Will Friedle is known for starring in the '90s sitcom Boy Meets World as Cory Matthew's charming, idiot big brother Eric—a shiftless youth, who often wandered in search of meaning throughout the show. Back then, Friedle was a '90s teen heartthrob, with hair destined for greatness, and it all seemed like the perfect jump-start to the young actor's career. But all wasn't what it seemed behind the scenes.
It was revealed by Will Friedle himself that he had abandoned acting altogether when Boy Meets World wrapped in 2000, but why? The answer: anxiety. The actor has since opened up about how his struggles with mental health changed the trajectory of his career entirely.
Will Friedle Almost Wasn't Cast In Boy Meets World
It's hard to imagine Eric Matthews being played by another actor other than Will Friedle on Boy Meets World but, during the initial casting process— that was almost the case. Friedle opened up to Entertainment Tonight in 2022, saying he nearly missed on playing the beloved character because he was sick.
"When they were casting for the show originally, it was called The Untitled Ben Savage Project," Friedle explained. "And they were casting for an older brother and I got sick and couldn't go."
According to Friedle, the role went to another actor. The actor (who has not been identified) went on to film the pilot episode alongside Ben Savage, who played Eric's younger brother, Cory Matthews. Soon after, the role was eventually given to Friedle— and the reason was because of a small, yet important detail: height.
"The actor was fine. There was nothing wrong with him. He was a fine actor, but he wasn't tall enough," Friedle explained to ET. "He was the same size as Ben, and they knew Ben was going to grow, and they wanted an older brother, so they recast."
What Happened To Will Friedle After Boy Meets World?
After Boy Meets World wrapped in 2000, Will Friedle's career changed drastically. Fans of the actor know that his onscreen roles were scarce, as he appeared in a few projects. In 2004, he co-starred with Chris Owen in the independent film National Lampoon's Gold Diggers. He also appeared in a supporting role in the 2005 ABC Family movie Everything You Want.
What became apparent was that Friedle seemed to take a step back from acting onscreen, opting for voice-over work. It seemed like a risky move for the actor who had such success portrayal the beloved Eric Matthews, but he persisted within that realm of acting.
Fans were surprised though when, after retiring from on-screen work, the actor signed up to appear on the Boy Meets World spinoff Girl Meets World to reprise his beloved character. Will Friedle was initially apprehensive to return to on-screen acting before making the decision to completely come back. “I started watching the show at the beginning, and watched the progression of the characters and everything,” Friedle tells Entertainment Weekly. “I wanted to support everybody.”
Friedle also decided to return to the series because he felt fans deserved to see what happened to his character.
"And there came a point where it almost wasn’t fair if the audience didn’t get to see what happened to Eric. ‘Cause they’ve been there forever, so it’s like, you know, at some point you’re just kind of being mean if you don’t come back. So I wanted to make sure that we got a good Eric story, and you can kind of see what he’s been up to for the audience," he told EW.
The Truth About Will Friedle's Anxiety
When things don't always go as planned with in an actor's career, people assume they simply "fell off" because of lack of talent. But that's not always the case. Sometimes, the truth is a bit deeper.
After Boy Meets World wrapped, it seemed like Will Friedle had fallen off the map and fans never knew why. But in 2018, the actor got candid about what life-altering struggles he faced when the series ended, and it put things in perspective.
At a 2018 New York Comic Con panel, the actor opened up about how his battle with anxiety forced him to abandon acting altogether. His anxiety made it nearly impossible for him to continue on with the career fans anticipated for him.
"I was planning to do more on-camera work, but then I got hit with these anxiety attacks that prevented me from doing that," Friedle said.
Friedle later added that the anxiety began when he was around 22 or 23 years old. “My career was going in one direction, I thought I was going to be an on-camera actor my entire life,” he told the crowd. “It got to the point where my anxiety was so bad that I couldn’t audition for on-camera stuff anymore.".
Why Will Friedle Only Does Voice Acting Now
Alan Matthews, the patriarch of the Matthews clan on Boy Meets World, told Will Friedle's character Eric that— he could be anything he wanted to be if he tried as hard as he could. Over the years, Friedle has managed to still achieve success despite setbacks.
Sometimes when door closes, another one opens. Will Friedle's journey since Boy Meets World wrapped is definitely an ode to that cliché, as his inability to act on-screen led him to another opportunity behind the scenes. Following stepping away from in front of the camera, the actor opened up at the 2018 panel about his love of voice-over work.
"What brought me to voice-over was anxiety," he explained.
Over the years since the show ended, Friedle has lent his voice to comic heroes such as Batman, Nightwing, Green Lantern, Deadpool and Star Lord. He's also voiced Ron Stoppable in the epic Disney series Kim Possible, Master Splinter in TMNT, Lion-O in Thundercats, and Bumblebee in Transformers. Voice-over work, for the actor, had been a way for the actor to still remain in touch with his talent despite not acting onscreen anymore.
"I was so thankful I had voice-over because I could still perform and act," he said.
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