"I would like people to know me for who I am, especially since I think people have a very skewed image of me."

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Mara Wilson was the child actress of the 1990s. In films like Mrs. Doubtfire (1993) and Matilda (1996), the young actress brought a natural charisma establishing her as the Shirley Temple of her day. Unlike many child performers, however, she never took an interest in pursuing much of a career in entertainment once she outgrew these roles. While she has made a few small appearance on shows like BoJack Horseman (2016) and Broad City (2016) in recent years, she hasn't been a full-time actress since retiring after Thomas and the Magic Railroad (2000) while still a child.

It Looked Like Fun

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The actor of the Wilson family was actually Mara's brother Danny, who had spent his childhood appearing in numerous television ads. Mara's interest in acting was based on the simple fact that it looked like fun when she saw her brother doing it. She was eventually able to talk her parents into letting her perform, and before long she was advertising Texaco, Marshall's and Lunchables. If you were watching TV in the early 90s, you were going to see a Mara Wilson commercial sooner or later.

Mara Wilson's first film role was Mrs. Doubtfire (1993). Producers loved her effortless appeal, and cast her a Natalie Hillard in the movie.

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"Mrs. Doubtfire is still a fun movie, and it's still fun to watch, but it is hard to watch myself sometimes. I get very critical. And people will say, 'Mara, you were five.' And I'm like, 'Yeah, but I still should have known better!' I'm a lifelong perfectionist, what can I say?"

After Mrs. Doubtfire, Mara Wilson was established as a leading child performer, being cast in the remake of Miracle on 34th Street (1994), appearing on Melrose Place (1994) in the recurring role of Nikki Petrova, showing up in television films like A Time to Heal (1994) and singing "Make'EM Laugh" with Tim Curry and Kathy Najimy at the 1995 Oscar Awards show.

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Mara Wilson's defining role would have to be Matilda (1996). Where many of her acting roles to this point had been won through the audition process, in this case, producer and director Danny DeVito had actively sought Wilson out for the lead role in the film. The movie was not immediately successful upon release, but did eventually develop a cult following as a favorite children's film of the 90s, and earned Mara Wilson a YoungStar Award.

"Matilda was my favorite movie to film and my favorite to watch, as well."

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As suddenly as Mara Wilson's star had risen, so too would it appear to fall. She was getting to be too old for the parts on which she had made her name, and failed to get a part in What Dreams May Come (1998) after attending a table reading. And yet, she wasn't quite old enough for the teenager parts, being turned down for the remake of The Parent Trap (1998) due to her youthful appearance. Her final two films would be Balloon Farm (1999) on the Disney Channel, and Thomas and the Magic Railroad (2000). She was asked to audition for Donnie Darko (2001), a film which might have helped her to transition into a new phase of her acting career as an adult, but by that point, all of Mara's enthusiasm for acting had essentially evaporated and she never bothered to try out for the part.

"I consider my relationship with acting in Hollywood as sort of a mutual breakup. Through puberty, Hollywood didn't really want me anymore, and I was like, 'Yeah, I don't really want you, either.'"

The Quiet Life

Throughout the 2000s you barely heard a peep out of Mara Wilson. During this time she attended Idyllwild Arts Academy, graduating in 2005 and moving to New York to attend the Tisch School of the Arts at NYU, performing a one-woman show Weren't You That Girl? and graduating in 2009. Her comeback to the public would not be a new movie or starring in her own TV show, but simply making the occasional cameo in projects for friends and fans. She appeared on the webseries Missed Connections, and showed up in the Nostalgia Chick's review of Matilda to provide commentary. In 2015 she had a brief appearance in the movie Billie Bob Joe (2015) but has generally stuck to TV cameos and webseries, including a small role as a waitress in an episode of Broad City (2016), featuring in a scene recreating the part of Mrs. Doubtfire where Robin Williams gives Pierce Brosnan a forceful Heimlick maneuver. Her most high-profile role throughout the 2010s would have to be her part as Jill Pill in the third season of BoJack Horseman (2015). All of this is to say: Yes, Mara Wilson still acts, but in her adult life, it's become more of a hobby than a career.

Most of her attention in recent years has been turned towards writing, publishing a piece for the website Cracked in 2013, where she gives a first-hand rundown of the life of a former child star, writing the play Sheepie (2013) for the New York International Fringe Festival, and releasing the book Where Am I Now?: True Stories of Girlhood and Accidental Fame (2016).

"When people asked me what I was going to do when I grow up, I always said, 'I'm going to be a writer. I'm going to write screenplays. I'm going to write books. I'm going to write plays. That's what I'm going to do."

Where many young actors go through awkward phases throughout their career before finally finding their footing in adulthood, Mara simply left the spotlight and never looked back, far more content to do her work from behind a keyboard rather than in front of a camera.

"Acting is something I did when I was a kid. I do act sometimes in friends' projects, but when I do, it's just for fun."