# Danielle Fishel

Danielle Christine Fishel (/ˈfɪʃəl/ FIH-shəl; born May 5, 1981) is an American actress and director. She began her career in theater, appearing in community productions of The Wizard of Oz and Peter Pan. She made her debut as an actress shortly after, making guest appearances in shows such as Full House and Harry and the Hendersons. In 1993, Fishel was cast as Topanga Lawrence on the teen sitcom Boy Meets World, which ran on ABC from 1993 to 2000, and reprised the role for its successor Girl Meets World on Disney Channel, which aired from 2014 to 2017.
During Girl Meets World, Fishel also began to transition to directing, and she has gone on to direct episodes for other series, including Raven's Home, Coop & Cami Ask the World, Sydney to the Max, Just Roll with It, The Villains of Valley View, Pretty Freekin Scary, and Lopez vs Lopez.
Fishel was the host of Style Network's The Dish, and appears in National Lampoon's Dorm Daze, as well as its sequel. She was a spokeswoman for Nutrisystem, and is also a resident reporter on PopSugar, and on their spin-off YouTube channel, PopSugar Girls Guide.

## Early life

Fishel was born in Mesa, Arizona, the daughter of Jennifer, a personal manager, and Rick Fishel, former president of Masimo Corporation. She is of partial Maltese descent. She graduated from Calabasas High School in Calabasas, California in 1999.

## Career
### 1991–1998: Career beginnings and debut

In 1991, at the age of 10, Fishel was discovered in a community theater where she performed in two productions, The Wizard of Oz and Peter Pan. She quickly moved on to do voice-overs and commercials, including several as a Barbie Girl for Mattel. Soon after, she appeared on two episodes of the hit show Full House, guest starring as a character named Jennifer. She also had a small role on Harry and the Hendersons, playing Jessica. Fishel's mother became her full-time manager.
In 1993, at the age of 12, she began her role as Topanga Lawrence-Matthews on the ABC series Boy Meets World. Originally written as a small part, Topanga became a recurring role. After a successful first year, Fishel became a show regular. Her character was a sparky, intelligent girl who was mature beyond her years; she replaced the nerdy Stuart Minkus as the brains of the class. The show ended in 2000 after seven years.
Fishel was on the cover of Seventeen magazine in December 1998. She won an award, the 1998 Young Star for Best Performance by a Young Actress in a Comedy TV Series. In June 1999, she was one of "The 21 Hottest Stars Under 21" in Teen People magazine. She was on the cover of GQ magazine's hottest stars to watch in the October 1997 issue. She appeared in the music video for "Until You Loved Me" by Canadian music group The Moffatts.

### 2003–2011: Films and television presenting

Following Boy Meets World, she began to work heavily in television, and in 2003 co-hosted Say What? Karaoke on MTV for one season. She also appeared in several films, including National Lampoon's Dorm Daze. In 2006, she appeared in three made-for-DVD releases: National Lampoon's Dorm Daze 2 (appearing again as "Marla" from the first film), the action film Gamebox 1.0 (playing a dual role), and The Chosen One, an independent animated film in which she provides the voice of the lead female character.
In 2006, she appeared as a guest on The Tyra Banks Show where she discussed her dramatic weight loss with the use of the Nutrisystems Diet. Following her appearance, she became a spokeswoman for Nutrisystem. She also became a special correspondent for The Tyra Banks Show, starting in early February 2007. By 2010, she had gained some of the weight back, and told People magazine she could not maintain her Nutrisystem weight.
From August 2008 to March 2011, Fishel hosted The Dish for the Style Network, which satirized pop culture in a format similar to sister network E!'s The Soup. She was also on Fuse TV as host of The Fuse 20, and was a guest star on the round table on an episode of Chelsea Lately. In 2012, she became the host of MSN TV's Last Night on TV.

### 2013–present: Current work

In 2013, she starred in the drama Boiling Pot (released in 2015), which is based on true events of racism that occurred on college campuses across the country during the 2008 United States presidential election. The film also stars Louis Gossett Jr., Keith David, M. Emmet Walsh, and John Heard. Fishel plays an average college girl, naive regarding racism and unaware of its existence. In October 2013, she was featured in Clapping for the Wrong Reasons, a short film to promote Childish Gambino's second studio album, Because the Internet.
In 2014, she reprised her role of Topanga Lawrence-Matthews in the Boy Meets World spin-off series, Girl Meets World. The series premiered on Disney Channel on June 27, 2014, and features Topanga and her Boy Meets World love interest Cory Matthews (Ben Savage) married in their adult years with two children. The series follows Cory and Topanga's daughter Riley (Rowan Blanchard) and her friend, Maya (Sabrina Carpenter) as she enters middle school and tries to navigate through life. The series ended on January 20, 2017, with Topanga declining a job offer that would have moved the family from New York to London.
In an episode that aired January 9, 2018, she competed against actor Jonathan Lipnicki on TBS's Drop the Mic.
She has hosted the Boy Meets World rewatch podcast Pod Meets World with Rider Strong and Will Friedle since 2022.

## Personal life

At age 27, Fishel began attending California State University, Fullerton (CSUF), graduating in 2013. During her university studies, she became a math tutor, leading her to meet fellow student Tim Belusko. After over three years' dating, she became engaged to Belusko in May 2012. They married in Los Angeles on October 19, 2013, and Ben Savage and Home Improvement cast member Jonathan Taylor Thomas were said to be in attendance. In May 2016, it was reported that she had filed for divorce the previous year; this was final in March 2016.
On July 4, 2017, toward the end of episode #303 of his podcast Get Up On This, Jensen Karp announced that he was dating Fishel. On March 22, 2018, the couple were engaged and married on November 4. Their first son was born on June 24, 2019, arriving a month early. He spent three weeks in the neonatal intensive care unit. Fishel said that fluid was found in his lungs that had not been present prior to that. Fishel and Karp had a second son on August 29, 2021.
On August 19, 2024, Fishel announced on her podcast, Pod Meets World, that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer.

## Filmography
### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1992, 1993 | Full House | Jennifer P. | Episodes: "I'm Not D.J.", "Silence Is Not Golden" |
| 1993 | Harry and the Hendersons | Jessica | Episode: "The Long Goodbyes: Part 2" |
| 1993–2000 | Boy Meets World | Topanga Lawrence | Recurring role: season 1; main role: seasons 2–7 |
| 1996 | Kirk | Heather | Episode: "Stuck on You" |
| 1997 | ABC TGIF | Topanga | Episode: "Frightful Halloween Bash" |
| 2000 | Rocket's Red Glare | Sarah Miller | Movie |
| 2001, 2002 | Nikki | Stacy | Episodes: "Vaya Con Nikki", "Welcome to the Rest of Your Life" |
| 2002 | The Nightmare Room | Counselor | Episode: "Camp Nowhere: Part 1" |
| 2003 | Say What? Karaoke | Herself | Host |
| 2003 | Yes, Dear | Katie | Episode: "Sorority Girl" |
| 2008–2011 | The Dish | Herself | Host |
| 2009 | The Fuse 20 | Herself | Host |
| 2012 | The Soup | Lizdsay Taylorhan / Herself | Episode: "The Soup Salutes WWE Pile Driving Clips in Your Face" |
| 2014–2017 | Girl Meets World | Topanga Lawrence-Matthews | Main role; also director (4 episodes), writer (1 episode) |
| 2015–2016 | Gravity Falls | Pyronica | Voice role; three-part finale: "Weirdmageddon" |
| 2018 | Drop the Mic | Herself | Episode: "Danielle Fishel vs. Jonathan Lipnicki / Shania Twain vs. Meghan Trainor" |
| 2019 | Star vs. the Forces of Evil | Librarian | Voice role; episode: "Kelly's World" |
| 2022 | The Masked Singer | Herself | Guest |

### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2000 | Longshot | Gloria | |
| 2003 | National Lampoon Presents Dorm Daze | Marla | |
| 2004 | Gamebox 1.0 | Kate/Princess | |
| 2006 | National Lampoon's Dorm Daze 2 | Marla | |
| 2007 | The Chosen One | Donna Goldstein | Voice role |
| 2013 | Clapping for the Wrong Reasons | Herself | Short film |
| 2015 | Boiling Pot | Valerie Davis | |

### Director

| Year | Title | Notes |
| 2016–2017 | Girl Meets World | 4 episodes |
| 2019–2021 | Sydney to the Max | 11 episodes |
| 2019–2022 | Raven's Home | 7 episodes |
| 2019–2020 | Coop & Cami Ask the World | 2 episodes |
| 2020 | Just Roll with It | Episode: "Aliens Among Us" |
| 2022–2023 | The Villains of Valley View | 7 episodes |
| 2023–2025 | Lopez vs Lopez | 8 episodes |
| 2023 | Pretty Freekin Scary | 4 episodes |
| 2025 | Wizards Beyond Waverly Place | 2 episodes |
| 2025 | Shifting Gears | Episode: "Grief" |

## Accolades

| Year | Association | Category | Work | Result |
| 1996 | Young Artist Awards | Best Performance by a Young Actress: TV Comedy Series | Boy Meets World | Nominated |
| 1997 | Young Artist Awards | Best Performance in a TV Comedy: Supporting Young Actress | Boy Meets World | Nominated |
| 1998 | YoungStar Awards | Best Performance by a Young Actress in a Comedy TV Series | Boy Meets World | Won |
| 2000 | YoungStar Awards | Best Young Actress/Performance in a Comedy TV Series | Boy Meets World | Nominated |