Rider Strong Shares Why He Was Intimidated by Matthew Lawrence Joining 'Boy Meets World'
Rider Strong Shares Why He Was Intimidated by Matthew Lawrence Joining 'Boy Meets World'
Alex GurleyTue, February 24, 2026 at 3:20 AM UTC
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(Photo by Craig Sjodin on Getty Images)
Boy Meets World saw plenty of cast changeups with guest stars and costars throughout the show's 7 seasons—but one actor who joined the series wasn't exactly welcome at first.
On a new episode ofthe Brotherly Love podcast, hosted by MatthewLawrence and his brothers, they spoke to Boy Meets World star Rider Strong about the early years of the show.
According to Strong, he wasn't thrilled when Lawrence joined the cast during season 5 to portray Jack Hunter, Shawn’s long-lost half-brother. Looking back, he said he was initially intimidated by Lawrence and his brother's careers.
"Before you got there, I would say all three of you guys were very intimidating...because you guys were like the established Hollywood people," Strong explained on the Feb. 20 episode. "You were the very successful set of brothers who had become superstars and done all this stuff. So for us, I think there was a sense of like, 'Oh God, the Lawrences are coming.'"
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By the time Lawrence joined the cast, he had already appeared in Planes, Trains and Automobiles and Mrs. Doubtfire as well as his family's sitcomBrotherly Love on NBC.
“So when you came on set, I think there was this [question] like, 'What is he doing here? Does he even need to do this?'" Strong shared. "It sort of felt like you were being imposed on us...The network wants a Lawrence in our show and we were like, 'But we don't need him.'"
Strong was admittedly "against" Lawrence joining the cast and still found it "weird" when he started filming. But as time went on and the pair got to hang out together, Strong realized everything was "fine" and he had been reacting to the Lawrence's "reputation as a family" and "Hollywood establishment."
Lawrence ended up appearing on the final three seasons of Boy Meets World, which ended with season 7 in 2000.
You can hear all that Matthew Lawrence and Rider Strong had to say below.
This story was originally published by Parade on Feb 24, 2026, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
