When Girl Meets World first premiered in 2014, fans instantly fell in love with its star, Rowan Blanchard. The talented teen appeared on the Disney Channel sitcom as Riley Matthews for the show’s three seasons until it came to a bittersweet end in 2017.

“Instead of school plays, I did TV commercials and pilots,” the actress told Cultured in February 2020. “I knew that if I was going down this road, I was going to have to be assertive. Hollywood is a machine, and it can break you down. Being on a TV show is so much about them monitoring your image, voice and tone. I was just a weird preteen who cared about things and read about them online just like everyone else, but because I was on Disney it became a ‘statement.’”

Following her role on the fan-favorite TV show, Down did not slow down when it came to furthering her career in Hollywood. Since saying goodbye to the spinoff series, the young star has grown up a lot and nabbed some pretty major acting roles in both TV shows and movies.

“Since Girl Meets World has been off-air for a while, people have the capacity to see me in whatever light I choose to present myself,” the Snowpiercer star told MTV in January 2021. “I know that that’s probably naive to say because I have noticed  — especially today — that Girl Meets World is pretty fresh still in people’s memories, which is funny because it feels really far away in my personal life. But I’m happy that, every opportunity I get, people embrace me and let me try out and experiment with different things that mean different things to me and different parts of myself.”

 

When it comes to choosing her roles, Rowan explained to MTV that she’s “just really attracted to things that challenge me.”

The former Disney star added, “I just want to do more stuff that’s imaginative and creative, that’s harder to make real. It’s a really nice challenge for me as an actress to try parts where a lot of the things that make them difficult are making these far-fetched situations feel real.”

Well, here’s to seeing more of Rowan in challenging roles! To celebrate her continuing career, J-14 decided to break down everything Rowan has been up to over the last few years. Scroll through our gallery for a look at the actress’ major successes and check out what she’s been a part of since 2017. 

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