Ben, Rider, Danielle and Will were all on hand for
Walt Disney World’s 25th Anniversary celebration.
They even chatted with Tiger Beat in between rides on
The Twilight Zone Tower Of Terror II.
Lake Buena Vista, Florida- Ah, this is the life! It’s a perfectly sunny and warm late fall day
in Walt Disney World and I’m scheduled to meet the cast of Boy Meets World for a
special Tiger Beat interview. Naturally, we’re converging on Hollywood Boulevard-
Disney-MGM Studios’ version of that famous Los Angeles street, anyway. We’re all in
town to kick off Disney’s 15 month celebration of their quarter century as the vacation
capital of the world!
The cast arrives together and it’s pretty obvious from all the laughter and kidding
around that they’re all really good friends. Danielle Fishel is even prettier in person, but
just as sweet as you’d expect. Rider Strong, Ben Savage and Will Friedle are like a
modern day Three Stooges- they’re funny even without a script! Read on and you’ll see.
TIGER BEAT: So, are you guys having fun? ALL TOGETHER: Yeah! TB: Okay, stupid question. Let’s start with a Disney question. What’s everyone’s
favorite ride in all of Disney World? WILL: Tower of Terror! BEN: Tower of Terror! RIDER: Hmmmmm....Tower of Terror. DANIELLE: Tower of Terror, definitely. TB: You don’t mind falling twice? BEN: Three times! They’ve made some changes from when were here a couple of months
ago. RIDER: You fall three times now- and it’s still not enough. TB: Have you done it at night yet? WILL: Yeah, the whole bunch of us rode it three, four times in a row last night. DANIELLE: It was great. We were just hanging on and screaming. TB: Do you guys remember the very first time you visited Disney World? WILL: I was 8 years old and it was 1984. I danced in the fountains at Epcot center. TB: You were in the fountain? WILL: Yep, I remember dancing around in the fountains and getting hit by all the water. I
was only eight, so they let me play.
TB: Ben, how about you? BEN: The first time I was here was only about two years ago when I came out for some
promotional stuff. I loved it because I had a lot of free time. I just did everything. RIDER: That was November on ‘95. Ben and I hosted a Toy Story parade for TV. We
got to dress up as green army men with a group of army men. Then, all the army men
jumped off the float and we ran to the camera and ripped our masks off and introduced
ourselves! TB: How about you, Danielle? DANIELLE: It was last March when we were filming a Boy Meets World episode here. WILL:(sniffs) I remember not getting asked on that. ALL TOGETHER: Awwwwwwwww..... BEN: We are our characters. This is pretty embarrassing. WILL: Every time we do something like this and we see ourselves in print it’s like, ‘I
can’t believe we did that.’ TB: What changes are happening to your characters this year on BMW? WILL: I think the biggest changes for ‘Eric’... BEN: ...is that he’s in love with ‘Shawn!’ (Lots of laughter) WILL:(Elbowing Ben) Eric is starting to get some responsibility. He goes into business
with someone in the family. BEN: Seriously, the episodes so far this year have dealt with more teenage things. They’re
growing up and so are we. RIDER: Shawn’s family life is finally getting better. My dad came back at the end of the
end of last season and my mom’s coming back this season. Actually I think this makes
Shawn less interesting. TB: Really? RIDER: Before, Shawn was the craziest and most insane person on the show, but when
his family comes along, they’re all crazier then he is. So as an actor, I get to play off them
and it makes me more completely normal. It’s fun and something different. TB: Danielle, we know ‘Topanga’ cut her hair... DANIELLE: Yes, she cut her hair and her clothes are changing somewhat. I’m much
happier with that. She was dressing very young and now she’s dressing more with the
times. TB: Was cutting your hair your decision or did the show’s producers suggest it? DANIELLE: It was completely my decision. I wanted to do it since last year they
wouldn’t let me then. TB: That’s right, you can’t really do anything drastic to your appearance without
the show’s okay. WILL: We can’t change anything! TB: I remember you hair was really long last year, Will. WILL: Yeah, they made me cut it. RIDER: Thank God! WILL: I liked my hair! RIDER: Now, he finally looks like a boy again! (Will looks sad) I’m kidding. You looked
fine. (Will looks happy again) TB: This is the fourth season for Boy Meets World. How do you all keep it fresh? BEN: We laugh a lot! Really, we make each other laugh all the time. TB: You guys seem to have fun together. BEN: We always say that it’s important to have fun because sometimes everybody gets a
little uptight on the set. We always want to be sure that we’re having fun. RIDER: Or getting in trouble. WILL: Sometimes when you’ve done a scene so many times, you just have no energy
left. It’s like, and (Ben) will just run up out of nowhere and tackle you and we’ll start
wrestling. BEN: I’d never do that! WILL: Then we’ll laugh about it and the next take will be great because we’ve all let go
of the pressure. TB: Who tends to get the most tense and uptight out of the four of you?(Pause.
Everyone looks at Rider) RIDER: Everyone looks at me! I knew it was coming! WILL: No, we all have moments when we’re really wild and we all have moments that
are really serious. BEN: But Rider does have a lot of those... RIDER: Hey! ;
TB: Anybody have any other projects they want to talk about? I know Will’s got his
new movie... BEN: Well, what I wanted to discuss was my new book. It’s a graphic novel...(laughter)
No, nothing much, just some guest spot appearances... TB: Ohhh, where? BEN: I just did Party of Five. TB: Don’t tell me you’re ‘Claudia’s’ boyfriend too! BEN: Actually, I don’t think I’m the boyfriend yet. I start off as just a friend. WILL: Everyone’s done Party of Five but me! DANIELLE: And me! TB: (To Ben and Rider, who played Lacey Chabret’s boyfriend on the PO5 season
premiere) Aren’t you two just a little too old for Claudia? BEN: Yeah, but we’re the best actors in Hollywood, so can you blame them? RIDER: Did you see it? They made me look about 10! They parted my hair on the side
and dressed me in geeky clothes! BEN: It was so funny when you had to bend over and kiss her. Lacey’s really little, but
she’s a really sweet girl. RIDER: She’s really cool. WILL: She played my little sister in a movie of the week once. TB: Not Educating Mom? WILL: Right! TB: Darn, I’m good! BEN: Hey, let’s get back to me. I’m not the boyfriend but they said I’ll be on a few
episodes. Then again, you know Hollywood, a few could be one. (Rubs hand over his
face) Gosh, I’m really tired. We just flew in last night. TB: I bet I know just what you need... BEN: Yes, that’s it. (Looks off in the distance) The Tower! DANIELLE: Wanna ride it again? RIDER: To the Tower! WILL: To the Tower!
So with a hearty farewell, the cast of Boy Meets World is off to ride the Tower Of
Terror once more! Catch them Fridays on BMW or come to Disney World where the
person screaming next to you could be Rider or Danielle or Ben or Will or maybe just this
old editor from Tiger Beat!
TB: Was cutting your hair your decision or did the show’s producers suggest it?