Rider Strong recalls his "breakdown" during 'Boy Meets World' rehearsals

Washington DC [US], June 22 : Actor and director Rider Strong shared why he had a "breakdown" during 'Boy Meets World' rehearsals.

'Boy Meets World' is a coming-of-age sitcom created by Michael Jacobs and April Kelly that aired on ABC for seven seasons between September 1993 and May 2000.

In the recent episode of Pod Meets World, Strong told former costars Danielle Fishel and Will Friedle about why he had a "breakdown" during a rehearsal for the season 6 episode "Getting Hitched" in 1999, reported People.

In the episode, Strong's character, Shawn Hunter, ignores calls from his half-brother Jack (Matthew Lawrence), who is asking him for help.

Chet (Blake Clark) died in the previous episode of a heart attack. And though Shawn's relationship with his father was complicated, the loss the character experienced was immense, especially after initially believing Chet was the one paying for his college tuition, reported People.

"Shawn's emotional story is that his dad is never there for him," said Strong, reflecting on their dynamic. "But if his dad was actually paying for his college in Shawn's story, I believe that the denial is possible. But his dad was taking care of him then, in Shawn's mind."

"The fact that they played the scene out and Shawn didn't leave and stayed there and had the conversation, I thought was just such a better way to go about it than Shawn just leaving again," said Friedle, who played Eric Matthews on the show.

But Shawn does eventually leave. And as Strong recalled of the time he rehearsed the scene, "This is where I had my breakdown," as he "was really bored by my character," reported People.

"What's funny is, in retrospect, this is actually a well-written episode for Shawn. He's finally expressing something," Strong continued. "But I remember during rehearsal, I just lost it. I was like, 'I feel like I'm saying the same thing every week," according to People.

He added, "It's interesting because now that I look at it, I'm like, 'Actually, my character is finally expressing himself. This is good.' But I don't know. Maybe I was just tired of being on the show."

"I was like, 'Why [do] they keep throwing drama at me?' " Strong continued. "Now looking at it, this is on the heels of an episode where they killed my father and really put a lot of pressure on us as actors pressure on Blake and Matt and me," reported People.

"Boy Meets World is one of those shows that said, 'No, no, no, this is an important time of your life'," said the actor, who later reprised his role as Shawn in the spinoff Girl Meets World (2014-2017), reported People.

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