Classic '90s sitcom Boy Meets World may have ended nearly a quarter century ago, but the stars are keeping the legacy alive by regularly getting together to talk about the beloved show. Rider Strong, Danielle Fishel, and Will Friedle recently reunited with Matthew Lawrence to reminisce about days gone by, leading Lawrence to reveal how he made a bad impression on Justin Timberlake when NSYNC would visit the Boy Meets World set.
Matthew Lawrence played Jack across the last three seasons of Boy Meets World from 1997-2000, which was also around the height of the boy band rivalry between NSYNC and the Backstreet Boys. On the Pod Meets World podcast hosted by Rider Strong, Danielle Fishel, and Will Friedle, Lawrence opened up about an exchange he had with Justin Timberlake about their encounters on the set of Boy Meets World:
I don't know if you guys — well, of course, you remember this — but when NSYNC kept coming over to the set? … I found out years later when I bumped into Justin [Timberlake] that he thought I was not very nice. He didn't like me, and he flat out told me to my face. … I didn't have any recollection of this, and he was like, ‘Oh, yeah. Yeah, now you wanna be friends with me? You were so mean on the set!’
Lawrence explained that he was a huge fan of the singer when he spoke with Timberlake at the time that his debut solo album Justified released in 2002, which was only a couple of years after Boy Meets World ended with its seventh season. (You can revisit the full series streaming now with a Disney+ subscription.)
The actor's former co-stars all seemed pretty shocked to hear what Timberlake had said to him, but it's safe to say that they got to know him a whole lot better working together than Justin Timberlake did during the NSYNC set visits. Lawrence went on:
I was super shy, and also, I had kind of a crush on Danielle. And these guys kept rolling up on set, like, trying to hit on her!
Danielle Fishel may have gone through her fair share of struggles on set during Boy Meets World's earliest days –including very harsh criticisms from the showrunner right after she landed her role – but plenty of young fans watched the show and were crushing hard on Topanga. That apparently included Matthew Lawrence and some of the members of NSYNC!
While Topanga's heart always belonged to Cory Matthews (even though Danielle Fishel now wishes the characters didn't get married), Rider Strong joked on Pod Meets World that the five band members were "just orbiting around Danielle in a constant circle."
For his part, Matthew Lawrence didn't get his chance to explain why he was a bit standoffish to Justin Timberlake, but Will Friedle had an NSYNC-adjacent story of his own about the time that he and Lawrence were hanging out when they had the doll version of the Matthews baby that was born in Season 6. Friedle shared:
At one point they gave us the baby, the doll, and I think it was Justin [Timberlake] and Joey [Fatone] who were there... I was just playing with the doll and putting the cigarette in its mouth and making it cough. Justin just looked at me and went, 'Are you actually crazy?' ... He's like, 'Dude, this is insane!' I'm like 'Yeah, this is what we do, this is our day at work.'
While it doesn't seem that Matthew Lawrence and Justin Timberlake ever did become friends, the Boy Meets World cast reflecting back on when the NSYNC singers dropped by their set reminded me of a fun gag from an episode in the seventh and final season. Eric and Jack were facing living in Topanga and Angela's former dorm, which didn't just mean inheriting stuffed animals, nail polish, and a lot of pink. There was also a massive Backstreet Boys poster that I honestly would have loved to have on my own wall back in the day.
The boys bantered over the poster a bit, with Jack insisting that "BSB rocks!" to try and make the best of the situation. They then had a slight disagreement about who "the cute one" was, with Eric saying it was Howie Dorough and Jack saying he thought it was Nick Carter. All in all, it's a fun gag that strikes me as even funnier now that I know Justin Timberlake felt a bit of bad blood toward some of the Boy Meets World cast.
If you have a Disney+ subscription, you can rewatch the episode for yourself, as it's the second installment of Season 7, called "For Love and Apartments." If you're in the market for some upcoming viewing options rather than going back to the days of Boy Meets World, be sure to check out our 2024 TV schedule for what's on the way.
