“Boy Meets World”’s Will Friedle, 50, Reveals He Lost a ‘Good Ten Years of My Life’ to Anxiety
“Boy Meets World”’s Will Friedle, 50, Reveals He Lost a ‘Good Ten Years of My Life’ to Anxiety
Cara Lynn ShultzMon, August 24, 2026 at 9:11 PM UTC
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Will Friedle (left) in August 1993; (right) in June 2026Credit: ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty; Cindy Ord/Getty -
Will Friedle says turning 50 has brought him a sense of freedom and less concern about others’ opinions
He shared that anxiety took a decade of his life, but now he feels content with his relationships and career
Friedle and former co-star Rider Strong agree that happiness increases with age as self-acceptance grows over time
Will Friedle says now that he’s turned 50, “I don’t really care what people think about me” — but when he was younger, he spent at least a decade struggling with anxiety.
“There’s, like, a curve of happiness that people go through. And, like, the hardest part is, like, 35 to 45. And that you actually get happier,” Rider Strong told Danielle Fishel and Friedle, his fellow former Boy Meets World co-stars on the August 24 episode of their podcast Pod Meets World. Strong shared that he learned with age, “You just get more content, like, more accepting of yourself. And I’ve definitely found that to be true.”
“Hell yes,” agreed Friedle, who turned 50 on August 11. “It’s true,” he said. “A good ten years of my life were taken from me by anxiety and that was so miserable, that everything after that is gravy.”
Will Friedle at the 2023 iHeartRadio Music Festival in Las VegasCredit: Greg Doherty/Getty
But now, “At 50, I’m kind of like — and I know people say that, especially actors that get like, ‘Hey, I can say, I don’t really care what people think about me,’ but now that I’ve hit 50 … I really kind of don’t care what people are thinking about me. Really starting to be like, ‘Wow, I don’t care that you don’t like me on the internet.’ “
“It’s this wonderful kind of release, which is great,” he said.
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“I still care so, so much,” chimed in Fishel, before adding, “Just kidding. I care less.”
Friedle added that “You hear these things all the time and they’re so cliche, but it’s true where it’s like nobody ever laid on their deathbed and said, ‘I wish I did better at work. I wish I had more money.’ “
Will Friedle, Danielle Fishel, and Rider Strong in New York in June 2026Credit: Cindy Ord/Getty
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“I’m going to,” deadpanned Fishel.
“I’m very content in the time I spend with my partner and the time I spend with my friends,” Friedle said. “I love what I do. And it’s just kind of like, yeah, 50’s, so far, looking pretty great.”
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
