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Danielle Fishel had to learn at a young age what it takes to make it in the cutthroat world of Hollywood.
The “Boy Meets World” star told Fox News Digital that on her first day on set as a preteen, she was told she would be let go if she didn’t improve.
“When I got the job at 12, I hadn’t worked very much,” she explained while standing next to her “Dancing with the Stars” partner, Pasha Pashkov.
She continued, “I had done mostly commercials and a couple episodes of ‘Full House.’ So, walking onto that set and just trying to navigate all of it, the expectations were very high.”
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Danielle Fishel said she was nearly fired after her first day on the set of “Boy Meets World.” (Getty Images)
The 44-year-old said she “was told on my very first day that if I didn’t come back the next day and do it completely differently, that I was going to be fired.”
She stayed up until 4 a.m. that night going over her lines with her mother, “and just so badly wanted to impress the producers the next day. And I did, and it turned into a seven-year job.”
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Fishel played Topanga Lawrence from 1993 until 2000.
She said while she jokes about it, she knows “Boy Meets World” will be the first sentence of her obituary.
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Danielle Fishel, Rider Strong and Ben Savage on the set of “Boy Meets World.” (Craig Sjodin/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images)
“It is the defining aspect of my career, and Topanga is so close to me as a person, it’s almost like I am not sure where she ends and where I begin,” she said.
The actress, who is one of 10 remaining contestants on “Dancing with the Stars,” still holds “Boy Meets World” close to her heart.
For the show’s “Dedication Night” this week, Fishel honored 98-year-old actor William Daniels, who played the ‘90s show’s wise teacher, Mr. Feeny.
William Daniels as Mr. Feeny and Danielle Fishel as Topanga in a 1993 episode of “Boy Meets World.” (ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images)
Daniels actually joined Fishel on stage as she danced to the show’s theme song, giving her an “A” at the end of her jive.
Fishel explained that she had first thought of honoring her mother-in-law, who died of cancer, for dedication night, but when she found out the person had to come out and dance with her, she realized Daniels would be perfect.
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Danielle Fishel and Ben Savage on the first season of “Boy Meets World” in 1993. (ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images)
“That same night I said, ‘Who better than Bill,’ who is, you know, I call him like the patriarch of the show that changed my life, and is the shining example of professionalism that I have modeled my entire career after.”
She continued, “When we all started the show and I was 12 and, you know, I didn’t know what it meant to be a professional, we would laugh and we would joke, and we would mess up our lines, and we would hold our scripts and we would dance around and we would have a party.”
But she said that Daniels always knew his lines, and “rarely needed a script in his hand.”
Danielle Fishel and “Dancing with the Stars” partner Pasha Pashkov dressed as Cory and Topanga from “Boy Meets World” for “Dedication Night.” (Eric McCandless/Disney via Getty Images)
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“He knew what he was doing,” she explained. “And he very easily could have talked down to us or dismissed us as being those 12-year-olds. And he never did that.”
Daniels always treated his young castmates with “respect” and as a “peer,” she added.
She noted that Daniels had already won two Emmys for “St. Elsewhere” when he started on “Boy Meets World.” “And yet he was treating 12-year-old me with no experience like his peer. And I don’t think he realized as a kid how special that is, but you do as an adult.”
Danielle Fishel and Pasha Pashkov with “Dancing with the Stars” host Alfonso Ribeiro last month. (Eric McCandless/Disney via Getty Images)
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“I have thought about him on every set I’ve been on, both as an actor and as a director since the day I met him,” she added.