Raise your hand if you grew up in the ‘90s and planned your week around ABC’s iconic TGIF lineup? Now wave that hand to the sky if Rider Strong as Shawn Hunter, the leather-jacket-wearing, center-parted heartthrob on Boy Meets World, forever holds a special place in your heart.
As someone who is always partial to the bad boys of peak ‘90s and early aughts TV (hello, Dylan McKay), it was surreal to chat with Strong for Parade (and my Substack, The Teen Mag Time Machine). Much like Strong, I’ve been looking back at that golden era of pop culture with fresh eyes as a parent. These days, Strong has been reexamining his teen idol era through the lens of a 44-year-old dad helping his own 11-year-old son, Indy (whom he shares with wife Alexandra Barreto), meet, well, the world.
If you’re doing the math, Strong’s son is the exact same age as Shawn’s best friend Cory (played by Ben Savage) when Boy Meets World premiered in 1993. That reality was just one of many things that proved surreal for Strong while rewatching the series for his hit podcast Pod Meets World, alongside co-stars Danielle Fishel and Will Friedle.
“Rewatching, it was so funny to identify with the parents. But in that last episode [of Boy Meets World] there’s a flashback and you see how much we physically changed from season one to the final season,” Strong shares. “It was a good reminder that my son is still going to change a lot. He hasn’t discovered romance at all. I was one of those kids who was always in love by the age of 5. My son’s not. But then I think, ‘Oh right, he hasn’t met his Topanga. He hasn’t had the Corey and Topanga feelings yet, but it’ll happen. It always does.”
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Red Vines, OtterPops, and 12 Cokes a Day
With back-to-school season here and Indy about to start middle school, Strong is partnering with Simple Mills to reimagine the throwback snack packs millennials grew up with and updating childhood favorites like Cheddar Pop Mmms and Mini Crunchy Chocolate Chip Cookies with wholesome ingredients.
“I didn’t think that the ’90s had a taste, but these snacks totally remind me of the ‘90s. There is a nostalgic taste,” Strong says. Strong readily admits that crafting healthy habits wasn’t exactly top of mind as a kid with unlimited access to craft services on a television set.
“I used to eat horribly unhealthy,” Strong shares. “On the set of Boy Meets World, I just ate Red Vines and drank coffee all the time. At one point, we went through a phase where we were eating OtterPops by bulk boxes. Blue Raspberry OtterPops all day.”
While the parents of the younger actors on set tried to regulate their requests, Strong recalls how older castmates had free rein.
“Will Friedle was 16, and he tells me now, I didn’t even realize it at the time, was drinking a case of 12 Cokes a day and he was smoking cigarettes,” Strong reveals. “It’s horrifying to think about! But they would give him his own case of Coke every day.”
The contrast between ’90s kid culture and today’s hyper-aware parenting couldn’t be starker.
“Kids today go to school with their water bottles, so healthy and hydrated,” Strong laughs. “I don’t think I ever even thought about drinking a sip of water back then.”
Related: ‘Boy Meets World’ Stars Reveal What Their Characters Would Be Doing Now (Exclusive)
Getting Roasted by Middle Schoolers
Something else Strong didn’t expect to experience in 2026? Navigating the full-circle reality of raising a tween in a culture currently obsessed with ’90s nostalgia.
“The parents at my son’s school found out who I am and told their kids. So all the kids know. I also volunteer a lot at my kids’ school, so they’ve come to know me and tease me about it! And, I’m glad my son and his friends tease me. I don’t want him to feel pressure or that it actually is a cool thing,” Strong laughs. “It’s a crazy, weird thing to have famous parents but especially in my case, I don’t act anymore. I’m this weird nostalgia part of people’s lives . . . it taps into this connection people feel with me that almost goes beyond just being famous. They grew up with me. They grew up with all of us.”
The 1993 Teen Mag Flashback
Seeing how much times have changed, I couldn’t resist taking Strong on a time-warp journey. I presented him with an authentic page out of a 1993 BOP Magazine featuring a questionnaire he filled out when he was just 13 years old. Strong’s shock over how his teenage self answered basic get-to-know-you questions was pure gold.
When asked to guess his favorite musician from 1993, Strong was positive his answer had been Counting Crows. Instead, his teenage self wrote down “Pachelbel’s Canon in D.”
“Pachelbel’s Canon?!” Strong laughed. “What? Oh My God. A classical music reference? What a douche.”
Moving on to favorite actors and actresses, Strong assumed he would’ve said Jack Nicholson (which he did), but he was less certain about his actress pick. “Who would I have said as an actress? I mean, I was in love with Winona Ryder. Would it have been her? Who was it?”
When I revealed it was actually Rebecca De Mornay, he burst out laughing at the “weird pull.”
Related: ‘Boy Meets World’ Stars Give Rare Insight into Major Fall Out with Former Co-Star: ‘I Haven’t Given Up On My Friend’
His favorite movie answers weren’t any less pretentious. Strong assumed he had listed ’90s coming-of-age classics like Stand by Me or Reality Bites. But his 13-year-old self claimed his favorite movie was Schindler’s List.
“See, I was trying to sound smart and grown up!” Strong jokes. “That’s why I said Pachelbel’s Canon and Schindler’s List.“
Finally, I asked if he remembered his answer to “What do you like least about yourself?” Rider assumed he had written about his skin “because I had such horrible acne back then.” Instead, he had targeted one of his most iconic heartthrob features: “My hair, it’s out of control.”
“I can’t believe I said that because in retrospect, I actually really think it was totally great hair! But I probably just hated it because I had to deal with it. It was long and I didn’t know how to take care of it. I washed it every day, which just made it super frizzy. I don’t even think I put product in back in the day. It’s my own fault.”
The ultimate irony? Today, Strong sees his son’s peers walking down the street sporting that exact same center-parted haircut alongside baggy, sagging jeans. “It’s all happening again,” he says. “We’re right back in the ’90s.”
It’s an era that Strong spent years running from, but now happily runs toward.
”I spent my 20s and 30s trying to avoid it. And since doing the podcast, I’m really embracing it because it’s actually a very positive thing. People are so kind. People have such positive associations with me that it’s actually a very good feeling. It brings us all back to the ’90s and our adolescence when life was pretty great.”
Next, ‘Boy Meets World’ Stars Reveal What Their Characters Would Be Doing Now (Exclusive)
