History Creator / MaraWilson

* AnAesop: A couple of chapters in the autobiography of FormerChildStar Mara Wilson have a moral in them:
** The Chapter ''The C-Word'' details how women are objectified for their looks in the media, and how Mara being constantly referred to as 'cute' made her feel small and insignificant. She takes time to note that her character in ''Miracle on 34th Street'' was originally an interesting and complex child - but the inexperienced director kept dropping those traits to turn her into a caricature, emphasising her cuteness over substance.
--->"So the next time someone hiding behind a username decides to tell me what would make me prettier, I'm going to propose the following: I will meet them in person and ask them to listen. I will tell them about going through puberty in the public eye after my mother died of cancer. I will tell them how it feels to find a website advertising nude photos of yourself as a 12-year-old. I will tell them I've looked at 'cute' from both sides now, and in both cases it just made me miserable. I will tell them how fitting it is that the only real acting I do these days is voiceover, where no one can see me. I will tell them how my mother wanted me to prove myself through my actions and skills, rather than my looks. Now I believe I have, and I am happier than ever. After all that, if they still insist on telling me how I should look, I will consider taking them on as my stylist."
** The ''National En-Choirer'' chapter sums up the politics and backstabbing of cliques in high school -- and how girls can be utterly horrible to each other for no good reason. Mara notes that real life {{Alpha Bitch}}es come in many different varieties -- and at the end of the day, all they want is power, and they get it by putting other people down.
--->"Anyone can play the game, but the only way to win is to not play at all..."

* AdamWesting: Usually, when an actor engages in this they're playing a CloudCuckooLander variation of themselves. Mara Wilson's idea (at least when it comes to Channel Awesome) of this is to [[MemeticMutation WIELD UNHOLY POWERS FROM BEYOND OUR REALM!!]]

* ShipTease: Not above giving "the [[SlashFic slash-ficcers]] more material" (her words), though you really need ShippingGoggles to see it.[[note]]The incident she was referring to is during the "Nostalgic Foods" episode of ''WebVideo/TheNostalgiaChick'' where she and Nella recreate the famous SpaghettiKiss scene from ''WesternAnimation/LadyAndTheTramp'' with a Fruit by the Foot.[[/note]]

Wilson rose to prominence as a child actor in [[TheNineties '90s]] films, and is best known as the titular character in [[Film/{{Matilda}} the feature film adaptation]] of Creator/RoaldDahl's ''Literature/{{Matilda}}'', Susan Walker in ''Film/MiracleOn34thStreet'', Natalie Hillard in ''Film/MrsDoubtfire'', Annabel Greening in ''Film/ASimpleWish'', and Lily Stone in ''WesternAnimation/ThomasAndTheMagicRailroad''. She retired from film acting shortly after her appearance in ''Magic Railroad'' after coming to the conclusion that, in her own words, "film acting is not very fun"[[note]]to elaborate a bit, she stated that she found the experience of directors making her "[do] the same thing over and over again" until she gave a performance to their liking to be creatively stifling[[/note]].

[[caption-width-right:340:From an adorable child actor to a witty writer and storyteller.]]

[[quoteright:340:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Mara_Then_Now_1380.png]][[caption-width-right:340:From an adorable child actor,[softreturn]to a witty writer and storyteller.]]

* AnAesop: A couple of chapters in the autobiography of FormerChildStar Creator/MaraWilson have a moral in them:

Following this decision, Wilson entered stage acting. She returned to on-screen acting in 2012 with a focus on web series, notably appearing on several Website/ChannelAwesome shows where she reprised her role of Matilda as an adult for WebVideo/TheNostalgiaChick's review of the film and revealed that she has unholy powers that she will use to punish those who blindly mock her. (According to [[WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall Linkara]], she obtained these powers from [[{{God}} God Himself]].)

Following this decision, Wilson entered stage acting. She returned to on-screen acting in 2012 with a focus on web series, notably appearing on several Website/ChannelAwesome shows where she reprised her role of Matilda as an adult for WebVideo/TheNostalgiaChick's review of the film and revealed that she has unholy powers that she will use to punish those who blindly mock her. (According to [[WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall Linkara]], she obtained these powers from {{God}} Himself.)

Evidently, she's well aware of the existence of Website/TVTropes, too, [[https://web.archive.org/web/20200130220333/http://marawilsonwritesstuff.com/top-girl-the-game-for-everyone/ mentioning]] ArtisticLicensePhysics (back when [[Administrivia/RenamedTropes it was known as]] You Fail Physics Forever) [[https://web.archive.org/web/20200122093136/http://marawilsonwritesstuff.com/an-essay-about-me-by-jenny-donoghue/ and]] CloudCuckoolander, as well as a tendency to check this page. (Hi, Mara! We're happy you exist!)

Wilson rose to prominence as a child actor in [[TheNineties '90s]] films, and is best known as the titular character in the feature film adaptation of Creator/RoaldDahl's ''Film/{{Matilda}}'', Susan Walker in ''Film/MiracleOn34thStreet'', Natalie Hillard in ''Film/MrsDoubtfire'', Annabel Greening in ''Film/ASimpleWish'', and Lily Stone in ''WesternAnimation/ThomasAndTheMagicRailroad''. She retired from film acting shortly after her appearance in ''Magic Railroad'' after coming to the conclusion that, in her own words, "film acting is not very fun"[[note]]to elaborate a bit, she stated that she found the experience of directors making her "[do] the same thing over and over again" until she gave a performance to their liking to be creatively stifling[[/note]].

Wilson rose to prominence as a child actor in [[TheNineties '90s]] films, and is best known as the titular character in the feature film adaptation of Roald Dahl's ''Film/{{Matilda}}'', Susan Walker in ''Film/MiracleOn34thStreet'', Natalie Hillard in ''Film/MrsDoubtfire'', Annabel Greening in ''Film/ASimpleWish'', and Lily Stone in ''WesternAnimation/ThomasAndTheMagicRailroad''. She retired from film acting shortly after her appearance in ''Magic Railroad'' after coming to the conclusion that, in her own words, "film acting is not very fun"[[note]]to elaborate a bit, she stated that she found the experience of directors making her "[do] the same thing over and over again" until she gave a performance to their liking to be creatively stifling[[/note]].

** She turned down the script for ''Barney's Great Adventure''.

[[quoteright:340:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Mara_Then_Now_1380.png]][[caption-width-right:340:From an adorable child actor,[softreturn]to a witty writer and storyteller.[[note]][[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V78TuxiiYTU&t=19m45s And she wields unholy powers from beyond our realm!]][[/note]]]]

* ''WesternAnimation/BigHero6TheSeries'': Liv Amara and [[spoiler:her clone Diane]]

-->-- WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic

Mara Elizabeth Wilson (born July 24, 1987 in Burbank, California) is an American actress and writer. She gained fame in several films in TheNineties (best known as the titular character in the feature film adaptation of Roald Dahl's ''Film/{{Matilda}}'' and Lily Stone in the first ''WesternAnimation/ThomasAndFriends'' feature film ''WesternAnimation/ThomasAndTheMagicRailroad''), but decided to leave when she realized "film acting is not very fun", in her own words.

She still works in entertainment, but as a playwright after graduating from NYU. She also writes a blog, "[[https://mara.substack.com/ Shan’t We Tell The Vicar?]]", to which she often posts humorous stories and the like. Her [[https://twitter.com/marawilson Twitter feed]] is similarly humorous. She's [[http://www.cracked.com/members/MaraWilson/ also written]] for Website/{{Cracked}}.

She has also done guest spots on Website/ThatGuyWithTheGlasses, revealing that she has unholy powers that she will use to punish those who blindly mock her. According to [[WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall Linkara]], she obtained these powers from {{God}} Himself.

She also has a recurring role on ''Podcast/WelcomeToNightVale'' as The Faceless Old Woman Who Secretly Lives In Your Home, and released her first book ''Where Am I Now?: True Stories of Girlhood and Accidental Fame'' in 2016.

!!Associated Tropes:

* DueToTheDead: [[http://marawilsonwritesstuff.com/remembering-robin/ Her essay "Remembering Robin"]], written to honor the late Robin Williams.

* [[IAmNotSpock I Am Not Matilda]]: Apparently, people she encounters still call her Film/{{Matilda}}, prompting her to remind them that Matilda doesn't exist. She's been at some pains to emphasize that her overly perky, precocious film characters are quite different from her real personality, even back then. But she has said that Matilda was very close to her real personality, which is one of the reasons she wanted to play her in the first place.

* IAmNotSpock: Apparently, people she encounters still call her Film/{{Matilda}}, prompting her to remind them that Matilda doesn't exist. She's been at some pains to emphasize that her overly perky, precocious film characters are quite different from her real personality, even back then. But she has said that Matilda was very close to her real personality, which is one of the reasons she wanted to play her in the first place.

** She has mentioned many times on her Twitter account, as well as ''Where Am I Now?'', of auditioning for many of the roles that would eventually go to a younger Creator/KristenStewart, including ''Film/CatchThatKid''.