Remember Mara Wilson? She was the adorable little girl in 1993’s hit movie Mrs. Doubtfire, Natalie Hillard. At that point she wasn’t all that old but she was already popular by the time the movie was released and enough people had watched it. After all she was the youngest and the cutest one in the bunch so it was hard not to like her for the innocent look and manner she presented. In fact only a year after her role in Mrs. Doubtfire she took on the role of Susan Walker in the remake of Miracle on 34th Street. And then after that she stepped into the shoes of Matilda Wormwood, which was undoubtedly one of her greatest roles ever. So what happened to her?
Early Roles
She was a cute kid and she’s grown up to be an attractive woman but really when you look at her in these clips you can’t help but think that if she’d been able to stay a kid a little longer she might have been able to really get into some great roles in today’s movies. But of course people have to grow up, though from a few of the things she says in her movies you would think that she might have grown up a little too quickly for some parents. There are some that would say that having a kid swear to any degree in a film is unacceptable, but even as a child Mara knew how to hit her lines just right so that people would feel their lips pull into a shocked O of surprise, only to laugh a moment later when they realized that kids do in fact say the darndest things sometimes and parents just have to learn to roll with it.
Her role as Matilda brought out a sense that she’d grown up quite a bit in the short period between these two movies and boy did it show. Whether Mara was really this intelligent at that age or jut a superb actor it was great to watch since the different between her role as Natalie and Matilda were like night and day. While Nattie was still intelligent enough for a kid her age, Matilda was a borderline genius as she’d had to learn to take care of herself at a young age due to her family. But the fact that she was smart enough to not only do complex math problems in her head but also to employ the kind of abstract thinking that she did and display the sense of morals that helped her become a good person has to mean that Mara was already a rather smart girl. Her talent was undeniable since even at her worst when it seemed like she might have been struggling to remember her lines she still seemed so natural, like a kid that was just trying to figure things out.
Why did she quit?
Mara hasn’t been seen on the big screen since 2000 when she stepped away from the industry. Upon being asked why she decided to walk away she went on to say that film acting wasn’t all that fun. Having to do something over and over until it was just right in the eyes of the director wasn’t something she enjoyed, and as a result she made her way forward without her movie career in tow. Instead she managed to get into writing and creating her own internet show titled What Are You Afraid Of? She’s hoping to turn this into a podcast and is still adamant about staying away from the spotlight as much as possible. For her it seems the experience wasn’t all that positive and to be honest, in this case it’s better to say to each their own. She chose her path and decided to walk it, and even more she’s stuck with it.
She’s also taken to being a writer, and has managed to write about her acting career as well. Mara also came out as being bisexual in 2016, showing solidarity with the LGBTQ community. You can say that she’s led a rather productive life after her departure from Hollywood and has gone her own way, which is intriguing and impressive. As she’s said she did enjoy the experience of Matilda as it was her favorite character and it did mean a lot to her, and to her mother, who passed away before Matilda was released to public. Apparently Danny DeVito showed her mother an early cut of the movie before passed away, allowing her to see Mara at her best in a very charitable act that seems completely justified.
Still, she did leave, and she did find something else to occupy her time and make herself feel relevant, and she’s managed to create a life that means something for her. That is the final evolution and the one that seems to have taken the best.
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