Mara Wilson felt "completely isolated" following her years of child stardom

Writing in an essay for Vulture, she explained: "At the time, I was fortunate: I had supportive teachers and a solid friend group.

"When I started high school a few years later, though, both my friend group at school and my crew of child actors splintered, and I found myself in the same place Michelle [Trachtenberg] had been. I was being bullied at school - both for having been a child actor and just for being an awkward teenager - and I felt completely isolated: The people-pleasing had made me resentful, and the resentment made me bitter and furious. Now everyone was calling me a b****."

The 'Mrs. Doubtfire' star became good friends with 'Gossip Girl' star Michelle - who died in February at the age of 39 shortly after she underwent a liver transplant - during their days of childhood fame but they lost touch in the years that followed, and she always assumed they would make contact again but it never happened.

She said: "This wasn't supposed to happen. She was too young. She'd worked too hard. I always thought I would get the chance to see her again, to tell her how much I'd always looked up to her. To tell her the times we spent together as children were some of the best of my life.

"I went through my Instagram and was instantly overwhelmed by all the tributes to her. Not only were all of my childhood friends posting about her but so were so many people I never knew had known her. Comedians, musicians, actors, people I'd met as adults. Fans and friends."