Danielle Fishel is an achieved actress, tv persona, and now, a rising director within the leisure business.
She rose to fame within the ‘90s for her role as Topanga Lawrence on the beloved sitcom Boy Meets World, then returned for its spinoff Girl Meets World in 2014. However, Fishel has been expanding her repertoire in recent years by taking on a new role behind the camera. She has already made a name for herself as a director, with episodes of Lopez vs. Lopez, Raven’s Home, and Just Roll With It.
Now, Fishel will make her characteristic movie debut on Tubi with Classmates, written by her husband, Jensen Karp. The TV film stars Kayden Mueller Janssen, Anjelica Bette Fellini, John Michael Higgins, and Boy Meets World alum Trina McGee.
TV Insider spoke with Fishel about working along with her husband, her tasks as a director, her future movie about her relationship with NSYNC’s Lance Bass, and extra.
Tubi
What was the dynamic like working together with your husband Jensen?
Danielle Fishel: I believe he’s actually one of many smartest, funniest folks I’ve ever met in my whole life. He wrote the unique script, after which, in fact, it goes by an entire lot of adjustments when there are community notes and actor notes and director notes, and plenty of various things. And he by no means has an ego about it. He all the time, you understand, says, what can we do to make this the absolute best end result for everyone? And there have been a whole lot of adjustments that wanted to occur.
We shot the whole film in 13 and a half days. In the unique script, there have been a whole lot of stunts and a automobile chase, and a shattered windshield, and we realized, we’re gonna be doing it in 13 and a half days. I checked out him, and I used to be like, “I’m gonna need you to help me out by cutting some of this stuff out because I’m not going to be able to shoot all this.” He did it straight away, and he made it straightforward, and he held my hand by the method. It was actually nice. That was great.
How did the story of two folks of various backgrounds, races, and personalities coming collectively and discovering frequent floor come about?
We reside in a really divisive time, and we’re dwelling in a time the place it feels as if we’ve by no means been farther aside with the best way we predict. And the factor I like about their friendship and their story is that they’re each judging the opposite individual by exterior elements. And it doesn’t imply that these judgments are all mistaken. But it additionally doesn’t imply that these judgments are all proper, both. Once they really begin speaking to one another, they understand they’ve extra frequent floor than they ever would have thought, and in flip, in addition they permit themselves to be modified the tiniest bit by the opposite individual.
It’s one of many issues that has been a very powerful theme of my life, is with the ability to acknowledge faults and weaknesses and permit folks that I like and belief and respect, even when they’re very completely different from me, to level out issues to me that I may work on. It’s one thing I believe we may all profit from, and we may actually study from their friendship.
Tubi
I’m assuming you had a say in casting, so was it a direct option to solid Trina McGee Davis as Raury’s mother?
It was a 100% quick factor for me. Well, the very first thing that occurred was I solid Kayden Mueller Janssen. [Janssen] is any individual that I’ve labored with on her present The Villains of Valley View; I’ve directed a number of episodes of that Disney Channel sitcom. First, we solid Anjelica Bette Fellini, and as we have been going by the audition course of for Raury, I stated, I wish to carry Kayden in. I introduced Kayden’s identify up, they usually stated, “Well, we’re going to need her to audition.”
And so, I reached out to Kayden personally, and I stated, “I really want you for this. Will you put yourself on tape for me?” By the tip of that afternoon, we had her on tape, and there was little doubt she was Raury completely. Out of all of the auditions I had seen, no person nailed it the best way Kayden did.
And the minute I then despatched her tape to Tubi and Tubi stated, “Let’s hire Kayden,” the following telephone name I made was to Trina, and I stated, “Trina, I got something for you. I don’t know if you’re going to be interested. But I would love it. Let me send you the script. And you tell me what you think.” And she was like, “OK, I’ll read the script,” and she or he learn the script. She acquired again to me, and she or he stated, “Danielle, this really means a lot to me, I am very excited.” She was actually excited to play a loving mom to a school pupil, it actually meant so much to her. One of her personal kids is in school now. so it was additionally very near her coronary heart. It was nice for us to work collectively once more.
On the latest episode of your podcast Pod Meets World (with Rider Strong and Will Friedle), the place you guys had the therapist on, one of many issues that struck me was listening to you speaking about making a pleasant conducive set for the solid of Girl Meets World the best way that you just guys sort of had on Boy Meets World. Did you give any particular consideration to making a wholesome and supportive set?
It is all the time a very powerful factor to me on a set the place I’m the director. The director is checked out as being the pinnacle of this complete factor, and a very powerful factor to me is that each individual on the crew feels valued and revered. When you’re doing a film and in 13 and a half days and you’re on a finances, there are occasions the place issues are excessive stress and also you’re working and gunning. And but, I’ve a really strict no-disrespect rule. There’s by no means any yelling. I’m not gonna permit any individual to be screaming or making a scene. It’s simply not the best way I work. We will not be performing mind surgical procedure, we’re not saving lives. We’re creating motion pictures and tv, and it ought to really feel that manner. And so I wished to know of any issues that got here up.
There have been, in fact, points, completely different departments that generally weren’t essentially getting alongside. And I’d all the time go to every individual and say, “Tell me your story. Let’s figure out how we can resolve this.” It’s my primary hope that individuals who labored on that movie will stroll away from it and say, “Danielle did absolutely everything she could to ensure an environment where we all felt valued and respected,” as a result of that’s the best way you must all the time really feel while you come to work.
Was the Stone Cold joke your thought or Jensen’s?
Jensen’s 100% thought. It made him giggle a lot; it’s simply the factor that makes him giggle probably the most within the film. It’s undoubtedly a kind of issues the place Jensen has a barely off-center humorousness. There are issues that, like, are simply quirky and bizarre that make him giggle so onerous, and this was considered one of them. That was actually vital. And we acquired a bit of little bit of pushback from individuals who have been like, “I don’t know if people are gonna get it,” and we have been like, “Even if they don’t, it’s a joke for us. Let us have it, it’s our joke, it makes us giggle.” So it was Jensen’s thought, after which we simply fought for it the entire manner.
Are there any developments with the film primarily based on you and your relationship with Lance Bass?
Yes, we bought that film final yr, and sadly, it isn’t going to maneuver ahead with the folks we bought [it] to. The leisure business is in, general, an actual state of sort of turmoil these days; there have been mergers, and persons are being laid off. And you understand, it’s a tumultuous time on this planet, typically, proper now.
That doesn’t imply the venture is useless. It most actually shouldn’t be. We have two incredible writers, Lauren Lapkus and Mary Holland, and we hope to maneuver ahead with taking that some other place as a result of that could be a venture that Lance and I are each very obsessed with, and we’ll get it made.
I do know you’re a PWG and AEW fan, having offered on the AEW Dynamite Awards in 2021. How’re you feeling about present WWE? There’s been a whole lot of backstage developments, and now the promote to UFC.
Yeah, I imply, once more, speaking about all the pieces being in a tumultuous state. Everything is up within the air. My relationship with wrestling has all the time been there. Sometimes, it’s actually sturdy, and I’m tremendous invested, and I’m paying a whole lot of consideration. And different instances, I’m taking a again seat, and I may not get to see how this all performs out. I’d say proper now I’m at present within the stage of seeing how this all performs out. I sit up for seeing what the developments are.
I’m all the time supportive of an organization who can check out themselves and say, “We need to adapt, we need to change, we need to grow.” There could also be some pace bumps alongside the best way, however so long as they’re within the means of making an attempt to reinvent themselves, I’m all the time recreation to see what they’ll provide you with. I really feel that manner about folks, too, you understand. You ought to be capable of make errors and reinvent your self and resolve who you wish to be in your subsequent chapter. And so I’m open to seeing the place WWE goes and the way it all performs out. In the meantime, I’m nonetheless simply going to be supporting my lady Britt Baker.
Classmates, Streaming Now, Tubi