Danielle Fishel has opened up about her difficult experience filming “Girl Meets World.” The actress returned to the franchise years after starring in “Boy Meets World.” She revealed that setting workplace boundaries, including asking her coworkers not to hug her, led to tension and gossip on set.
Danielle Fishel recalls backlash after asking coworkers not to hug her
According to Variety, Fishel said her approach to workplace boundaries had changed in the years between the original sitcom and its sequel. She recalled that playful interactions during her teenage years on “Boy Meets World” no longer felt appropriate when she returned at 32. “I then started creating boundaries. And those boundaries apparently made me ‘difficult,’” she said.
Fishel noticed that some colleagues became uncomfortable around her and dismissed her suggestions during production. She also recalled people rolling their eyes when she raised concerns. Initially, the actress did not realize how negatively others were speaking about her behind her back.
During the show’s second season, someone told Fishel that executive producer Michael Jacobs had been calling her “crazy” to others on set. Disney also had a policy against employees hugging each other on set, and Fishel asked her coworkers not to hug her. She felt that regular physical contact was unnecessary at work. “People respected it. But you would have thought I said, ‘I don’t want anyone to look me in the eyes anymore,’” she recalled.
Fishel admitted that the tensions made the workplace increasingly exhausting. She felt that everyone was talking about and judging her. The actress also criticized storylines she felt were inappropriate for the show’s young audience. She repeatedly urged Jacobs to consider different creative directions while emphasizing the importance of maintaining the original series’ legacy.
“Book Meets World: The Definitive Inside Story of the Hit Sitcom Boy Meets World,” written by Fishel, Rider Strong, Will Friedle and Variety’s Emily Longeretta, offers a behind-the-scenes account of the original sitcom and its sequel. The book is scheduled for release on Nov. 10.
