Nostalgia is an incredibly powerful drug that has many people look back on fond memories of the shows, movies, or activities that offered a simpler time. Many adults who grew up in the '90s will remember a cult classic film based on Roald Dahl's beloved book Matilda. Despite being Americanized, the 1996 film has a lot of charm and was handled in great care by Danny DeVito and the rest of the cast and crew. Mara Wilson was the true star of the film and her endearing charisma garnered a lot of fans who greatly look up to her.

Related: Where Is Mara Wilson From 'Matilda' Now?

During filming, Mara was going through a difficult time with her mother being hospitalized, then sadly passing before the film's release. Into the '00s, Mara retired from acting and focused on school and staying away from the spotlight. Recently, Mara has made a name for herself as an incredible and intelligent woman. Here's what she has done ever since 1996's Matilda.

10 Continued Acting With A Few Projects

The loss of Mara's mother was extremely tough, especially for her young age at eight. She and her father were the breadwinners, as Mara landed two film roles and her father left for work early in the morning to be able to pick her and her siblings up from school. In 1999, Mara stared in her second television film titled Balloon Farm.

Before that, she was in her fourth theatrical movie A Simple Wish, which released in 1997. Even if Matilda did not managed to outperform its budget, A Simple Wish performed worse both critically and financially with a 25% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and earning about eight million dollars out of its budget of $28 million.

9 Her Final Movie Before Retiring

For 21 years, Mara has not done a single film role. As a former child actress, it was a different turn compared to other child actors who continued on with their careers, despite the tolls it would take on them emotionally, physically, and psychotically. After doing a table read for a film that also co-starred Robin Williams and auditioning for the 1998 remake The Parent Trap, Mara eventually landed a role for Thomas and the Magic Railroad.

Working on that movie depraved of her childhood, and it was draining for Mara as she spent her 13th birthday stuck in a hotel room in Toronto for the film's promotion. The movie also didn't do so hot, receiving negative reception and just barely scraped by with over $700 thousand for its $19 million dollar budget.

8 Was Offered A Film Script, But Didn't Audition

Donnie Darko became a surprise hit in 2001 and starred many talented actors including siblings Jake and Maggie Gyllenhaal, Jenna Malone, Drew Barrymore, and Patrick Swayze. This might come as a shock to those who might not know, but Mara could have landed the role as Samantha Darko in the positively reviewed and cult classic film. Due to her retirement, of course, she wasn't involved.

Many people will know the song "Mad World," originally sung by Tears for Fears and covered by Michael Andrews and Gary Jules. Mara told the AV Club that she not only despises the movie's version of the song, but got the script before she retired from acting. It ended up being emotionally stressful for her, and she threw the script away.

7 Appeared In Many Web Shows

For about 10 years, there was no word from Mara. She would have been around 25-years-old, finished with college and just doing whatever she desired to do. 2012 was the year that the world would see Mara again with the web series Missed Connection and appearing in reviewer videos from the "Nostalgia Critic" Doug Walker and Lindsey Ellis, formerly known as the "Nostalgia Chick."

In the latter, Mara played an adult version as Lindsey and reviewed Matilda with a mixed-to-positive reception. The actress admits she enjoyed the film and praised director Danny for being as faithful to the source material as much as possible. Lindsey and her fans were just shocked to see a former child actress reveal herself all grown up, and it was definitely for the better.

Related: Here's Why 'Matilda' Star Mara Wilson Retired From Acting

6 Mara After Her Acting Days

With the world relieved to know that Mara is thriving well after retiring from acting, what has been in store for her other than making appearances in web shows? The answer to that is writing, which has been a promising career for her ever since she wrote an article for the website Cracked, which is based on the magazine of the same name. In her article, she wrote about the reasons child stars go crazy and provided very insightful notes.

Mara has also been working for "Publicolor," a not-for-profit organization in New York City that helps out high-risk and low-income students that encourages important needs like academic achievement and job readiness.

5 Has Theatre Credits Under Her Name

With movie roles out of the way, Mara has managed to find a way to continue to perform in the art world with plays. Describing her move from film to theatre as running away from Hollywood, Mara found passion in live performances. She performed in plays such as CinderellaWeren't You That Girl?, and What Are You Afraid Of?.

On Instagram, Mara shared a photo of when she was 17 and playing the role as Puck in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. She described the time as making every stereotype of a theater kid come true, and for their standards, that is quite the accomplishment.

4 Released Her Intriguing Autobiography

Throughout the years Mara has been radio silent, many fans wondered what she has been up to ever since her last film role. She answered that with her own book that she released in 2016. Titled Where Am I Now?: True Stories of Girlhood and Accidental Fame, fans got the answers about Mara's life circumstances.

The personal essays featured in her book revealed the struggles of losing her mother, coming to terms with her sexuality, and discovering the diagnoses she had with mental illness which include OCD, ADHD, anxiety, and depression. Her book is absolutely charming and commends her bravery and strength to talk about her time while she was out of the spotlight.

Related: Everything We Know About Netflix's 'Matilda' Remake

3 Went Back To Television

It takes one grand revolution to have a former child star come back to the entertainment industry. While Mara might not have appeared in another film, she has lent her voice in animated shows and has a couple of live action credits. You might have heard her voice in BoJack Horseman as Jill Pill, Big Hero 6: The Series as Liv Amara and Diane Amara, and recently, Helluva Boss as Mrs. Mayberry.

Then there's her television roles, where she appeared as a waitress in Broad City in 2016 and as herself in The George Lucas Talk Show. Despite having no plans to make a proper comeback, Mara continues to do what she enjoys doing. If you're a big podcast listener, you can catch her in a handful of them like Gilmore Guys and Are You From That Show?.

2 Just An Awesome Person To Follow

Mara might not have the social media follower numbers similar to more popular actors and artists, she has a respectable amount of 500 thousand followers and 137 thousand on Instagram.

You can see her retweet a lot of unique tweets she enjoys or wants to raise awareness to. Then there is her who might tweet about the most random things in life, and it's actually pretty refreshing for a star like her. She is not afraid of being herself and just being like everyone else on social media.

1 Has Some Interesting Words To Say

Mara is a compelling writer who speaks eloquently with words and knows how to draw the readers in. Mara has recently done an opinion piece for The New York Times about the lies Hollywood tells about aspiring young girls and the horrid lessons that had to be taught as a child actor.

With Framing Britney Spears as the hot topic, Mara has a lot in common with the pop star, revealing the parallels both of them had. Britney had to go through sexualization, even when she was barely 18, and Mara managed to escape that when she was on the verge of being 13. However, she was pressed with questions about whether she had a boyfriend or not at the age of six. Mara's piece is a phenomenal article that should not be glanced at when young women in the entertainment industry are being victimized for the sake of pleasing men.

Next: 15 Photos That Show What The Cast Of Matilda Looks Like Today