Danielle Fishel calls her 'Girl Meets World' role ‘insignificant’ because of Ben Savage

Danielle Fishel says 'Girl Meets World' focused too much on Ben Savage instead of its young stars and newer characters

Danielle Fishel has criticised Girl Meets World for focusing too heavily on Ben Savage’s character, Cory Matthews, rather than the younger cast members the series was originally meant to centre on.

Fishel, who played Topanga Lawrence in both Boy Meets World and its Disney Channel sequel, discussed the issue while rewatching Girl Meets World with Will Friedle and Rider Strong for their Pod Meets World podcast.

During the September 3 episode, Friedle said the series initially struggled to establish its identity and argued that it should have embraced its younger characters and lighter Disney Channel tone. Strong agreed, saying the friendship between the young characters was one of the show’s strongest elements.

Fishel said she believed Girl Meets World “should have been” a kids’ show focused on its new generation. The actress explained that she expected her role to be smaller because the series centred on Rowan Blanchard’s Riley Matthews and her friends, including Sabrina Carpenter’s Maya Hart.

However, Fishel said her role became insignificant because so much of the story was given to Cory. She recalled being told that the sequel would be about its new characters in the same way Boy Meets World had focused on its original young cast.

Fishel also claimed that the original series was repeatedly brought into the sequel, despite earlier discussions that Girl Meets World would be a new show rather than a reboot.

Girl Meets World premiered on Disney Channel in 2014 and ran for three seasons before ending in 2017. Boy Meets World ran for seven seasons from 1993 to 2000.