'Boys Meets World' Star Will Friedle Reveals He Stopped Acting Due to an Anxiety Disorder

For Will Friedle, returning to TV since the series finale of Boy Meets World hasn’t been easy.

While the 42-year-old star, who played Eric Matthews for seven seasons, has done voice-over work over the years, he’s refrained from on-camera acting due to an anxiety disorder which first surfaced in his early twenties.

Friedle opened up about his battle with anxiety during New York Comic Con last week. “What brought me to voice-over was anxiety,” Friedle explained during the panel, according to Entertainment Weekly.

“I was planning to do more on-camera work, but then I got hit with these anxiety attacks that prevented me from doing that. I was so thankful I had voice-over because I could still perform and act,” Friedle said.

In 2002, Friedle took on the role as Ron Stoppable in the animated Disney series Kim Possible— two years after the end of Boys Meets World.

He’s also acted in Batman Beyond, Kim Possible Movie: So the Drama, ThunderCats and Cartoon Network’s Transformers: Robots in Disguise.

However, Friedle is taking a pause on animation because of his decision to be a part of Girl Meets World, a show that follows Boy Meets World couple Cory and Topanga Matthews (played by Ben Savage and Daniel Fishel) and their daughter Riley as she navigates life in her tween years.

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“Lately I’ve pulled out of that because of Girl Meets World,” Friedle explained during the panel. “[Creator] Michael [Jacobs] was like, ‘Come back if you want to come back.’ So I’ve been slowly starting that again, and it’s been fun.”

“Voice-over is great. To train for it, Kevin Conroy, who was Batman, was kind of my mentor and showed me the ropes and what to do. Now we’re getting back on track. Danielle and I are maybe doing something in the future. We’ve got cool stuff coming down the line,” Friedle added.