Mara Wilson was coming of age at a time where child stars were starting to be judged for the ways they transitioned into an adult career. For young women, that often involved being sexualized. Wilson, at 13, knew she didn't want to be part of that. Yet, she found that as a public figure, it was inevitable.
"I had already been sexualized anyway, and I hated it. I mostly acted in family movies — the remake of 'Miracle on 34th Street,' 'Matilda,' 'Mrs. Doubtfire.' I never appeared in anything more revealing than a knee-length sundress. This was all intentional: My parents thought I would be safer that way," Wilson recalled in an essay she penned for The New York Times.
"But it didn't work. People had been asking me, 'Do you have a boyfriend?' in interviews since I was 6. Reporters asked me who I thought the sexiest actor was and about Hugh Grant's arrest for soliciting a prostitute. It was cute when 10-year-olds sent me letters saying they were in love with me. It was not when 50-year-old men did. Before I even turned 12, there were images of me on foot fetish websites and photoshopped into child pornography. Every time, I felt ashamed."
With these experiences, it's no surprise that Wilson walked away from acting for over a decade. Now, she pursues acting and writing on her own terms.
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTEpaCsrF6YvK57lWlwcW5pZMGpsYytqa6smGKuo7vUrWSmmaKWeri1y6ymp6tdqb%2Bis8icZJygmaGxqbvOnWY%3D