Mara Wilson continues to be remembered for starring in the 1996 film Matilda, the Danny DeVito-directed film based on Roald Dahl’s 1988 novel of the same name.
While attending the Fanboy Expo in Tennessee, Wilson opened up about a potential sequel to the fantasy film and why she didn’t like being associated with the character when she was younger.
“People always ask me about doing a Matilda 2. And that could be possible,” she said, according to People.
Although Wilson is open to the idea of a follow-up to the film, she does question how they would make it happen.
“But one thing that people always say is, ‘Oh, maybe it could be Matilda’s daughter.’ And I have some issues with that, because I think Matilda’s powers come from her adversity,” Wilson said at the expo. “They come from the bad things that she went through, and the whole point is that she overcame these things. And she found power in educating herself and in making friends with these people who were really lovely.”
She continued, “And so I don’t think Matilda would raise her daughter to be in a position where she developed those powers to protect herself.”
Wilson also raised up the question as to who would marry Matilda, adding, “Who’s good enough for Matilda? Matilda’s such an awesome character that I can’t imagine who she would marry and have kids with, you know?”
Before starring in Matilda, Wilson also starred in 1993’s Mrs. Doubtfire and 1994’s Miracle on 34th Street. However, after starring in Matilda, people started to refer to her by her character’s name, which she wasn’t initially fond of.
“I used to be a little annoyed when people would call me Matilda because I was like, ‘No, I’m Mara. It felt almost a little bit like being called by your sister’s name — your much cooler, smarter sister’s name. And I was like, oh, no, I’m not as cool as she is,” she recalled.
Wilson remembered Carrie Fisher once said, “I feel like me and Princess Leia have kind of merged over the years,” and Wilson said that she “sort of feels like that too.”
“I feel like Matilda has been a character that I looked up to, and Matilda would do things that I do. She would talk about mental health. She would talk about books. She would be working. She would be writing, she would be loving books and doing stuff for public libraries and things like that. And I do all of those things. Those things are very important to me,” she added. “So Matilda has really taught me a lot of good lessons. And I think I’ve become a lot like her in my own way.”
