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Danielle Christine Fishel ( ; born May 5, 1981) is an American actress and director. Her career started in community theater, and she made her screen debut with guest roles on shows such as Full House (1992–1993) and Harry and the Hendersons (1993). Fishel's breakthrough came with the role of Topanga Lawrence on the ABC sitcom Boy Meets World (1993–2000), which she later reprised in its successor, Girl Meets World (2014–2017), on Disney Channel. For the role, she received a YoungStar Award in 1998.
After Boy Meets World, Fishel appeared in a number of films; her first feature film role being in the 2000 comedy Longshot. She also acted in National Lampoon Presents Dorm Daze (2003) and its 2006 sequel, followed by the animated film The Chosen One (2007) and the drama Boiling Pot (2015). Fishel also made her directorial debut in 2016 with episodes of Girl Meets World, and has since directed episodes of other series, including Raven's Home (2019–2022), Coop & Cami Ask the World (2019–2020), Sydney to the Max (2019–2021), Just Roll with It (2020), and more.
Outside of fiction media, Fishel was the host of Style Network's The Dish (2008–2011), and is also a resident reporter on PopSugar, and on their spin-off YouTube channel, PopSugar Girls Guide. As of October 2025, she is a contestant in the 34th season of Dancing with the Stars.
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.
In 2006, she appeared as a guest on The Tyra Banks Show where she discussed her dramatic weight loss with the use of the Nutrisystem. The Tyra Banks Show. Friday, October 6, 2006. Warnerbros.com. Retrieved November 6, 2006. 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.
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.
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.
In December 2007, Fishel was arrested on a drunk driving warrant. She was released from jail shortly after her arrest.
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.
| 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 | Television film |
| 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 | Yes, Dear | Katie | Episode: "Sorority Girl" |
| 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 co-producer (51 episodes), director (4 episodes), writer (1 episode) |
| 2015–2016 | Gravity Falls | Pyronica | Voice role; three-part finale: "Weirdmageddon" |
| 2019 | Star vs. the Forces of Evil | Librarian | Voice role; episode: "Kelly's World" |
| 2003 | Say What? Karaoke | Herself / Host | |
| 2008–2011 | The Dish | ||
| 2009 | The Fuse 20 | ||
| 2018 | Drop the Mic | Herself | Episode: "Danielle Fishel vs. Jonathan Lipnicki / Shania Twain vs. Meghan Trainor" |
| 2022, 2025 | The Masked Singer | Guest; S08E06, S13E10 | |
| 2025 | Dancing with the Stars | Contestant | Season 34 |
| 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 |
| 4 episodes |
| 11 episodes |
| 7 episodes |
| 2 episodes |
| Episode: "Aliens Among Us" |
| 7 episodes |
| 8 episodes |
| 4 episodes |
| 2 episodes |
| Episode: "Grief" |
| 3 episodes |
| 2 episodes |
| 1996 | Young Artist Awards | Boy Meets World | 17th Young Artist Awards (1995). youngartistawards.com. Accessed June 6, 2012. | ||
| 1997 | 18th Young Artist Awards (1996). youngartistawards.com. Accessed June 6, 2012. | ||||
| 1998 | Best Performance by a Young Actress in a Comedy TV Series | ||||
| 2000 | Best Young Actress/Performance in a Comedy TV Series |
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