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Boy Meets World Star Danielle Fishel Talks Directing Lopez vs Lopez
The former Disney Channel star now also works as a director and podcast host.
Lopez vs Lopez changed Danielle Fishel's life.
“Directors aren’t supposed to have favorites,” Fishel said. Still, when it comes to working on the NBC comedy, she makes an exception: “It’s my favorite.”
The Boy Meets World actress has directed several shows, including Raven’s Home and The Villains of Valley View. She also co-hosts the rewatch podcast Pod Meets World with her former co-stars Will Friedle and Rider Strong. After directing last season on Lopez vs Lopez, she returns to Season 3 for a batch of must-see episodes.
“The thing all multi camera shows strive for is finding that perfect balance where you don’t have to sacrifice heart and vulnerability for laughs, and this show is hitting that perfect,” Fishel said about the show’s relatability factor. “That amount of topics they have covered that I’m like, ‘Oh, I feel that as a working mom, I feel this as a woman.’”
Danielle Fishel teases Lopez vs Lopez episodes
An episode featuring a joke-cracking roast of George Lopez and comedian Jeff Ross is "absolutely hilarious," Fishel teased.
“All of the cast was able to go to Jeff throughout the week and say, ‘Help me punch up this, help me roast George in the best possible way,'" Fishel said.
Fishel even teared up recalling a surprise moment on set from George.
“Even with all those laughs, there’s a real moment that George has where he wrote something in his response that he didn’t tell anybody about that he only did once when we did it in front of the studio audience, and there was not a single dry eye,” Fishel said. “I’m gonna start crying now thinking about it; there was not a single dry eye in the place.”
George is one of the greatest actors she’s ever worked with, Fishel explained.
“He cares very much about every single episode and every single week and every single beat," Fishel said. “I’m always so appreciative of his voice and his suggestions and the way he pays attention, and he really respects my vision and he respects my opinion as well.”
George Lopez is a “thoughtful” gift-giver
A fun moment from last season she recalled was George calling her out in front of the live studio audience during one of his pre-show warm-up rituals.
“We did, like, a dance fully across the stage, and it was completely impromptu,” Fishel said. “We had not rehearsed it at all, and I just remember thinking, like, that’s just so fun.”
The comedian even gave a gift to Fishel she treasures.
“He really paid attention to the fact that I wore a lot of vintage T-shirts, and so everyday he’d ask, 'What’s this vintage shirt about?'” Fishel recalled. “We would talk about it, and at the end of my first week in front of the entire crew, he brought me out and thanked me for doing such a great job, and he bought me three incredible vintage T-shirts.”
One shirt was a nod to Whitney Houston and another to Prince.
“They all fit me like a glove,” Fishel said. “It was a thoughtful gift that he had paid attention to all throughout the week and got to know my taste and my personality enough that he knew that these three shirts in particular would mean something to me, and that just, to me, it speaks volumes about who George is as a person.”
Danielle Fishel’s time on Boy Meets World influences her craft as a director
Fishel played her iconic character Topanga Lawrence for seven seasons on Disney Channel’s Boy Meets World. She also reprised the character in the spin-off series Girl Meets World.
Her time as an actress does influence her role as a director, Fishel says.
“It’s literally everything," she explains. “I joke, but it’s not really a joke, that I speak actor. I speak actor more than I speak English.”
Could Danielle Fishel ever guest star on Lopez vs Lopez?
The director and actress doesn’t rule out the possibility.
“Yes, I would do it in a heartbeat,” Fishel said about the idea. “It would be the fastest yes of all time.”
A “really funny” role she could envision herself playing is a girlfriend to Oscar Rivera (Al Madrigal), George’s best friend on the show.
“He’s got a girlfriend he can’t stop talking about, and then they all think she doesn’t really exist, like who on earth would date him… this slacker guy,” Fishel playfully ideated.
Lopez vs Lopez airs Fridays on NBC at 8:30/7:30c and next day on Peacock!
