Mara Wilson is opening up about a long-awaited sequel to her classic film Matilda. Speaking at the Fanboy Expo Knoxville in Tennessee, Wilson weighed in on whether fans would ever find out what Matilda was up to as an adult.
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"People always ask me about doing a Matilda 2. And that could be possible," she said. "But one thing that people always say is, 'Oh, maybe it could be Matilda's daughter.' And I have some issues with that, because I think Matilda's powers come from her adversity."
"They come from the bad things that she went through, and the whole point is that she overcame these things. And she found power in educating herself and in making friends with these people who were really lovely ... And so I don't think Matilda would raise her daughter to be in a position where she developed those powers to protect herself," she also added.
Mara Wilson Talks Matilda
So a sequel would really be tricky for both Wilson and the character as well as audiences.
"Also, and this is a tricky question, but who would Matilda marry?" she explained. "Who's good enough for Matilda? Matilda's such an awesome character that I can't imagine who she would marry and have kids with, you know?"
Wilson would also reopen her association with the character. It's something that she has dealt with for years now.
"I used to be a little annoyed when people would call me Matilda because I was like, 'No, I'm Mara. It felt almost a little bit like being called by your sister's name — your much cooler, smarter sister's name. And I was like, oh, no, I'm not as cool as she is," she explained. "You know, Carrie Fisher, who played Princess Leia, she said, 'I feel like me and Princess Leia have kind of merged over the years.' And I sort of feel like that too."
As for what Matilda would be up to today, Wilson has some thoughts.
"I feel like Matilda has been a character that I looked up to, and Matilda would do things that I do. She would talk about mental health. She would talk about books - she would be working - she would be writing, she would be loving books and doing stuff for public libraries and things like that. And I do all of those things. Those things are very important to me," she continued.
