From the World’s Smartest Kid to a Woman Who Walked Away
In the late ’90s, Mara Wilson was a face every millennial knew.
She wasn’t just cute — she was clever, funny, and just a little too real for the camera.
In Matilda (1996), she made telekinesis look easy and rebellion adorable.
For a generation of kids, she was proof that being bookish and bold could actually be cool.
But by her early teens, she was gone from Hollywood.
No dramatic scandal. No meltdown. She simply — vanished.
Now at 38, Mara Wilson is a writer, playwright, voice actor, and outspoken mental-health advocate, looking back at the strange machinery that built and broke child stars like her.
Her story isn’t tragic. It’s human — and oddly healing.