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Riley Matthews Grew Up! See How Rowan Blanchard Has Transformed Over Her Career

Fashion & Beauty

Oct 14, 2019 10:00 am·

By Josie Rhodes Cook

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Can you believe how much time has passed? Rowan Blanchard started her acting career at the age of five, and fans have literally seen her grow up on TV. She’s 18 years old as of October 14, and it’s been wild to see her grow from spunky little Riley Matthews on Girl Meets World to the fashionista she clearly is on Instagram these days. And did you know that in addition to her acting career and appearances at fashion events, she’s also a proud activist? Learn more about the former Disney Channel star who’s turned herself into quite the force to be reckoned with in the gallery below.

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Little Rowan

Did you know Rowan was in Spy Kids: All the Time in the World back in 2011? It’s the fourth movie in the Spy Kids series — and the last. She was just 10 years old in that role.

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Back-Up

She was also in The Back-up Plan, a 2010 romantic comedy, with the likes of Jennifer Lopez and Alex O’Loughlin.

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Girl? Meet the World

Then, in January 2013, Rowan was cast as Riley Matthews in the Disney Channel series Girl Meets World. It was a sequel series to the extremely popular Boy Meets World TV show.

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Singer

Rowan sings the title song for the show along with costar Sabrina Carpenter. Not bad for a big break!

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Matthews Girl

She played the daughter of Cory and Topanga Matthews in the series — played by Ben Savage and Danielle Fishel, who returned to their Boy Meets World roles for the project.

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Matured

The show aired from June 27, 2014, to January 20, 2017. Here, she’s pictured in 2014 at around 13 years old. It’s amazing to see how much she had already matured from her Spy Kids days, but was still clearly young.

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Loving It

Rowan strongly embraced her Girl Meets World role and clearly loved playing Riley.

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Devastated

When the show was abruptly canceled, she shared a heartbreaking letter on social media expressing how devastated she was that the series was ending.

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Significant

“Being on Girl Meets World is the most significant event in my life thus far, it changed absolutely every aspect of it and takes up most of the life I am able to remember … doing a show in general, specifically doing a show as a child into your teenhood, is so indescribably cosmic and scary but you do it because you love these people.”

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Never Forget

She continued, “I am crying typing this because yes, we were making a show, but our lives turned into a movie. We dressed as The Breakfast Club, hid under staircases to tell each other about our crushes, sobbed together when we suffered the death of our teacher … these are things you don’t forget. That I will never forget.”

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Capable

“Teens determine and influence all of this in general … I know what we are capable of,” Rown added. “I know very well what we did. I am above all humbled to know I belong ro such an extraordinary generation. What an honor.”

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Activism

Speaking of influence, as her career continued, Rowan also became heavily involved in activism. She’s used her social media platform to talk about feminism, human rights, gun violence and more with her followers.

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Feminism

She once spoke at the UN Women and US National Committee’s annual conference as part of #HeForShe, a feminist campaign founded in part by fellow actress Emma Watson.

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Experimenting

As a teenager, Rowan also seemed to become increasingly interested in fashion and style. She loves to show off her latest looks and to experiment with fashion with her followers.

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Take Her Seriously

She clearly finds it important to work on both her causes and to dive into fashion. Rowan once told Elle, “On a red carpet, the only thing I’m often asked is, ‘Who are you wearing?’ And my co-stars, my friends who are older, even much older, really accomplished actresses who I admire — it’s the same story. For a guy, the first question is, ‘What drew you to this project?’ And it’s like, come on! I want to wear cool clothes. I love fashion. We all do. But we shouldn’t be taken less seriously because we’re in dresses.”

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Kickass

She added, “You can be a kickass feminist … but you can contribute to the fight against objectification and be wearing your favorite designer. At the end of the day, it’s about equality.”

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Ask Me

“I’m happy to talk about what I’m wearing,” the actress added. “It’s cool to spotlight a new designer on the runway, and to contribute to the fashion world that I love. It’s a very special thing I get to do. But don’t make my story, and who I am, be my dress, while my male co-star’s story is how he picks scripts and gets inspired. Why not ask me that, too?”

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Author

In September 2017, Rowan announced that she was going to release a book, Still Here. It was published in February 2018. (You know, just in case she didn’t have enough to do.)

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Chic

She also co-starred in A Wrinkle in Time, which was released in March 2018. Meanwhile, she was still rocking fierce looks at fashion events and on her Instagram. Check out her chic short ‘do in this shot …

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Serving Looks

… And this Rodarte look from the Vanity Fair Oscar Party in February 2019. She’s hardly recognizable as the girl who also starred in The Goldbergs for several episodes in 2017 and 2018.

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What’s Next?

What’s next for Rowan? For starters, she’s going to be in the Snowpiercer TV adaptation in 2019. She’s also still attending fashion events all the time and showing off her favorite styles on Instagram. What do you think the next ten years of her life and career look like?