Trina McGee, who performed Angela on ‘Boy Meets World,’ says she was requested to ‘flip down’ her ‘Black meter’

One other “Boy Meets World” thriller was solved throughout a current episode of the rewatch podcast, “Pod Meets World.” Trina McGee, who portrayed Angela Moore through the remaining three seasons of the sitcom, revealed why she wasn’t a part of the sequence finale.

“That is some floor we now have not coated. I used to be informed, in sort of a bizarre, off-handed approach by a vital particular person, that you just guys all went to [showrunner] Michael Jacobs, and also you mentioned, ‘We don’t need her within the final episode. She’s by some means taking our mild.’ [That] was the gist of it,” mentioned McGee, who performed Shawn Hunter’s (Rider Sturdy) girlfriend on the present. “I used to be informed that after I shot what was the present earlier than the final episode, which was referred to as ‘Angela’s Ashes’ once I left. When Michael introduced to me, we’re going to do one other present on Angela, I used to be so blissful, not realizing this was going to be the present earlier than the final present.”

Co-hosts Sturdy, Danielle Fishel and Will Friedle had been shocked and appalled over that declare — and felt terrible that she was informed that 22 years in the past.

“I keep in mind after we taped the present, I had mentioned to an individual, ‘Why aren’t we on the final present?’ As a result of I do know the final present was going to be the one with the rankings and the crying and all of the stuff. I used to be beneath the impression that y’all received collectively and didn’t need me within the final present, for some motive I used to be going to take some shine or one thing to that impact,” she continued. “That was actually hurtful to me for a very long time. To make it worse, folks of shade are likely to look into issues just a little more durable generally. So I had cousins calling me, saying, ‘How come you weren’t within the final episode? They simply gave you that complete present so that you just’d be distracted and wouldn’t be within the present with the true rankings?’ A number of of my cousins, my members of the family had been telling me this… I’ve truthfully had that in my head for 20 years.”

Friedle was not blissful concerning the declare. “Can we are saying for the report, Trina, that by no means occurred,” he mentioned. “That’s not competitiveness, that’s sociopathy. This pisses me off. That is subsequent stage.”

McGee kindly replied, “I imagine you. I can inform by your reactions. I’ve had that in my head for therefore lengthy, and I’ve by no means watched that present. I’ve all the time felt like, ugh… That harm me a very long time.”

Whereas Fishel and McGee remembered being pitted in opposition to one another, the boys mentioned that it wasn’t the identical for them.

“It’s true that we weren’t performed in opposition to one another, however I gained’t go to this point to say we weren’t manipulated,” Sturdy mentioned. Friedle responded, “Oh no, that’s totally different. Manipulated on a regular basis. Nevertheless it wasn’t whispering in a single ear, whispering in one other ear about one thing else.”

Throughout the episode, McGee additionally seemed again at an op-ed that she wrote for the Each day Information, during which she defended the truth that “Boy Meets World” didn’t deal with that Shawn and Angela had been in an interracial relationship. She shared on the podcast that her publicist and husband really wrote the piece, which was revealed beneath her byline, however that she didn’t agree.

“I used to be very confused on the time about whether or not to speak about it or not — I had two realms of considering: my job and mankind,” she mentioned. “It wasn’t completely my natural view. Humorous sufficient, a rebuttal was written to the Each day Information by Lorraine Toussaint, who mentioned, ‘No, you will need to acknowledge that these are two totally different races getting collectively…’ If I needed to do it over and I may take my actual stance — hindsight and every thing — I might have wrote the alternative article.”

Sturdy additionally remembered speaking to McGee concerning the matter, additionally questioning why they weren’t discussing it.

Earlier than the household sitcom, McGee had starred on a number of sitcoms with Black casts, together with “A Completely different World,” “Martin” and “Household Issues.”

“Coming from Black sitcoms, I all the time needed to have like a Black meter… My Black meter was in all probability right down to a 2. I keep in mind once I was doing ‘Angela’s Ashes’ episode, by some means my Black meter had slipped up and I used to be at a few 9. Michael came visiting to me and his observe was, ‘Hey Trina, simply flip down the Telma Hopkins about eight notches,’” she mentioned, noting that the producer was referencing the Black “Household Issues” actor. “I knew precisely what he was speaking about and I did. … There are such a lot of stuff you guys are so fortunate you didn’t have to consider.”

Years in the past, McGee and Friedle shared an interplay that they had on set that he says fully modified his life. They recounted the dialog on the podcast, noting that on set, McGee got here out of the dressing room in a pink headband.

“In my head, I connected no cultural significance to that by any means. I noticed an individual who I assumed was my good friend however didn’t know very nicely, carrying a giant, pink hat. That’s all I noticed,” Friedle defined. “I used to be like, ‘You’re a part of the forged, so which means, I’m gonna make enjoyable of you an identical approach I make enjoyable [of others].’ I assumed, ‘Gonna make enjoyable of her pink hat.’ That’s so far as my dumbass, privileged thoughts noticed. So proper earlier than I walked on individually, I walked by and went, ‘Love your syrup,’ and walked on to the set, considering ‘Increase, zing! Simply received her for her hat.’”

After the scene, McGee informed Friedle his remark referring to her as Aunt Jemima was not okay.

“I keep in mind saying to you, ‘I assumed that was such as you calling me the jolly inexperienced big.’ You had been like, ‘No, that’s not the identical factor in any respect.’” Friedle mentioned. “By no means use the time as an excuse however the mid-90s, I had no thought of the cultural significance of the Aunt Jemima character, any of that stuff… I had by no means heard that! I used to be mortified.”

After she defined the offensive remark to him, he apologized and so they hugged — however he was “actually shaking” afterward. McGee recalled feeling “very small,” to which Friedle responded, “How may you not?”

“It actually modified my life,” he continued. “That second was the second the place I used to be like, you’ll be able to’t simply say stuff. You’ll be able to’t throw stuff on the market, since you assume it’s humorous and stroll away. You can be hurting folks.”