Rider Strong recalls 'damaging' atmosphere on 'Boy Meets World' set

• On their rewatch podcast, "Boy Meets World" stars recalled a "damaging" set atmosphere.
• Rider Strong called showrunner Michael Jacobs' control of the cast "puppetry."

"Boy Meets World" star Rider Strong said that there was a "damaging" atmosphere on the set of the hit TGIF sitcom that caused him to dislike being in front of the camera as he got older.

On Monday's episode of the rewatch podcast "Pod Meets World," in which he revisits memories from the show with his former costars Danielle Fishel and Will Friedle, Strong described the environment he says was cultivated by the sitcom's showrunner, Michael Jacobs.

"I remember this sensation of...the episode's working or it's not, it's falling apart," the actor, who played Cory's (Ben Savage) best friend Shawn, said at about the 40:35 mark of the episode. "And in my mind, that was something definable and concrete that everybody could see and that everybody knew or did not know."

He added: "In retrospect, that was whatever Michael had written that week and whatever he wanted it to be."

Strong said that Jacobs had high expectations he felt he couldn't meet as a young teenager. "As an actor, the worst thing you can do to approach material is think that there's a preexisting perfection that you need to reach up for," he said.

"That takes away your agency. That takes away your creativity. That removes you from the process," Strong continued.

Even though Strong had many acting credits under his belt before joining the cast of "Boy Meets World," including a part on a sitcom called "Julie" with Julie Andrews, he said he didn't really learn to act until after the TGIF show ended.

Only then did Strong realize that what he did as Shawn on "Boy Meets World" was "not acting," he said, calling it "puppetry" instead.

The former child star, who now prefers to be behind the camera writing and directing instead of acting, said that the environment on the sitcom's set "stunted" him creatively.

"It didn't allow me the creative joy of discovery and experimentation and recognition that there is no right or wrong in art," Strong continued.

He explained that as a young kid, the feeling on the set of "Boy Meets World" was more of a worry that "somebody's gonna get fired if something's not right or if we don't make this one person happy."

Strong said that he appreciated directors like Monday's podcast guest David Trainer for coming on the "Boy Meets World" set and treating him and his costars like "creative individuals with our own input." He said he became a director on the show's 2014 spinoff "Girl Meets World" to give stars like Rowan Blanchard and Sabrina Carpenter that same creative freedom.

Fishel recalled a time when Jacobs embarrassed her in front of the cast and crew

Strong wasn't the only young actor who expressed discomfort with Jacobs' showrunning style. At about the 30:40 minute mark of Monday's episode, Fishel, who played Cory's girlfriend and eventual wife Topanga, recalled her first "notes session" with the showrunner, cast, and crew.

Fishel, who was 12 at the time, recalled Jacobs telling her he was going to save her notes for last because "if I made everyone sit here through all of the notes I have for you we would all be here for hours and no one would ever get to go home."

The "Girl Meets World" star remembered that Jacobs' words brought "tears" to her eyes.

When everyone else left, Jacobs called Fishel and her mom to the Matthews family kitchen table on set and gave her extensive notes on her performance. At the 32:10 mark of the podcast, Friedle interrupts Fishel to tell listeners that he can see the emotional impact on his friend as she's telling the story.

The mother of two recalled Jacobs saying, "All I know is, if you don't come back tomorrow doing this entirely differently, you are also not going to be here." Fishel was the second actor to land the role of Topanga and believed Jacobs was referencing the first actor, who had been fired from the role days before.

She said she went home with her mom and practiced so that she'd make Jacobs happy, and ultimately won him over at the network run-through later in the week.

Fishel described the cycle she said Jacobs put actors through as "chasing the dragon of Michael approval."

"Every week you're like, 'wow, that was such a high, the next week I'm gonna go after that,'" she added, noting that from then on, when she didn't get approval from the showrunner she felt anxiety.

Jacobs didn't immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

New episodes of "Pod Meets World" are released on Mondays and Thursdays.