Danielle Fishel – Gamebox Princess

Danielle Fishel

Gamebox Princess

by Jay S. Jacobs

Danielle Fishel has grown up before our eyes. In seven seasons of ABC’s beloved TGIF sitcom Boy Meets World, she played Topanga Lawrence, the sweet and beautiful girlfriend of Cory Matthews (Ben Savage), the boy who was, indeed, meeting the world.

Since the series went off the air in 2000, Fishel has done some low-budget independent films like Longshot and Dorm Daze 1 & 2, hosted a sports talk show and also works as a correspondent on The Tyra Banks Show.

Fishel’s latest film release is Gamebox 1.0 – a thriller about a video game tester (played by Nate Richert, another TGIF veteran who played boyfriend Harvey on Sabrina the Teenaged Witch) who drowns his sorrow about the killing of his girlfriend in a video haze. When he is sent a mysterious and strangely realistic new console, he realizes that this game is for his life. Fishel plays both the murdered girlfriend Kate and Princess, her video-gaming counterpart.

As Gamebox 1.0 was gearing up for its video release, Fishel was nice enough to check in with us and let us know about the movie and what it’s like to come of age in front of the camera.

You have been acting since you were about ten. How did you get started?

When I was in elementary school, there was a girl who was a couple of years older than me who came to school one day and said that she had gotten an agent, and she was going to be a model. I thought she was really pretty and just really cool, basically. So I decided that I wanted to do the same thing. I went home and told my mom that I wanted to be a model, and she told me, “Well, you can’t. You’re only two and a half feet tall.” (laughs) So I went back to school and I was disappointed, and I told my little friend I can’t be a model. I’m too short. She said, “Oh, my agent is going to put me on TV, too. I don’t think you have to be tall to be on TV.” So that was basically it. I went home and decided you don’t have to be tall to be on TV, mom and that’s what I want to do. For about a year I begged her to let me start auditioning and get an agent. Finally she relented. (laughs again)

You’re probably still best known for your role of Topanga on Boy Meets World. What was it like to be a part of the show and how surreal was it to be part of the show at the height of popularity?

It was great. It was definitely, probably going to be always the most cherished memory of my childhood. We spent a long time together, from twelve to nineteen, so most of my very formative years were spent with those people. They are like family to me. Yeah, I guess it was kind of surreal. Although, I guess when you start acting at ten and by the time you’re sixteen or seventeen you’re on the cover of magazines, you’re kind prepared for it. You’re aware what you’re getting into from the very beginning. I think it was actually more surreal for the people I was going to school with. They just saw me as being regular old Danielle, and yet other people saw me as being somebody else. That’s interesting.

Is it hard as a former child actress to get people to take you seriously as an adult? Do you see casting directors who still look at you as Topanga?

Yeah, I do think that is something that is pretty difficult. People have a tendency to get locked into something. Once they categorize you as something, they want to hold onto that. So, yeah, breaking out of that… and I also have the downfall in this industry of looking still very, very young, which doesn’t help, either. If I looked drastically different than I did on Boy Meets World that would potentially help. But I don’t, my face still looks exactly the same. I did change my hair color, which I’m hoping helps. I decided to go brunette. Hopefully, that will help people think of me differently.

If you weren’t acting, what do you think you’d be doing?

Then I would be in school or by now would have probably graduated and I’d be teaching.

Just a decade ago sitcoms like yours were huge. Nowadays the art form seems to have been pretty much left behind for reality TV. As an actress, does that limit your opportunities?

Absolutely. I mean as an actress you either need to broaden the scope of things you’re willing to do and open that door into possibly doing reality TV, or you need to move entirely into film – which is difficult for me, because I absolutely love doing sitcoms. I hope that someday the sitcom craze will come back. I’m not a fan of reality TV. (laughs) I’m actually ready for that to be over. I do hope that [sitcoms come back] at some point in time, especially family comedies… I think we’re really lacking those on TV these days.

On the other hand, many older series like Boy Meets World are now released on DVD. How nice is it that all your old work is coming back and so easy to get ahold of? Do you ever watch any of the old shows?

I do. I mean I don’t have it set on my TiVo because I’ve seen them all, obviously. But if I happen to be flipping through the channels or it’s late at night and I’m looking for something to watch, I will always go and check the Disney Channel to see if it’s on. I know it’s on several times a day. Especially the older ones, when I was a kid. It’s kind of like popping in an old home movie for me. So I do enjoy watching it when they come on.

Since Boy Meets World, you have done some straight-to-video movies – like Gamebox 1.0 and the Dorm Daze movies. How different is it working on films than on TV?

You know, it’s less stress I guess considering the amount of time, but when we’ve done these independent movies – the Dorm Daze and Gamebox – we filmed them all within three weeks or a month, working about sixteen to eighteen hours a day. So there is a lot of stress while putting them together. And, you know, it feels kind of chopped up, because when you’re filming a movie, you certainly don’t film it in the proper order that you’re filming. So you always feel like you are portraying pieces of the character. You don’t feel like you’re really feel like you get to feel the full scope of the character at any one time. So that’s a little bit different. Especially doing Gamebox in front of a green screen. That was an entirely different experience.

Yeah, I was just going to say, Gamebox 1.0 must have been weird to film, because the great majority of your scenes were in a computer animated world. Did you have to do the whole thing on a green screen and just imagine what was going on and how hard was that to do?

Yeah, we did basically. You just do the entire thing on a green screen. It was definitely a little bit more difficult to have to use my imagination so much. I don’t really consider myself to be a very imaginative person, so I really had to really rely on the other actors and to rely on my directors to let me know what exactly was going on so that I could picture it with every emotion. That coupled with the fact that playing a video game character – you know, video game characters don’t have many facial expressions. I act a lot with my facial expressions. I had to this time get everything, all the emotions through with just my eyes. So that was also a challenge.

You were also essentially playing two separate characters – the girlfriend Kate in flashbacks and the computer character Princess. How interesting was it to be able to put a slightly different stamp on both – but still having to have a basic similarity?

Yeah, that was really interesting for me. It was definitely a fun challenge. I really liked being able to, after weeks of playing Princess being able to do the small amount of scenes I have as Kate, because I felt I could use my face again. (laughs) You know, when you’re a real person, I could actually smile big and just use my face, which made Kate seem real fun. There is a lot less of Kate in the movie than there is of Princess, though.

Danielle Fishel and Nate Richert in "Gamebox 1.0"

Is it a coincidence that you and Nate – who were both love interests in TGIF shows – were cast together? Did you know him from the old days?

Yes, I had met Nate from years before when we would do different ABC events and things. I had known him before, but we certainly weren’t friends or anything. We were acquaintances. And, yeah, I don’t know if that was a casting choice that they made purposely. I know they had worked with Nate before on some films and knew that he was a very professional, hard-working actor. They had worked with me before as well and I believe they felt the same way about me. It’s important, especially when you’re doing a movie that is going to be entirely green screen, you’d better be working with people that you like, because, you don’t have a lot of other distractions.

Gamebox 1.0 was actually filmed a few years ago. How does it feel now that it is finally coming out?

Well, I’m just so happy to see the final result. Starting from three years ago when we did the movie, we had no idea what the final outcome was going to be. We’ve only been able to get bits and pieces up until this point. So, thinking about it, working on it, and imagining what it was going to turn out like, it really has lived up to all of our expectations.

Gamebox is essentially about the danger of people living in a fantasy world and refusing to face reality. How did that theme resonate for you?

It definitely resonates with me. I’m always saying to people in different situations, you just can’t look at it that way. This is difficult, especially nowadays, where life is just really harder – especially for kids – than it was way back even when I was a kid, or when my parents were kids. Life continues to get harder. You can’t just drown yourself in a video game or continue to go see movies or watch TV or do whatever you want to escape all the time. I think that’s why nowadays there are so many more kids who are taking pills and self-medicating, because they are just trying to escape reality. It’s kind of a sad state.

You had mostly done comic roles in the past, but Gamebox is pretty dramatic. Do you prefer to do comedy or drama? Which is harder for you?

Oh, gosh, I really can’t say I have a preference of either one. When I first started acting, I considered myself a more dramatic actress. Comedy was not something that came so easily to me. But then, after a small amount of time being on Boy Meets World and learning things from my other comedic actors and learning things from the executive producers and producers I had on that show, comedy now just comes so easily to me. So, I really can’t say that I have a preference. I really enjoy them both. I would say I think comedy does come easier to me now.

I saw an old quote from you on the internet which said you don’t drink, you don’t smoke, you don’t do drugs. You Shop. Still true?

Well, you know, that was taken twelve years ago. I was fourteen at the time.

Yeah, I figured it was probably pretty old. I have to admit most of the stuff I found about you on the internet seemed kind of outdated. Stuff like favorite bands – Counting Crows and the Cardigans....

I know! I’m like, oh my gosh! Does nobody update anything? It’s so weird. People bring that quote up to me all the time and will use it against me.

I’m sorry; I didn’t mean it that way…

By no means do I have a drinking problem. Yes, I do drink. I especially love a glass of red wine with Italian food. I actually did smoke for a long time, but I quit about five-and-a-half months ago. I certainly do not do drugs. Have never done drugs. So, that’s something I did stick with. (laughs) And I still do shop. Absolutely!

Lately you’ve been working as a special correspondent on The Tyra Banks Show. You’ve also done a show for sports radio. What are those like? Do you enjoy getting into a totally different part of show biz?

I am, absolutely. Especially, like we were talking about before, with there being so much reality TV out there, you know with the things I like to do – there are just really not that many options out there. So, I had to kind of branch out and figure out other things I love. One of my major passions was sports – still is sports – so I had that opportunity to work for the cable radio network. I hosted a sports show for them for quite a while. Then my schedule kind of got out of control and I had to stop doing that. Being a correspondent for The Tyra Banks Show has been amazing. I really admire her and respect her, and she works with such an amazing group of people. That’s been a really fun experience for me. It’s entirely new, being a correspondent. I’ve always loved the idea of talk shows. I’m able to be myself, instead of being a character. She’s really given me a wonderful opportunity to be a part of her family there.

What would people be surprised to know about you?

I don’t know. I think that people would probably be surprised to know that I’m really a very huge homebody. I have a very small amount of friends. I maybe have five friends, literally. I’m not close to anybody else in the entertainment industry. I don’t even live in LA. I completely avoid that entire celebrity scene. I think that surprises most people. I think people think I live this really glamorous life, but I basically run around in my sweats and cook dinner, run errands, and clean my house. (laughs) That’s the extent of my life.

Ideally, how would you like people to see your career?

I don’t know. I really don’t feel like I’ve created too much of a career up to this point. I think Boy Meets World was amazing and by far the staple of my career. I’d like to think I’m going to have several more staples that I’m in the process of creating. So, I don’t know. Maybe in thirty years ask me how I’d like for people to perceive my career.

Are there any misconceptions you’d like to clear up?

Well, for one, the "I don’t drink, I don’t smoke, I don’t do drugs, I shop." I think a lot of the things that people think about me are things that people heard me say when I was a very early teenager. So if anything, I’d just like people to realize that people grow up and people change. You evolve as a person.

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MKTO

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Danielle Fishel – Gamebox Princess

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