Boy Meets World Star Danielle Fishel opens up about being viewed as a teen sex object

Danielle Fishel rose to fame as a child star. The actress is famous for her role as Topanga Lawrence on the hit ABC sitcom Boy Meets World. Fishel played Cory Matthews’ friend and love interest for seven seasons.

Fishel not only won the heart of Ben Savage’s character, but she also garnered legions of fans. While Fishel’s career as a teen star made her famous, it also had certain drawbacks.

Danielle Fishel felt it was wrong to be treated as a teen object.

Like many teen stars, Fishel’s face graced the covers of magazines, posters, and calendars. As her career skyrocketed, so did her male fan base. Many of Fishel’s fans developed crushes on the young star, who received some inappropriate comments from men.

In the latest episode of her podcast Pod Meets World, Fishel shared her thoughts on the situation.

"“As a kid, I always wanted to be older. I always wanted to be an adult. I wanted to be an adult. I wanted to be seen as an adult. So getting male attention as a teenage girl felt- I didn’t think of it as being creepy or weird. I felt like it was validation that I was mature and I was an adult and I was capable and that they were seeing me the way I was, not for the number on a page. And in hindsight, that is absolutely wrong.”"

Fishel went on to explain comments from fans who said they couldn’t wait until her 18th birthday. The actress also revealed that a male executive revealed he had her calendar in his bedroom.

"“I should not have been outwardly talked about at 14, 15, 16 years old. And I was, even directly to me.”"

Fishel opened up about how the experiences affected her ability to maintain relationships. The actress divorced Tim Belusko in March 2016 after nearly three years of marriage. In November 2018, she married producer Jensen Karp, with whom she has two sons.