Matilda actor now lives a very different life after retiring from acting more than 20 years ago

The actor that played the iconic role of Matilda back in 1996 has revealed how she lives her life, almost 30 years on.

Best known for roles throughout a number of hit films in the 1990s, Mara Wilson was known for starring in not just Matilda, but also Mrs Doubtfire and Miracle on 34th Street, which all grossed millions at the box office worldwide.

Now 37, Wilson recently reflected on her acting career as a child, and how it was really like in the industry at a young age.

Matilda was by far and away the biggest role she undertook in her career, which started to slow down at the turn of the millennium, as she decided to retire from film acting.

She turned to theatrical acting, playing a part in plays such as A Midsummer Night's Dream and Cinderella.

The American actor also starred in her own shows, Weren't You That Girl? and What Are You Afraid Of?

But going one of the biggest child celebrities in the business to someone living a muted and private life is sure to bring about some changes.

In her short memoir, titled Good Girls Don't, Wilson opened up on how she really was as a child, shutting down rumours that she was 'bratty', adding: “A bratty child is one who won’t do what they’re told; child actors only do what they’re told. Brats are selfish and greedy; child actors often support their families.

"A spoilt and misbehaving child will not get very far in the entertainment industry,” she highlighted.

The memoir, written in a number of short-form personal essays, documents moments of Wilson's life, and how she dealt with fame.

It begins by talking about a teen disco on a cruise, where she was made to feel like she needed to dance with a boy, aged 16, who was grinding on her.

She only thought about what others would think at the time, such as 'Matilda's a s**t', with her own feelings being absent.

She said that she rebelled later on in her life, around her late teens and 20s, becoming 'a b***h' by her own words, before finally settling down as an adult.

Wilson now mainly writes, penning a full memoir back in 2016 titled Where Am I Now? True Stories of Girlhood and Accidental Fame, while also contributing to the film industry with some voice acting work. She's also dabbled in audiobooks and a fiction podcast called Welcome to Night Vale.

However, speaking about a possible return to TV and film, she explained: “I don’t know if they really know what to do with a short, curvy, Jewish brunette. I don’t want anybody telling me, ‘You need to lose 30lb and get a nose job.’”

After spending so much of her childhood worried about other people's perceptions of her, she doesn't care anymore, adding: “I defined myself for so long by the media’s terms, by Hollywood’s terms, instead of defining myself by my own goals, my own relationships, my own life.”