In the early 1990s, the world fell in love with the adorable Mara Wilson, the child actor known for playing the precocious little girl in family classics like Mrs. Doubtfire and Miracle on 34th Street.
The young star, who turned 37 on July 24, seemed poised for success but as she grew older, she stopped being “cute” and disappeared from the big screen.
“Hollywood was burned out on me,” she says, adding that “if you’re not cute anymore, if you’re not beautiful, then you are worthless.
In 1993, five-year-old Mara Wilson stole the hearts of millions of fans when she starred as Robin Williams’ youngest child in Mrs. Doubtfire.
The California-born star had previously appeared in commercials when she received the invitation to star in one of the biggest-grossing comedies in Hollywood history.
“My parents were proud, but they kept me grounded. If I ever said something like, ‘I’m the greatest!’ my mother would remind me, ‘You’re just an actor. You’re just a kid,’” Wilson, now 37, said.
After her big screen debut, she won the role of Susan Walker – the same role played by Natalie Wood in 1947 – in 1994’s Miracle on 34th Street.
In an essay for the Guardian, Wilson writes of her audition, “I read my lines for the production team and told them I didn’t believe in Santa Claus.” Referencing the Oscar-winning actor who played her mom in Mrs. Doubtfire, she continues, “but I did believe in the tooth fairy and had named mine after Sally Field.”
‘Most unhappy’
Next, Wilson played the magical girl in 1996’s Matilda, starring alongside Danny DeVito and his real-life wife Rhea Perlman.
It was also the same year her mother, Suzie, lost her battle with breast cancer.
“I didn’t really know who I was…There was who I was before that, and who I was after that. She was like this omnipresent thing in my life,” Wilson says of the deep grief she experienced after losing her mother. She adds, “I found it kind of overwhelming. Most of the time, I just wanted to be a normal kid, especially after my mother died.”
The young girl was exhausted and when she was “very famous,” she says she “was the most unhappy.”
When she was 11, she begrudgingly played her last major role in the 2000 fantasy adventure film Thomas and the Magic Railroad. “The characters were too young. At 11, I had a visceral reaction to [the] script…Ugh, I thought. How cute,” she tells the Guardian.
‘Burned out’
But her exit from Hollywood wasn’t only her decision.
As a young teenager, the roles weren’t coming in for Wilson, who was going through puberty and outgrowing the “cute.”
She was “just another weird, nerdy, loud girl with bad teeth and bad hair, whose bra strap was always showing.”
“At 13, no one had called me cute or mentioned the way I looked in years, at least not in a positive way,” she says.
Wilson was forced to deal with the pressures of fame and the challenges of transitioning to adulthood in the public eye. Her changing image had a profound effect on her.
“I had this Hollywood idea that if you’re not cute anymore, if you’re not beautiful, then you are worthless. Because I directly tied that to the demise of my career. Even though I was sort of burned out on it, and Hollywood was burned out on me, it still doesn’t feel good to be rejected.”
Mara as the writer
Wilson, now a writer, authored her first book “Where Am I Now? True Stories of Girlhood and Accidental Fame,” in 2016.
The book discusses “everything from what she learned about sex on the set of Melrose Place, to discovering in adolescence that she was no longer ‘cute’ enough for Hollywood, these essays chart her journey from accidental fame to relative (but happy) obscurity.”
She also wrote “Good Girls Don’t” a memoir that examines her life as a child actor living up to expectations.
“Being cute just made me miserable,” she writes in her essay for the Guardian. “I had always thought it would be me giving up acting, not the other way around.”
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The Cow Math Puzzle: A Brain Teaser for the Curious Mind
Have you heard about the latest math problem with a cow that has been trending on Twitter a lot? This brainteaser has people arguing about the right answer because of its charming cottage aesthetic. So let’s get started and try to figure it out together!
The Enigma: A Bovine and Several Figures
The puzzle goes like this:
So, what is the right response?
Assuming you have been paying attention, you may have guessed it already. This arithmetic problem involving cows has a correct solution of $400. Let’s dissect it in detail:
Additional Brain Teasers to Test Your Ability
If you had fun figuring out the cow math puzzle, try your hand at these other brainteasers:
Is It Possible to Identify the Odd Bunny?
Brain puzzles created by artist Gergerly Dudas are renowned for their intricate and visually appealing designs. All the bunnies, save for one, are paired in one of his drawings. Can you identify the outlier?
2. Locate the Perplexing Mouse in the Mushrooms
Look more closely among the fungus in this illustration by Gergely Dudas. Could you locate the elusive rodent?
3. Identify the Error
These clever riddles demonstrate how appearances may be deceiving. Can you identify the error?
Increase Your Cognitive Health Using Brain Teasers
Playing with puzzles such as these has benefits beyond mere amusement. They offer numerous cognitive advantages, such as improving memory, critical thinking, and problem-solving abilities. It helps us maintain our minds flexible and sharp like a mental exercise.
Furthermore, the thrill of solving a difficult problem gives one a sense of accomplishment and confidence boost. So, keep in mind that solving puzzles like Sudoku, riddles, and brainteasers not only gives you a great mental workout but also has a significant positive impact on your general cognitive health.
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