Matthew Lawrence Conquers a Decade of Stage Fright—One Rubber Duck Foot at a Time

Matthew Lawrence, the actor best known for his childhood role on "Boy Meets World," just faced down a decade-long personal demon—singing in front of an audience—by stepping onto the stage of "The Masked Singer."

In a recent interview, Lawrence opened up about his history of dodging any gig that required him to belt out a tune in public. "I have a bit of stage fright when it comes to singing in front of large audiences, believe it or not. And acting is a whole different thing for me," he admitted. Apparently, a disastrous Broadway audition years ago left him so rattled he couldn’t even open his mouth before dashing offstage. Yikes—hard to imagine the Paparazzo running from the flashbulbs, but nerves don’t discriminate.

Lawrence admitted, "I spent the last decade or so saying no to anything singing, and I was really acting out of fear." But when the opportunity to join "The Masked Singer" came along, he initially brushed it off—until friends reminded him that his own podcast preaches fearlessness. A classic case of practice what you podcast, right?

On the show, Lawrence confessed he was "shaking and sweating bullets," but once he got past the stage fright, something clicked. "There was a moment where the fear went away, and I was just singing for the first time with an audience. Dude, it's like lightning in a bottle. It's so cool, I loved that experience, it was great," he shared. He was unmasked as Paparazzo, the walking camera, on FOX’s popular program—rubber duck feet and all. (Seriously, the man performed in giant duck feet and a bulky soap box on his head. Talk about a balancing act—literally.)

Lawrence was candid: he never would have joined the show if he couldn’t hide his identity behind a costume, but he ended up loving every awkward step of it. "The costume, I mean, I had huge duck rubber feet. So, choreography was pretty much out the window. And then I had this giant soap box of a head that was attached to my torso. So any movement during the whole thing and it's, it's unstable. I mean, I could have gone over, man. I just am so lucky I got through it. I feel blessed to be a part of it, and it was a great experience at the end of the day."

Beyond his masked adventures, Lawrence also co-hosts the "Brotherly Love" podcast with his brothers, Joey and Andrew. The trickiest part? Getting all three together in one place. "It's like herding cats," he joked. Still, the family podcast has been a silver lining, helping them reconnect after the chaos of the pandemic.

All three Lawrence brothers have roots in television, famously starring together in the 90s sitcom "Brotherly Love." Now, they’re back to sharing the mic—just a bit older and, clearly, a little wiser about facing their fears.