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Originally cast as Topanga, actor Bonnie Morgan was fired after just one day on set. Fishel, on the other hand, was on set to play a minor character—a classmate—and was asked to audition later for the part that launched her career.
Regardless of her success, though, Fishel always wondered about Morgan and was finally able to get in touch with her.
Morgan appeared on Monday's Pod Meets World podcast and revealed what went down... a story she's never publicly shared with anyone.
You can watch the moment here:
The actor revealed the role of Topanga was brought to her by showrunner Michael Jacobs after she auditioned for one of his other shows, The Torkelsons.
She explained:
"I had three callbacks, they kept bringing me back."
"Every time I'd audition we'd talk a lot, and every time I'd come, the script would change slightly, it seemed, to things that we had talked about."
Morgan shared their were some disagreements about her casting, but ultimately "Michael [Jacobs] won" and she was cast as Topanga.
But it seemed as if the debate was still in the air.
"I didn't know that you could get fired."
"It was the weirdest day of my life."
"Even as a kid I was like, 'What's going on here?'"
"I came in and all the adults were very short with me."
She continued:
"The table read was great fun, it was all there."
"It couldn't have gone better with everyone around."
"The minute I was separated out, it was another story."
As filming started, things just got worse.
Morgan shared Ben Savage, aka Cory, was joking around with her and trying to get her to break character during rehearsal.
"At this point I was becoming a nervous wreck. I couldn't get his name—the opening line, 'Cory.'"
"I would guffaw 'Cory' and David [Trainer] was just like, 'Get it together!'"
"I'm trying to pull it together and hold it together in sheer fear, and Ben kept doing this thing to crack me up and I was breaking and giggling."
Then there was a moment involving the way Morgan said the word "peace," a moment even Fishel distinctly remembered.
Morgan wasn't saying the word "sweet" enough.
"So I said it sweeter and he went, 'No, I want you to say it...' and he got really close to me, '...like you're saying happy birthday'."
"I was so tiny at that moment and I just said, 'Okay, I will'."
"And he goes, 'Do it'."
"And I said, 'I thought you meant during the take,' and he goes, 'Do it now, wish me a happy birthday'."
Morgan didn't find out she was fired from the show until the next day when her agent called her father.
She was rightfully "shattered."
"I had been with my agent for a very long time, I'd been working with her a very long time."
"The director said that I couldn't take direction, which was one thing I'd never been accused of."
But when her agent called them out on that inaccuracy, they shared another reason.
"My agent immediately fought back on that one."
"It came out very quickly to my agent that the director didn't think I was pretty enough. Literally did not think I was pretty enough."
"So that meant that a grown man, a boss, could lie and tell me I was untalented because the fact was he didn't think I was pretty."
"I'm taking away the thing you want most in the world, that was all but written for you, it's because you're not talented."
"Sorry, I lied, it's just because you're not pretty."
Listeners of the podcast applauded Morgan for opening up about her experience.
They also expressed their disgust over the reason behind her early exit from the show.
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@podmeetsworldshow/Instagram
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@podmeetsworldshow/Instagram
@podmeetsworldshow/Instagram
On the podcast, Rider Strong—who played Shawn Hunter on the series—thinks the decision was made before the more uncomfortable moments.
"My theory is that they made the decision at the table read."
"The reason you felt so awkward is that whoever was pushing against you - whether that was David Trainer alone or someone at the network - decided after that table read, and then you were dead man walking the entire day."
But Morgan wasn't so sure.
"I truly believe that David Trainer decided the minute the phone call was made that he was going to get rid of that kid come hell or high water, and what a thing to do to somebody."
Both Fishel and Morgan could agree, though, that the deeper issue lied within the adults dueling for power.
Fishel said:
"It was another storyline that was playing out behind the scenes and were just characters in the play."
"And we never would have known that had we not talked."
Fortunately, Morgan is a woman of many talents.
Aside from being a talented actor, which earned her multiple TV and film roles, she is also a professional contortionist.
Those powers combined landed her the role of the one and only Samara from The Ring.