‘Boy Meets World’ Star Says He ‘Lost It’ While Filming One Episode originally appeared on Parade.
Rider Strong was a teen heartthrob thanks to his role as Shawn Hunter on Boy Meets World. He played Cory Matthews’ (Ben Savage) best friend and was a bit of a rebel on the hit ABC show. But even with all of his success, Strong dealt with family issues both on and off the set, and one episode in particular caused him to have a “breakdown.”
While chatting with co-stars Will Friedle and Danielle Fishel on Pod Meets World‘s June 19 episode, Strong spoke about his struggle to film Season 6 Episode 14, following his on-screen dad Chet’s (Blake Clark) death.
It was an emotional episode titled “Getting Hitched.” Shawn and his brother Jack (Matthew Lawrence) argued after Shawn refused to attend his dad’s funeral. While cleaning out Chet’s trailer, Jack reveals that his stepfather, not Shawn’s dad, paid for his college tuition. That revelation destroyed the little hope the character had left for his dad, but it sent Strong spiraling, too.
During the podcast, Strong opened up about having “a distinct memory of breaking down” while filming that scene.
“I just remember, during rehearsal for this scene. … I was really bored by my character,” Strong revealed. “What’s funny is, in retrospect, this is actually a well-written episode for Shawn. He’s finally expressing something. But I remember during rehearsal, I just lost it. I was like, ‘I feel like I’m saying the same thing every week.'”
Hunter shared that he may have been so affected by the scene because he “was just tired of being on the show.” It was Season 6, after all, and the show had begun winding down.
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He continued, “I was like, ‘Why [do] they keep throwing drama at me?’ Now looking at it, this is on the heels of an episode where they killed my father and really put a lot of pressure on us as actors, pressure on Blake and Matt and me.”
Friedle, who played Eric Matthews, admitted that he wanted more from his character, saying, “This just shows how self-absorbed we kind of were as people and as actors because I would sit there and watch you and go, like, ‘Why don’t they give me any of that?’ Why don’t I ever get a chance to do any of that?”
Looking back, he admitted that Cory’s big brother had his share of dramatic moments on Boy Meets World as well.
‘Boy Meets World’ Star Says He ‘Lost It’ While Filming One Episode first appeared on Parade on Jun 22, 2025
This story was originally reported by Parade on Jun 22, 2025, where it first appeared.