{"id":24355,"date":"2024-10-16T03:35:39","date_gmt":"2024-10-16T03:35:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pulsperry.com\/?p=24355"},"modified":"2025-02-11T16:04:17","modified_gmt":"2025-02-11T16:04:17","slug":"she-burst-onto-the-scene-as-an-adorable-little-girl-in-matilda-but-then-had-to-quit-acting-and-take-up-work-as-a-nanny-as-she-didnt-have-the-hollywood-beauty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pulsperry.com\/?p=24355","title":{"rendered":"She burst onto the scene as an adorable>>>>>>"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

She burst onto the scene as an adorable little girl in \u2018Matilda\u2019, but then had to quit acting and take up work as a nanny as she \u201cdidn\u2019t have the Hollywood beauty\u201d Mara Wilson, now 37, refused to \u201cget cosmetic surgery\u201d\u2026<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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In the early 1990s, the world fell in love with the adorable Mara Wilson, the child actor<\/a> known for playing the precocious little girl in family classics<\/a> like Mrs. Doubtfire<\/a><\/em> and Miracle on 34th<\/sup> Street<\/em>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The young star, who turned 37 on July 24, seemed poised for success but as she grew older, she stopped being \u201ccute\u201d and disappeared from the big screen.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHollywood was burned out on me,\u201d she says, adding that \u201cif you\u2019re not cute anymore, if you\u2019re not beautiful, then you are worthless.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In 1993, five-year-old Mara Wilson stole the hearts of millions of fans when she starred as Robin Williams\u2019 youngest child in Mrs. Doubtfire<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The California-born star had previously appeared in commercials when she received the invitation to star in one of the biggest-grossing comedies in Hollywood history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cMy parents were proud, but they kept me grounded. If I ever said something like, \u2018I\u2019m the greatest!\u2019 my mother would remind me, \u2018You\u2019re just an actor. You\u2019re just a kid,\u2019\u201d Wilson<\/a>, now 37, said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After her big screen debut, she won the role of Susan Walker \u2013 the same role played by Natalie Wood in 1947 \u2013 in 1994\u2019s Miracle on 34th Street<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an essay for the Guardian<\/a>, Wilson writes of her audition, \u201cI read my lines for the production team and told them I didn\u2019t believe in Santa Claus.\u201d Referencing the Oscar-winning actor who played her mom in Mrs. Doubtfire<\/em>, she continues, \u201cbut I did believe in the tooth fairy and had named mine after Sally Field.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Most unhappy\u2019<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Next, Wilson played the magical girl in 1996\u2019s Matilda<\/em>, starring alongside Danny DeVito and his real-life wife Rhea Perlman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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It was also the same year her mother, Suzie, lost her battle with breast cancer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t really know who I was\u2026There was who I was before that, and who I was after that. She was like this omnipresent thing in my life,\u201d Wilson says of the deep grief she experienced after losing her mother. She adds<\/a>, \u201cI found it kind of overwhelming. Most of the time, I just wanted to be a normal kid, especially after my mother died.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The young girl was exhausted and when she was \u201cvery famous,\u201d she says<\/a> she \u201cwas the most unhappy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/plugins\/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fphoto%2F%3Ffbid%3D929688633792846%26set%3Da.537262166368830&show_text=true&width=500<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When she was 11, she begrudgingly played her last major role in the 2000 fantasy adventure film Thomas and the Magic Railroad<\/em>. \u201cThe characters were too young. At 11, I had a visceral reaction to [the] script\u2026Ugh, I thought. How cute,\u201d she tells the Guardian<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Burned out\u2019<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

But her exit from Hollywood wasn\u2019t only her decision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a young teenager, the roles weren\u2019t coming in for Wilson, who was going through puberty and outgrowing the \u201ccute.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She was \u201cjust another weird, nerdy, loud girl with bad teeth and bad hair, whose bra strap was always showing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAt 13, no one had called me cute or mentioned the way I looked in years, at least not in a positive way,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wilson was forced to deal with the pressures of fame and the challenges of transitioning to adulthood in the public eye. Her changing image had a profound effect on her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI had this Hollywood idea that if you\u2019re not cute anymore, if you\u2019re not beautiful, then you are worthless. Because I directly tied that to the demise of my career. Even though I was sort of burned out on it, and Hollywood was burned out on me, it still doesn\u2019t feel good to be rejected.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mara as the writer<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Wilson, now a writer, authored her first book \u201cWhere Am I Now? True Stories of Girlhood and Accidental Fame,\u201d in 2016.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The book discusses<\/a> \u201ceverything from what she learned about sex on the set of Melrose Place<\/em>, to discovering in adolescence that she was no longer \u2018cute\u2019 enough for Hollywood, these essays chart her journey from accidental fame to relative (but happy) obscurity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She also wrote \u201cGood Girls Don\u2019t\u201d a memoir that examines her life as a child actor living up to expectations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBeing cute just made me miserable,\u201d she writes in her essay for the Guardian. \u201cI had always thought it would be me giving up acting, not the other way around.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are your thoughts on Mara Wilson? Please let us know what you think and then share this story so we can hear from others!<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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