Danielle Fishel charmed audiences for seven seasons while playing the TGIF fan-favorite character, Topanga Lawrence in Boy Meets World. Not only was the character notable for being involved in a TV relationship that defined goals, but Topanga was also loved for being smart and true to herself. While Fishel has taken great pride in her BMW work, she recently mentioned one regret related to her character that, as a fan, I completely sympathize with.
At the beginning of the ABC sitcom, Topanga was introduced as Cory Matthews’ hippie-like classmate whose otherworldly views always sparked great comedic moments. But by the second season, th flower child had an extreme personality change, where she transitioned to an extremely motivated student and later the object of Cory’s affections by Season 3.
In Fishel, Rider Strong, and Will Friedle’s new book, Book Meets World: The Definitive Inside Story of the Hit Sitcom Boy Meets World (via People), she got real about her character's evolution. She explained how she felt about Topanga's trajectory at the time compared to how she feels now:
Teenage Danielle was more comfortable being the more mainstream Topanga because they wrote her more like me. So I probably didn’t have a problem with it then. Now I think, what a gift to be given a character that has such a sharply defined POV, to be so unique and to have been such a good role model. I knew that she was special. But then, when it changed, and she kind of evolved, I don’t think I necessarily knew to mourn it.
I get what the Dancing with the Stars contestant is talking about. When Fishel previously spoke about Topanga’s personality shift, she admitted that she didn’t even notice the change at the time. Looking back, it’s true that the show was focusing a lot on Topanga’s evolving look, like in Season 2 when Shawn was staring at her chest or Cory fixated so much on her beauty in Season 3. I truly believe Topanga’s complete change was when she cut her trademark long hair and started to look more like many other woman of the ‘90s.
While no one formally told the Dish host that her character would deviate from her weird girl persona, she said she remembered hearing a conversation from the crew about wanting to make Topanga “more normal” for Cory. Yet, even in the Season 6 episode, "Resurrection," Cory talked about missing the old Topanga. I feel like Cory would have grown to like the more off-beat version of his eventual partner.
Something that's interesting is hearing Fishel mention that as a teen, she didn't really mind her character being more streamlined and fitting her own personality. She may not have mourned the transition then, but she certainly does now:
Now I see it, and I so mourn it. I would have loved even little flashbacks to it.
That would have been great. Fans see a flashback scene in “Resurrection” of when Topanga put lipstick all over her face but, in the later seasons, I would have liked to have seen Fishel's character retain traits of who she was early on.
At the same time, we can be thankful that no matter who Topanga grew up to be, she remained throughout the series in general. Some may not be aware that she was originally written to be a recurring character. As a result of her sticking around, fans got to see her transform into a confident young woman, who even became an incredible lawyer, wife, and mother in the spinoff series, Girl Meets World.
While Danielle Fishel now regrets having leaned into Topanga’s personality change, I'd argue that her performance on the show still deserves praise. And, of course, we can love the iconic character for who she was when she was first introduced as well as who she grew into by the show’s series finale. You can watch Topanga’s Boy Meets World and Girl Meets World journeys by streaming the sitcoms with a Disney+ subscription.
