Mara Wilson has been famous for a long time.
But Wilson doesnt seem affected by either childhood stardom or her insanely huge Twitter following.
Shes down-to-earth and just as charming as youd hope she be.
I was actually eating when you called.
I usually have a brunch throw in thingusually I make myself two eggs, and sauteed greens.
Right now I have part of an avocado.
I usually do variations on that.
Not fancy brunchesnot like the weekend mimosa brunchesjust good brunches during the day.
I have a couple of restaurants that I go to pretty regularly.
Its got to the point where either Ill come in and theyll say there she is!
or Ill come in with my sister and theyll say there they are!
I have to admit I am not the best cook.
I have lit spatulas on fire.
I have burned instant popcorn.
Im really not the best.
What I do really like is baking.
So, usually if Im making my own breakfast, I keep it pretty simple.
I love the fact that youre a regular at a breakfast place.
What do you usually order?
Ive really been leaning into rye toast lately, and getting more in touch with my Jewish heritage.
She gets a BLT thats not really a BLT.
She just gets turkey bacon and avocado on bread.
Nothing elsejust turkey bacon and avocado.
And she loves itits her favorite thing in the world.
And then I always have tea.
Tea is very, very important to me.
So youre more of a tea than coffee person?
Oh yeah, definitely.
Lets have a cup of tea about it.
To be honest I dont see much of a difference between Coke and Pepsi, and never really have.
Is there a particular leaf that youre a fan of?
I cant have caffeine anymore because of the health issue that I have, which is the worst.
It doesnt taste as good with things.
I mean I like rooibos.
But its notit always feels like the second choice, like the is Pepsi okay?
I was disappointed with PG tips decaf tea, even though I really like their standard, caffeinated tea.
And Ive been mostly doinglets seeBarrys Tea, which is an Irish tea, andYorkshire Tea.
Yorkshire Tea is really good; their decafs are great.
This tea placeIve taken all of my friendsits sort of antiquated.
I love it so much.
The food is so good.
Its so adorable, and it hasnt been appropriated in a hip, ironic way.
It just is what it is.
Its silly, but its very sincere.
I really love tea shops in general.
That sounds like a very wholesome place.
Theres a vegan place that does a tea service thats amazing.
Im a vegan magnet.
Im not a vegan myself, but vegans are attracted to me as friends, I guess.
Its a strange thing.
So I end up eating a lot of vegan food.
I have a lot of vegan baking cookbooks and such.
Like I said, Im not a good cook but I am a good baker.
But there are a lot of dietary restrictions in my family.
So I usually end up baking for my siblings and my parents.
In our family we have lactose intolerance, we have gluten intolerance, we have diabetes.
We have people who cant have caffeine, chocolate, or alcohol.
We have all kinds of different things.
I think we have a vegan in there somewherebetween my siblings and my step-cousins and everybody.
I make ginger snaps for my dad on his birthday and on Fathers Day because theyre his favorite.
Ive also done a little experimenting with Filipino baking, because my stepmothers Filipino.
Its a nut and meringue kind of thing.
Its really rich but its so good.
And with my stepmother Ive had a lot more exposure to Filipino food and desserts.
Its why I have an affinity forJollibee, the fast food restaurant.
Jollibee fried chicken is the best fried chickenits the best fast food fried chicken.
This was in New York and I was like Oh my god, Jollibee!
Where did you find Jollibee?
I thought that was only in California!
Thats amazing.
Going back briefly to the the substitutions and baking.
Do you have like a favorite vegan baking hack or sugar-free substitute?
Ive baked with … whats it called?
Lately Ive been doing Stevia baking blends.
Vegan cupcakes are one of the easiest things to make.
One thing is, Im really bad at making frosting.
I made it a couple of times, but I can never make vegan frosting on my own.
I have to follow a recipe very strictly.
You cant go wrong with them.
Vegan cookies are also harder to make, but Ive made them and theyve been great.
Gluten-free stuff is very hard for me because you dont know if your kitchen is contaminated.
And most vegans I know really arent in your face about it.
Have I known one or two that have belonged to PETA?
Maybe, but most of my vegan friends are like No, Im a vegan.
Im going to bring my own food to this thing.
You keep enjoying yourself.
Im not going to judge you.
Theyve been very great and very kind about it.
I like that approach.
Im a big fan of minding your own plate.
Moving on a little further in the day: What do you usually eat for lunch?
I usually keep it pretty simple for lunch.
I usually have a pretty small amount of food in the middle of the day.
Ill usually have a bigger breakfast, and a bigger dinner.
My diet has changed a lot in the past few months becasue I have this condition called dysautonomia.
It has to do with the autonomic system.
The autonomic system, its the thing that controls a lot of the automatic systems of the body.
Mine has to do with blood pressure.
Ive had this for a couple of years.
It got particularly bad the past year and a half.
Its triggered by things like caffeine.
I had to go to the hospital.
But its a really common thing and its very commonly misunderstood.
And its also very common in young women.
So it took years for them to finally figure out what was going on.
But they say to try and get rid of caffeine and alcohol and have low-carb meals.
Oh no!
My doctors are like Yeah, increase your salt.
And nutritionists and cardiologists will be like Yeah, put salt on things.
Salted pumpkin seedssalted seeds are probably the best because theyre lower carb.
I love Bamba, which are like peanut butter puffs.
Those are my favorite.
Theres also these things that I pretty much have to take every morningthey help me get out of bedcalledNuuntablets.
It sucks but its livable.
Lifestyle changes have helped a lot, and I dont have it as seriously as other people do.
Its probably pretty common but people dont really know about it.
A lot of doctors dont seem to know about it.
But I usually end up eating something kind of small, but very salty.
One thing I love a lot is either edamame or miso soup.
Miso soup is great.
Its salty and its good.
It can settle your stomach it can help with a headache, things like that.
And its not seriously strong like a lot of other herbal things are.
My sister is actually a good cook and we spend a lot of time together.
Meanwhile I have a lot of troubleI burn things when Im cooking.
Its just a big mess.
So I usually let her handle the cooking.
And shes not fond of baking, so she can make the dinner and I can make the dessert.
I do find that people usually gravitate towards one or the other.
The way that I think is a lot like my dad, and my dad is an engineer.
Oh my gosh, people have been telling me for years!
I dont think Ive ever made it.
I need to find it.
Its probably at my parents house, but I feel like I should make that chocolate cake.
Sort of like how they do the Comic Relief bake off.The Great British Bake Offis like my religion.
I have so many cookbooks from it.
And it was a really big hit.
They would never let me on because Im not British.
And if I were, Im not that good of a baker anyway to do the celebrity bake-off thing.
We did have an American version, but it was not the same.
Its a very soothing show.
I love that they hug at the end every time.
So many of my celebrity crushes are people that I follow fromThe Great British Bake Off.
I think theyd be flattered but if you dont want it printed I wont.
How did you feel about the host change?
And Im used to baking with substitutes.
I think that theyre funny and interesting in their own right.
I have the same big nose.
I have blue-green eyes and dark hair.
I look like a shrunken version of him.
We even dress similarly because hes got that British glam rock thing.
And so thats what I say when I want to make fun of myself in a British way.
To be fair though, Im really into Noel Fieldings whole deal.
He has a lot of look, but he wears it really well.
Going back to the subject of salt: Have you gotten super into like fancy salts or anything?
I do definitely have a lot of Himalayan rock salt.
And I have gotten super into dark chocolate.
I kind of had to acclimate myself to dark chocolate.
I still dont like it.
And some dark chocolate is just too dark for me.
So sometimes Ill get a sea salt canister and iodized salt and mix the two.
And I makereallygood chocolate chip cookies, if I do say so myself.
I usually make a run at use two or three different kinds of chocolate in there.
Those sound sounds amazing.
Are they a chewy chocolate chip cookie?
My mom always made really good chocolate chip cookies when I was growing up.
I dont know which recipe she would useprobably just the Nestle Tollhouse onebut they were always the best.
And I hate that kind; they taste like pancakes.
I mean, theyre okay.
One of my friends makes a version of them that are really, really good.
I definitely have this desire to feed people, and give them treats.
So I give a shot to make mine as chewy as possible.
That will ensure that they dont spread out too much.
I have cookie dough in my freezer right now, if my sister hasnt eaten it all.
She prefers cookie dough to cookies.
But Ill do that and then Ill sprinkle a little bit of salt on them and put them in.
And sometimes Ill bring them to a party and theyll still be warm.
That is like everybodys favorite thing.
Yeah, thats a really good party move.
Thats better than bringing alcohol.
I totally relate to that.
Shifting slightly from salt.
Do you have a favorite hot sauce or condiment?
I am a wimp when it comes to spicy food.
I guess I got my dads Irish-English taste buds.
Lately, I can kind of put cayenne pepper in things.
There is nothing more Californian than always trying to be on a self-improvement kick.
I thought I was supremely New York for many years, and in some ways I amOh!
There goes my cat trying to steal my food.
Is that what youre eating?
I have avocado, eggs, and sauteed greens.
And Ill have a big cup or tea, and usually Kedem tea biscuits.
I love themtheyre so plain and bland.
Somebody said that theyre the saltines of cookies, but I love saltines.
What was the question again?
Do you have any must have condiments that you put on everything?
It doesnt have to be spicy.
I mean Ive gotten more into soy sauce lately because its got a lot of sodium in it.
I remember I went out to a restaurant with a friend of mine at an Asian fusion place.
I do really like turmeric.
Turmeric lattes … they taste good.
I dont know if it has any of the benefits that people say, but they taste good!
So theres definitely a lot of that that I cook with.
As far as condiments and things go, not really.
My stepmother is big into banana sauce.
Which, you know, seems kind of funny but its basically just ketchup.
You know, I hated dark chocolate.
I couldnt have any artificial sweeteners.
Im extremely picky, but Im less so now.
And I kind of hope so because I dont like putting people out.
I dont like being like Oh, I dont eat that.
Because I recently became lactose intolerant, Ive started ordering a vegan pizza to bring with me to parties.
And in L.A. someone there is probably going to be a vegan too.
But honestly, I would not wish vegan pizza on anybody because there are very few good vegan pizzas.
The cheese tends to take up all the moisture from the tomato sauce.
Sometimes Ill make them at home.
Kite Hill has a really good ricotta that Ill use.
This might sound blasphemous but Ive actually never been that big a fan of cheese.
But the truth is that I always pretty much only liked soft cheeses.
You know, softer, medium cheese.
I dont like Parmesan.
Not a big fan of cheddar.
So Ill just use a fake one and it will be fine.
There just arent very many good mozzarella ones that melt very well.
I havent found a good vegan mozzarella either.
I do like a lot of fermented cashew products.
Yeah, those are really good.
The Trader Joes one is pretty good.
But Ive been disappointed in a lot of the major brands that do mozzarella.
I never feel more desired than when Im at Trader Joes.
Speaking of Trader Joes: Do you have any favorite Trader Joes snacks?
I dont if its actually healthier for you but it tastes really good.
I feel so bad around people who have peanut allergies.
I dated somebody who had a peanut allergy for a couple of years and that was really hard.
I was like Is it okay for me to kiss you after I eat peanut butter?
Bamba, like I said, is one of my favorite things, so I like Trader Joes bamba.
Their chocolate chip cookies, the little round ones are so good.
Theres always like a dad with his kid, and the dad is in a Pixies t-shirt.
I never feel more desired than when Im at Trader Joes.
Do you usually have a bigger evening meal?
It kind of depends.
My sister and myself will sometimes go to dinner some place, or well cook something on our own.
I usually hang out with her.
Im very close with my siblingsalways have been.
I have my favorite four restaurants that I go to and kind of circle around.
I try not to anything too big and I usually end up eating dinner pretty late.
Dont eat at six, eat at like, 10.
What are the four restaurants usually go to?
Theres a vegan restaurant that I go to a lot.
I like Thai food; Ill go to Thai food places a lot.
Theres one restaurant I go to because they have good breakfast and they have a really good chicken dinner.
A lot of celebrities end up going there.
Maybe only three or four, but its been multiple times.
and start looking around for him.
Hes just always there when Im making a complete ass out of myself.
Canters is one of my favorite places.
I also miss bagels.
There arent any good bagels here.
Matzo ball soup is comfort food for me.
Its still one of my favorite things in the world.
Yeah, probably something with a lot of toast.
Ill usually order or make burritos.
I still complain about the Mexican food every time I go back to [New York].
Aloo gobi, I really love thatthats very comforting to me.
Or if I feel like really eating a lot Ill order a burrito or a burrito bowl.
I think probably diner food too, things like pancakes.
There are three big dinerstheres Coral Cafe, theres Tallyrand, theres Lancers.
Tallyrand isin terms of qualitythe best.
And theres nothing better than going to the diner when youre miserable.
Oh yeah, or hungover.
Or hungover, yeah, exactly.
And I still havent found a diner out here yet, in my L.A. neighborhood that I really love.
So diners, reach out!
You might be able to win me over.
Do you have a go-to diner order?
I usually get a turkey burger; thats one of my favorite things.
If they have matzo ball soup, Ill get that.
If Im trying to eat healthy, Ill get a chicken saladlike a salad with chicken on it.
Im not the biggest fan of salad.
I liked cooked greens.
But if you put some cranberries on it, and some nuts in it, Ill definitely eat that.
Thats something that I like a lot, a salad with cranberries and nuts and things like that.
I do love a good nightshade.
Those are pretty much my go-tos.
A chicken tortilla soup.
Do you have a go-to movie theater snack?
I do love popcorn.
Sometimes the smell of popcorn will just get me into a different headspace.
Usually what I do now is popcorn, sometimes M&Ms.
A little bit of dark chocolate with popcornthey taste really good together.
Thats a great salty/sweet combination.
It was hot salted caramel, and it was amazing.
It was so good.
Im actually stunned, fathoming a block of salt with caramel.
I feel like its something you could probably do for a party.
Its a new goal of mine, so thank you very much for that.
What would you choose for each?
Oh man, I dont know.
I mean, I do love butter, but its not good for me.
For acid, I do love lemons and I do love lemon juice.
We used to have a lemon tree in my backyard growing up so it might be that.
Like the smell of a lemon tree and lemon blossoms, thats a California childhood to me.
I might have to say avocado.
God, I sound so basic Californian right now but, I love avocados so much.
Because I know theres so many problems and labor disputes with all of these things.
I mean, I put salt on everything.
Salt and I are best friends.
No high-fructose corn syrup!
I think he gets a kick out of it.
Ive only begun to explore the uses of salt.
I guess probably, salted chocolate, salted caramel would be my favorite.
I mean, even peanut butter; peanut butter has a lot of salt.
Actually I should probably say saltines.
Thats kind of my brand.
This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.
