Matilda star reveals why she won’t return to Hollywood after disappearing for decades

Even the most famous child stars don't always make it big, and Matilda's Mara Wilson is proof that not everyone falls in love with the industry.

Although it might well be the dream of a lot of parents and children to be signed on to the next movie, the experiences that people have aren't always positive.

Hayden Panettiere has opened up recently about how she was sexualised from a young age, while the lad who played young Anakin suffered a lot of bullying after his role in the Star Wars films.

Another mainstay of Hollywood in the late 90s was American actress Mara Wilson, who famously played Matilda and the little girl from Miracle on 34th Street.

Despite her iconic performance alongside Miss Trunchbull, as well as featuring alongside the legendary Robin Williams in Mrs. Doubtfire, Wilson took a hiatus from acting in 2000 and didn't return for 12 years.

She is best known for her role in Matilda (TriStar pictures)

That was in a voice acting capacity, and that's where she's stayed ever since, with the 38-year-old speaking to PEOPLE about why she doesn't plan on a Hollywood return anytime soon.

She said: "There aren't always roles for women of my specific age and my specific looks and demographic and everything. And I would really have to change myself a lot to be able to fit into Hollywood's mould and I don't really want to do that."

Wilson added: “It’s funny, but I don’t [wonder where I’d be] if I’d stayed acting. I think way more about what would have happened if I’d gotten out earlier than I do about what would have happened if I’d stayed in. I don’t know who I would be if I had stayed in. I would be totally different. I might be miserable. I think that I probably wouldn’t be super successful.”

You might have heard her voice in shows such as BoJack Horseman (Jerod Harris/Getty Images)

However, while some people might be completely obsessed with the money and fame that would come with a regular acting job, it seems as if Wilson has truly found her passion in the form of voice acting..

“All I ever wanted to do was tell stories, write stories and perform stories. . . . So I think that it makes sense to me that my job now is storytelling,” she said.

She added: “I remember I was having a hard day when I first started recording, and then I started recording and I felt so much better. I just loved being in this world, even though it was a world where sad and scary things were happening.”

Wilson isn't the only one to take a step away from TV and film in recent times with Malcolm in the Middle actor Erik per Sullivan focusing on his studies instead of returning for the recent Disney Plus reboot.