The former child star is known for movies such as “Matilda” and “Mrs. Doubtfire.”

Mara Wilson reveals what keeps her from returning to Hollywood 2 decades after ‘Matilda’: ‘I don’t really want to do that’

The former child star is known for movies such as "Matilda" and "Mrs. Doubtfire."

By Marina Watts

Marina Watts

Marina Watts is a news writer for with seven years experience covering entertainment, pop culture and celebrity news. Her previous work appears in PEOPLE, Bustle and Newsweek.

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May 26, 2026 3:34 p.m. ET

Mara Wilson in 'Matilda'; Mara Wilson. Credit:

- In a new interview, Mara Wilson admits what is holding her back from returning to Hollywood.

- Since taking a hiatus from acting from 2001-2012, Wilson focuses more on voice work, such as web series, audibooks, and podcasts.

- “To me, it feels like theater because it's not as literal as being in a movie," she said of recording audiobooks.

** Mara Wilson is happier off screen.

The former child star reveals she contemplated returning to Hollywood while discussing her audiobook work with PEOPLE. Wilson, who is known for *Matilda* and *Mrs. Doubtfire* among other films, isn't comfortable with what might be required for the silver screen at her age.

She says she does get asked about a cinematic comeback, but won't get anyone's hopes up.

"And I say, ‘Well, look, there aren't always roles for women of my specific age and my specific looks and demographic and everything. And I would really have to change myself a lot to be able to fit into Hollywood's mold and I don't really want to do that,'" she told PEOPLE of how she responds when asked about acting again.**

Mara Wilson in Hollywood in May 2019.

Araya Doheny/Getty

She took a hiatus from acting in 2000 and began doing mainly voice work in 2012, including web series, podcasts and audiobooks. "I love that you can be anything,” she gushed about the latter. “I love that you get to play all the characters.”

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Growing up, Wilson's "first love was storytelling." "All I ever wanted to do was tell stories, write stories and perform stories. . . . So I think that it makes sense to me that my job now is storytelling."**

The cast of 'Matilda': Where are they now?

Pierce Brosnan and 'Mrs. Doubtfire' child stars reunite 25 years later

**Wilson has read about 70 audiobooks thus far in her career and appreciates how she can be anything while in the recording booth, using different voices acting as different characters. "I've played criminals, I've played a nun, I've played Tinkerbell," she said. “To me, it feels like theater because it's not as literal as being in a movie."

In her 2016 memoir, *Where Am I Now?*, she reflected on comparing herself to contemporary child stars such as Lacey Chabert, Hilary Duff, Scarlett Johansson, and Kristen Stewart she would see on "magazine covers looking immaculate." "It was fine, I told myself. That was never going to be me, anyway.”

Mara Wilson in 'Miracle on 34th Street'.

Wilson no longer sees them as potential rivals, especially after stepping back from the industry.

“It’s funny, but I don’t [wonder where I’d be] if I’d stayed acting,” she wrote. “I think way more about what would have happened if I’d gotten out earlier than I do about what would have happened if I’d stayed in. I don’t know who I would be if I had stayed in. I would be totally different. I might be miserable. I think that I probably wouldn’t be super successful.”

Wilson's latest audiobook reading, *Wombat Waiting* by Katherine Applegate, is available wherever books are sold.

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