Why Rider Strong ‘did not want to be associated’ with ‘Boy Meets World’

Rider Strong’s best-known role to date was playing brooding-yet-sensitive teen Shawn Hunter on ABC’s hit ’90s sitcom “Boy Meet World.”

While fans loved his character, Strong, now 42, didn’t love his show at times.

The actor looked back on starring in the series from 1993 to 2000 and why he didn’t want to be connected to the comedy during filming.

“I did not want to be associated with the show, which is crazy to me now,” Strong said in an interview with Insider.

Strong recently dropped a “Boy Meets World” rewatch podcast called “Pod Meets World” with his former co-stars Danielle Fishel and Will Friedle.

The “Pepper Dennis” actor went on, “For years in my midteens, I didn’t watch the show. Whenever we were down from the show, I literally ran away from Los Angeles and buried my head in the sand.”

Strong began starring on the show when he was just about 14-years old.

“Boy Meets World” stars Rider Strong, Danielle Fishel, Ben Savage and Will Friedle.

Despite his regrets, Strong has since earned much perspective from the series in hindsight.

“In retrospect I’m like, ‘That’s pretty bad,’ ” he said. “I should have just been happier and lived in the moment and been proud of the show and been proud of what we were doing. But instead, I don’t know, I had a real chip on my shoulder.” 

Strong noted that his teenage self was “anti-mainstream” and his attitude was full of “adolescent insecurity.” 

The father of one then said that directors “came on and taught us things about the industry and acting and cameras and stuff that I still use to this day directing.”

“For years in my midteens, I didn’t watch the show. Whenever we were down from the show, I literally ran away from Los Angeles and buried my head in the sand,” Strong explained.FilmMagic

The premiere episode of his podcast dropped on June 27, and he also discussed growing up on the series throughout the 1990s.

The San Francisco native confessed he “didn’t want to be there from the get-go” and explained that he believed that signing a seven-year contract for the show was “death.” 

Strong later appeared on and even directed episodes of the 2010s Disney Channel spinoff “Girl Meets World.” The show followed Fishel’s Topanga Lawrence Matthews and her husband Cory Matthews (Ben Savage) as they dealt with their teenage daughter Riley (Rowan Blanchard).