The Quiet Years: NYU, Writing, and Rediscovery
In the 2000s, Mara enrolled at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, where she studied writing and theater. She still performed, but only on her terms — off-Broadway, experimental, intimate.
She began to write essays, many of which went viral for their raw honesty.
Her 2016 memoir, Where Am I Now?: True Stories of Girlhood and Accidental Fame, became a cult hit.
The book isn’t bitter. It’s thoughtful. Funny, even.
She recounts the absurdity of being a child star with disarming calm:
“People think it’s glamorous. It’s mostly waiting, memorizing, and pretending you’re not hungry.”
She wrote about her mom, her anxiety, her queerness, her complicated relationship with fame — and how she finally learned to like herself again.