"Matilda" Star Mara Wilson Says Hollywood Would Require Her to Change Everything — and She Has No Interest in That

Jun 01, 2026 by apost team

Mara Wilson was one of the most beloved child actors of the 1990s. She played Natalie in "Mrs. Doubtfire" in 1993, Susan Walker in "Miracle on 34th Street" in 1994, and delivered the performance most people remember her for — the title role in 1996's "Matilda." She was charming, natural, and entirely at ease on camera in a way that most adult actors spend years trying to achieve.

Then she stopped. Wilson, born July 24, 1987, made her last on-screen appearance in "Thomas and the Magic Railroad" in 2000, at the age of 12. She went on to attend New York University, published a memoir titled "Where Am I Now?" in 2016, wrote plays, and built a career as an audiobook narrator — working on approximately 70 titles including "Bury Your Gays," for which she received particular recognition. She has described audiobook narration as the closest thing to theater she has found outside of the stage itself.

What she has not done, in 25 years, is return to Hollywood in any meaningful on-screen capacity — and in a recent exclusive interview with PEOPLE, she explained exactly why. The answer was not complicated. It was not bitter. It was simply honest. And it said something that women in the industry have been saying for years, rarely this plainly.

"Well, look, there aren't always roles for women of my specific age and my specific looks and demographic and everything," she told PEOPLE. "And I would really have to change myself a lot to be able to fit into Hollywood's mold and I don't really want to do that."

Wilson does get asked about a return. She just will not be giving anyone false hope about it.

The alternative she has built is not a consolation prize. It is, by her own description, exactly the career she wanted.

"For me, audiobooks and voiceover are places where you can be anything," she told PEOPLE.

"I've played criminals, I've played a nun, I've played Tinkerbell."

The freedom of the format suits someone who describes herself as a born theater kid whose first love was storytelling. "All I ever wanted to do was tell stories, write stories and perform stories," she said.

"To me, it feels like theater because it's not as literal as being in a movie."

Wilson has been candid throughout her adult life about the challenges of growing up in the spotlight. She has written and spoken extensively about how child fame distorts normal development, creates unrealistic expectations, and leaves former child stars struggling with identity long after the cameras stop. She has also been an advocate for better protections for young performers in the industry. Her 2016 memoir "Where Am I Now?" was named a best book of the month by GoodReads and Entertainment Weekly.

Her latest audiobook project is "Wombat Waiting" by Katherine Applegate — a far cry from "Matilda," but consistent with the quiet and creative life she has built on her own terms.

Asked whether she finds herself missing the on-screen work, her answer was consistent with everything else she has said. She loves what she does. She is not interested in becoming someone different to do something else. Hollywood, she implied, has always been there. The woman she chose to become was never going to wait for it.

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Did you grow up watching Mara Wilson? Do you think her honest take on Hollywood is something more former child stars should feel free to say? Let us know in the comments and pass this on to your family, friends, and other "Matilda" fans out there!