Danielle Fishel says setting boundaries on Girl Meets World led to criticism

Former child star Danielle Fishel says she was labelled “difficult” after setting personal boundaries while working on Girl Meets World, the sequel to Boy Meets World.

Speaking on the I Choose Me with Jennie Garth podcast, Fishel said that as a child actor on Boy Meets World (1993–2000), she tried to be easy to work with and rarely challenged producers. She said this led to people believing they could tell her what to do without objection.

When she returned for Girl Meets World in 2015 as both an actor and producer, Fishel said she was more confident about expressing her opinions and raising concerns privately when something made her uncomfortable.

According to Fishel, some colleagues reacted by saying she had “gone crazy” because she had “rules and boundaries” about how people could speak to, touch and interact with her.

She admitted the criticism made her question whether she was being difficult, but ultimately decided she could not ignore her own comfort and values. Fishel also reflected that there were times she wondered if she had overstepped, although she noted she was a producer on the series and felt responsible for speaking up, especially when it involved protecting children.