Matilda star Mara Wilson reveals why she quit acting

Mara Wilson has taken to her blog to explain why the 'Matilda' actress quit acting.

In a recent post titled ‘Are you still acting?!’, the former child actress, who won plaudits for her performance in 'Matilda', branded the celebrity culture around films as “ridiculous” and the auditioning process as “brutal and dehumanising”.

Having starred in huge hits from the Nineties such as 'Mrs Doubtfire', 'Matilda' and 'Miracle On 34th Street', Wilson also took a swipe at Hollywood's preoccupation with looks whilst downplaying her own ability.

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“I think that there are many much more talented, much more conventionally attractive actresses out there who are taking the roles I would have been offered. To paraphrase the showtune, anything I can do, Anna Kendrick or Ellen Page or Jennifer Lawrence (or any actress from the plethora of actresses waiting to be “discovered”) can do better.”

Wilson says she still gets recognised as the seven-year-old from 'Matilda', even though she is now a 24-year-old playwright who recently attended New York University to study art.

Watch the trailer for the 'Matilda' DVD starring Mara Wilson

“I get messages on my Facebook and Twitter nearly every day from people telling me that I was in their favourite movie. Matilda has been name-checked by librarians and feminist bloggers-alike, and I’m flattered, though the compliment does not seem to be mine to receive”

“Here is something no real celebrity will ever tell you: film acting is not very fun. Doing the same thing over and over again until, in the director’s eyes, you “get it right,” does not allow for very much creative freedom.

 “There is a saying amongst actors, said by Stella Adler or Uta Hagen or some other guru of the dramatic arts, ‘If you can live without [acting], you should.’ I have found that I can live without it.”