Rowan Blanchard Says ‘Girl Meets World’ Cancellation Gave Her ‘More Freedom’

Rowan Blanchard is known for her role as Riley Matthews on Disney Channel’s now-canceled sitcom “Girl Meets World,” but she is becoming more recognized for her political advocacy. While the show put her in the spotlight, she feels as though it’s easier for her to speak out now that she isn’t working for the tween channel.

The 15-year-old is Nylon’s May cover girl. She revealed to the magazine that while she enjoyed her co-workers, the cancellation of “Girl Meets World” isn’t necessarily a sad event for her.

“I feel good about it now in the sense that, as much as I loved my ‘Girl Meets World’ family, working for the Disney Channel is stressful, and I have more freedom to do what I want and talk about what I want without feeling inhibited,” she said.

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She noted that Disney never actually reprimanded her for her political actions, like her Tumblr essay on intersectional feminism or speaking at the Women’s March. “I think they actually figured out somewhere along the line that no matter what they said I wasn’t really going to stop,” she added.

“Girl Meets World,” a spinoff of “Boy Meets World,” ended in January after three seasons. Since the show wrapped, Blanchard has remained close to Disney. She scored a role in Ava DuVernay’s “A Wrinkle in Time,” produced by Walt Disney Studios, and booked a guest arc on “The Goldbergs,” which airs on the Disney-owned ABC.

While she might have more freedom now, it sounds like Blanchard is still grateful for her experience on “GMW.” “My favorite part about being in Girl Meets World was having this amazing camp that I got to go to for four years, where I learned basically 75% of the stuff I know in general,” the actress told Huffington Post’s newsletter The Tea (via M Magazine). “I was allowed to explore and experiment with so many acting choices and so many identities, and that was a really safe space. I don’t think of that as work, I guess what I picture it as is high school.”