Mara Elizabeth Wilson (created July 24, 1987) is an American writer, playwright, stage performer, voice actress and former child performer. As an actress, she’s famous for her characters as Nattie Hillard in “Mrs. Doubtfire” and Matilda Wormwood in “Matilda”.
After seeing her oldest brother Danny act in advertisements, Wilson had an interest in movie playing in the age of five. Wilson’s movie debut was in the 1993 Mrs. Doubtfire, followed by the 1994 remake of Miracle on 34th Street. In 1995, she won the ShoWest Award for “Young Star of the Year”. Her performances in those movies captured the focus of Danny DeVito and led to her being cast as the titular character in Matilda. She was twice nominated for a Saturn Award for The Best Performance by a Younger Actor for both Matilda and A Simple Wish. Mara auditioned for the 1998 remake of The Parent Trap, but she was regarded as too young for the part. Her appearance in the 2000 movie Thomas and the Magic Railroad was her last major movie role to date. Once Thomas and the Magic Railroad was finished Mara chose to concentrate on school rather than movie playing. At that stage in her career, scripts were being sent to Mara so that she did not have to go to auditions. In 2012 Mara described why she stop movie playing. “Picture playing isn’t so interesting. Doing the same over and over again until, in the director’s eyes, you ‘get it right’, will not allow for very much creative independence. The very best times I ‘d on film sets were the times the director I want to express myself, but those were uncommon.”