‘Matilda’ actress Mara Wilson offers advice to child actors: ‘get out when it is no longer fun’

Actress Mara Wilson is warning parents not to push their kids into acting unless it’s something that they want to do.

Wilson was a successful child actress herself, landing roles in Mrs. Doubtfire, Matilda and Miracle on 34th Street, but shared some insight into the challenges of being a kid in Hollywood when she joined Global Calgary on Friday.

“You are taught that you are going to be desired for your cuteness – and that doesn’t last forever. You’re not going to be the cute little kid that everybody loves — you’re not going to be that always. And I think that can be very difficult.”

“You’re valued for something that is inevitably going to go – going to change.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "You're valued for something that is inevitably going to go - going to change."

“The thing about Hollywood – and I always say this – Hollywood isn’t immoral, but it’s amoral. It doesn’t care about you one way or another, and that is a hard thing to take.”

“Parents should never push their children into doing it,” she added. “I definitely think that they need to make sure that their children want to be doing this, that if their children don’t want to be doing it anymore they get out of it as soon as possible.”

Get breaking National news

For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen.

Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up

By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.

“[Parents] need to respect their children’s wishes, they need to not take their children’s money – which, it’s kind of sad that that needs to be said, but that is a very big problem.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "[Parents] need to respect their children's wishes, they need to not take their children's money - which, it's kind of sad that that needs to be said, but that is a very big problem."

“You take it seriously – but keep it fun,” she added. “Then get out when it is no longer fun.”

Wilson also warned parents not to let their kids fall behind in school.

“Kids need to get an education, they need to learn how to do other things as well.”

Wilson said she doesn’t appear on camera much anymore, admitting she wanted to distance herself from roles she is known for, like Matilda.

“I loved Matilda as a character, but I wasn’t her. I kind of felt sometimes like people liked her more than they liked me,” she said. “Eventually, I looked back on it and I thought ‘wow, what I did really meant something to so many people and I am incredibly lucky to have had that opportunity.’”

So what is Wilson up to now?

“I do much more voiceover work, which is very fun for me – I love doing voiceover work.”

“I do feel now that I am sort of doing things on my own terms. I’m writing more, I’m putting myself out there… but it feels much better now. It feels like I am much more in control.”

She’s also the author of a memoir titled Where Am I Now? True Stories of Girlhood and Accidental Fame.

“My book is, I think, my life being an insider-outsider … always feeling like I was a little out of place.”

“It’s funny, it’s sad, there’s a lot of levity in there. It was definitely very fun to write.”

Wilson is in Calgary for an appearance at the 2017 Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo at the BMO Centre in Stampede Park.

“I’m really excited, it sounds like it’s going to be a lot of fun.”