Girl Meets World has met its girl! Disney has cast 11-year-old singer-actress Rowan Blanchard in the title role of its upcoming Boy Meets World spinoff, Entertainment Weekly reports. Blanchard — who previously appeared in Spy Kids: All the Time in the World in 4D and The Back-Up Plan — will play Riley Matthews, the daughter of Cory (Ben Savage) and Topanga (Danielle Fishel).
“As soon as Rowan walked into the room, I was reminded of why Ben Savage was loved as Cory Matthews,” Girl Meets World producer Michael Jacobs told EW. “Rowan is real and accessible, and I am hopeful this girl is about to meet a world that will love growing up with her as well.”
The news of Blanchard’s casting comes two months after the Disney Channel’s announcement that Savage, 32, and Fishel, 31, would be reprising their roles as beloved ’90s TV couple Cory and Topanga. The pilot for the reboot — which begins filming in February — finds the junior high sweethearts happily married and parenting a 13-year-old girl.
“I’m going to be a father! Well, on TV at least. The Boy Meets World sequel is officially happening!” Savage tweeted in November, when news of the spinoff first broke. Later, talking to Rolling Stone about the project, he added, “[It’s] exciting and flattering that people are still so excited about the show after all this time.”
“No one wanted to really cash in, if you will, too early, or no one really wanted to do something that was going to be cheesy. So when we all decided to get together for this, there were a lot of discussions,” he told the magazine. “I’ve gotten [notes] from a lot of people who are worried that the show won’t hold up. That we shouldn’t do it because it’s going to ruin a lot of their childhood memories. We’re really working hard and doing everything we can to make sure that this is going to be something special and funny, and hopefully it’ll make new memories for a new generation.”
