In a May 2023 interview with The Guardian, actor and author Mara Wilson said she felt sexualised as a child by the wider public, despite generally feeling safe on film sets. She described receiving inappropriate letters and finding sexualised online material made with her likeness. Wilson was speaking as she discussed her short-form memoir, Good Girls Don’t.
What Mara Wilson said about being sexualised as a child
Wilson told The Guardian that adults sent her inappropriate letters and posted things about her online. She recalled Googling herself at 12 and encountering material she “couldn’t unsee.” The interview reports that her photograph appeared on porn sites with her head superimposed onto other girls’ bodies. Wilson’s account describes what happened to her; it should not be generalized to every child actor. Read the interview with Wilson in The Guardian (May 15, 2023).
She also recalled journalists asking her sexualised questions when she was seven, including whether she knew what French kissing was and which actor she found “sexiest.” Such questions sat alongside the pressure to appear like the cheerful, perfect child audiences associated with her best-known role.
Wilson’s distinction between film sets and the wider public
Wilson said, “I always felt safe on film sets.” She did recall occasional “sketchy, questionable” conduct around her, including adults telling dirty jokes or sexually harassing others in front of her. She also remembered adults asking her about overtime instead of directing the question to her parents. Her distinction was that the sexualisation she experienced came from “the world at large,” rather than from the people she worked with.
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Child fame, grief and growing up in public
Wilson became widely known through family films including Mrs Doubtfire, Miracle on 34th Street and Matilda. Her childhood fame coincided with her mother’s death from breast cancer and intrusive press attention. In the Guardian interview, Wilson reflected on grief, anger, self-image and the difficulty of forming an identity while fans continued to associate her with Matilda.
She also discussed her acting career slowing after puberty and the effort to move beyond expectations attached to her childhood roles. The interview reports that Wilson recalled a psychiatrist diagnosing her with OCD and saying she could have PTSD; this is the interview’s account of her recollection, not an independent assessment here.
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What Good Girls Don’t is about
Good Girls Don’t is a short-form memoir about the “good girl” role, Wilson’s childhood acting, friendships, adolescence and family relationships. The Guardian described its original release as an ebook and audiobook exclusive to Scribd when the interview appeared in May 2023. NetGalley’s archived catalog record identifies it as a Scribd Original, categorized under Biographies & Memoirs, with a publication date of April 19, 2023. Those records do not establish current platform or retailer availability. View the archived NetGalley catalog record.
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