I was one of the many kids who grew up watching Boy Meets World reruns (and “And Then There Was Shawn” has even been a rewatch of mine every Halloween). So, when Danielle Fishel and Rider Strong were among the alumnus that migrated to the spin-off, Girl Meets World, I was excited for any and every reunion. Since that offshoot ended, the two actors have been brutally open about their experiences on each set. With that, it's not surprising to hear them get real about being protective of the spinoff’s young cast while also dealing with creative issues.
The characters of Cory Matthews and Topanga Lawrence are integral parts of Girl Meets World (which is streamable with a Disney+ subscription), but the actors were actually passing the torch to Rowan Blanchard and a pre-“Espresso” Sabrina Carpenter. Yet the producers found every opportunity to bring back cast members for emotional and ridiculous reunions. Fishel and Strong spoke with US Weekly while promoting the new Boy Meets World documentary, Doc Meets World, at the Tribeca Film Festival, where Fishel recalled her spinoff experience:
I think we’re all protective of kids on the set. Everybody has their different approaches to the way they like to get performances out of people. Rider and I [are] both direct. I don’t think we do anything that inspires tears. I think if anything, we foster fun, inclusive — I mean, Rider used to do great games, we would do Running Charades.
Via their rewatch podcast, Pod Meets World, Fishel, Strong and co-star Will Friedle haven't shied away from talking about the episodes they felt are incredible, nor do they sugarcoat any episode they think is a clunker. It’s this honesty that I feel has made their podcast so successful. While they’re giving fun BTS stories, they’re also being honest about growing up as child actors. And sometimes those experiences, especially for Fishel, who was a young girl at the time, can be uncomfortable.
In hindsight, it now seems like Fishel and Strong's own experiences contributed feel so protective of their younger Girl Meets World co-stars. The pair talked about how they wanted to inspire confidence, but they also wanted to create an environment where the teens felt safe and comfortable. Strong backed up his co-star about the fun they had on set and the easy-going relationships they fostered with the younger cast members:
We played Running Charades just to get the kids to loosen up. I always wanted them to feel as confident as possible [so] that they owned their characters, which is something, like, I didn’t quite feel when I was on Boy Meets World, and I wanted the kids to feel like they could own their characters. It was great. Incredible to work with.
As a fan of the show, I hope those methods helped forged positive experiences for the then-up-and-coming actors. Several have actually spoken fondly about the adults they worked with, and even Sabrina Carpenter is still close with Danielle Fishel today. However, despite this, Fishel has spoken about creative struggles between the two generations and how this taught her a valuable lesson. She explained:
Yeah, I picked a lot of battles on Girl Meets World. I started picking every battle. I was like, ‘I’m gonna fight every fight!” and then at a certain point I realized, like, maybe I am making everybody’s life harder than it needs to be, and I’m just gonna pick and choose. And I think I just went with my moral compass. Like something really… when I felt like I couldn’t go home at night without letting something go, I knew it was important to bring up. And then other times it was like, ‘I don’t love this, but it’s not my show.’ Then I would let that go.
Michael Jacobs created Boy Meets World and its eventual spinoff, and the actors have spoken fondly of him on occasion. However, the stars have also been real about some issues they had with Jacobs' creative choices. While speaking to Us, Strong opened up about idolizing Jacobs as a kid but getting to know him more as a person when they reunited for the spinoff.
As for Strong and co.'s documentary, it chronicles the national tour they did for Pod Meets World, and the film was previously teased as a new post-podcast project. During which they’ve talked about their struggles, but they’ve also talked about their friendships. Despite often bringing up drama that went down, Fishel and Strong, along with Friedle, have also spoken positively about their time with their former co-stars on both shows.
Specific drama that has come up includes Maitland Ward bringing up old spats with Fishel, and Trina McGee blasting Ben Savage for his alleged behavior toward her on set. In recent years, Savage has also seemingly distanced himself from his former colleagues, and he chose not to join the podcast when they asked.
However, Rider Strong and Danielle Fishel have shared intriguing stories about showrunner Michael Jacobs, who they described as “a genius,” and William Daniels, who played everybody’s favorite teacher, Mr. Feeny. Even Fishel and Strong still share stories about what they learned from Daniels while on set. Given how the pair looked after their young castmates, I can imagine Daniels being proud of them.
