It's unlikely that any of the people that are reading this article won't know who Mara Wilson is. If not, then the timeless piece of art that is the 1996 movie adaptation of Roald Dahl's novel Matilda will refresh their memory. Mara first rose to fame as the child actress that starred in that movie, and despite being only nine years old, she captivated both the crew and the viewers. She had already proved herself with her role as Natalie Hillard in Mrs. Doubtfire and as Susan Walker in Miracle on 34th Street, but Matilda was undoubtedly her most memorable part.However, in the year 2000, she decided she had had enough of acting. Not only was she overwhelmed after so many years in that profession, but she also had some painful memories attached to some of her most important projects. It wasn't until 2012 that she felt ready to go back to acting. She wasn't idle during that time off, though. She started a new career as a writer, she took time to learn, and she healed old wounds.
6 She Went To Art School
When she made the decision to quit acting temporarily, Mara Wilson felt lost. She had been acting most of her life, and it was something that had defined her since she was a kid. It was, however, also somewhat of a burden. One of the things that marked her when she was very young was losing her mother while she was making Matilda. That loss tainted her passion for her craft, so taking a step aside was necessary for her, as difficult as it was. Going to art school definitely helped her find herself again. She enrolled in Idyllwild Arts Academy, and graduated in 2005.
"I was angry and confused when I came to Idyllwild. But my two years there changed that," Mara said about her experience.
5 She Attended NYU
After graduating from the Idyllwild Arts Academy, Mara still wanted to expand her knowledge of her craft and the arts in general, so she applied for New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. She was, of course, accepted, and as of 2009, graduating from one of the most prestigious school programs in the United States was added to her list of accomplishments.
Needless to say, she was a very talented artist before she had any formal training, but it's incredible how eager to learn she has always been, despite already having a very established career.
4 She Did A One-Woman Show In University
While she had quit professional acting at the time, Mara still needed to express herself artistically, so during her time in NYU, she wrote a one-woman show, titled Weren't You That Girl? where she shared her experience as a child actor.
"It felt very good to be in control of my life and my narrative and tell my story my own way. Storytelling is really at the heart of everything I do," she explained. "I know storytelling has become a buzzword. But literally, standing up and telling stories when I was a child was all I wanted to do. I just wanted to make up stories and perform them for people, or tell people stories of what had happened in my life that day."
3 She Stayed Out Of The Spotlight
The lack of privacy wasn't the only reason, but it was one of the factors that led Mara to the decision of taking a break from acting. She was just a kid when she became famous, and while she acting, she didn't have any control over how fame affected her. Going to college was an attempt at having some form of normalcy in her life.
"I didn’t send out a press release. I don’t like to draw unnecessary attention to myself for what I did as a child; there was a time when I wouldn’t bring it up. When people brought it up, it was a little like when someone brings up an embarrassing memory," she said. "It was just not what I wanted to be known for. And I really tried to play it down: when people asked me, I’d acknowledge it but then move on."
2 She Had A Blog
As she ventured into her writing career, Mara started working on a blog, which she called Mara Wilson Writes Stuff. Sadly, she is no longer writing there, and the archives are not available, but she wrote some interesting stuff in there, including a very moving text she dedicated to Robin Williams when he passed away. She has moved on to a similar form of writing now. She has a newsletter called Shan't We Tell The Vicar? and she publishes it on the platform Substack.
1 She Wrote A Play
Near the end of her acting hiatus, Mara Wilson became a playwright. She and her friend, director Max Reuben, brought to life something she had spent years writing, a play titled Sheeple, which they presented at the New York International Fringe Festival.
"Mara and Max have been committed to a production of Sheeple since they were undergraduates together at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, Playwrights Horizons Theater School," reads the play's website. "It was there that they forged a strong, collaborative friendship which has colored how they relate to the play, itself. It’s not just about the unique teenage burden of having to know everything, but about family: both the kind you have and the kind you make."