Rider Strong Says Embracing His 'Boy Meets World' Legacy Has Been 'Healing': 'One of the Healthiest Changes I've Made'

Rider Strong, who played bad boy Shawn Hunter on Boy Meets World, shied away from fame after the show went off the air in 2000, but now, he feels happy to have been such an integral part of pop culture.

"It's such an overwhelmingly positive feeling. Honestly, it's been healing, in a weird way. I don't mean Boy Meets World itself was traumatic — but being famous at a young age was very destabilizing. You go from being kids to being kids that everybody's watching. I ran away from that. It scared me. Looking back now, I understand why I reacted that way, but I think it was the wrong reaction. If I had embraced it earlier, I would've realized that people had incredibly positive associations with Boy Meets World. Now I know that it wasn't just some silly show. It actually was a genuinely great television show, and I should be proud of that — and I am," the actor, 46, exclusively tells OK! while talking about his partnership with Simple Mills to reimagine the iconic Snack Packs millennials grew up with, made the Simple Mills way.

"So it's honestly been one of the biggest, healthiest changes I've ever made — to embrace my identity and my public persona. It's also just been so much fun. Doing the live shows, meeting fans — everybody's so freaking cool. It's all been positive," he continues, referring to "Pod Meets World," hosted by series stars Strong, Danielle Fishel and Will Friedle.

The trio was close while filming the hit series, but now they are really bonded for life through their podcast, new film Doc Meets World, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival earlier this year, and their new oral history book, Book Meets World: The Definitive Oral History of the Hit Sitcom Boy Meets World, which comes out later this year.

"Weirdly, we're almost more like siblings. The way we interact on the podcast is the way siblings interact. We grew up together. We're always going to be in each other's lives. We can't get rid of each other. I think people relate to that," he says of their bond.

The stars are so bonded they even all got tattoos together to commemorate the end of the rewatch portion of the podcast.

"It's still bandaged. Will and Danielle got theirs on their arms. We're recording a lot because Will and I also do another podcast where we cover reality shows, which is ridiculous. Sometimes we'll bank a bunch of episodes and go two weeks without seeing each other. Then we get back together and don't shut up. We just keep talking. We still have so much to say because we know each other so well," he shares.

"Danielle is so sensitive and funny. She's incredibly emotionally intelligent. She actually studied therapy in college, and she has this amazing ability to summarize things and share her feelings. Will is the funniest human being I've ever met. And I'm kind of the sad sack — the downer of the podcast, but I think that's actually kind of a magical balance. We really balance each other out," he adds. "We're going to keep podcasting. We're finishing recapping all seven seasons of Boy Meets World. That journey is ending. What's funny is that now I kind of want to go back and watch it all again because our perspective has changed so much. The first season feels like a completely different show now that we've seen everything. That's not actually what we're going to do, but we're definitely keeping the podcast going."

While rewatching the episodes, Strong now can see "the show for what it really was."

"It was good. It was quality television. Boy Meets World took itself very seriously, which was kind of a risk. There were important life lessons. You had Mr. Feeny basically summarizing everything. Shawn was this really screwed-up kid with awful parents. There was a lot going on that I didn't fully appreciate at the time. Now I can look back and understand why the show has lasted. Yes, it was funny, but people also carried those lessons with them. The 'Feeny-isms,' the idea that childhood matters ... that's a pretty awesome message," he says.

Since Strong is such a '90s and '00s staple, it made perfect sense for him to partner with Simple Mills to reimagine the iconic Snack Packs millennials grew up with, made the Simple Mills way. Featuring fan-favorite products like Cheddar Pop Mmms, Mini Crunchy Chocolate Chip Cookies, and Honey Cinnamon Sweet Thins, Simple Mills Snack Packs combine the delicious throwback taste and convenience of classic snack packs with purposeful ingredients like watermelon seed flour, cashews, flaxseed and coconut sugar.

"They came to me with this whole idea that I hadn't ever thought about, which is that there's a taste of the '90s — that there are actual flavors that will bring you back to your adolescence and that period. I tried these snacks, and they actually do specifically taste like snacks we ate in the '90s. I just thought that was funny and cool. Part of my identity is so wrapped up for people. It's part of people's childhood, and that's something that used to kind of weird me out, to be honest. I spent my twenties sort of trying to avoid being recognized, but now I think it's great. I'm much more like, 'You know what? I'm lucky to be a part of people's childhood,'" he shares. "It's such a positive feeling that people give me when they do recognize me, and I've just learned to embrace it."

He adds, "That started with the podcast, 'Pod Meets World.' We went back and started watching the show again, and it's just become this whole thing. Now we've gone on tour. We meet fans everywhere, and it's the best. It's a very uplifting feeling. People have such kind feelings toward us, and in return we feel so grateful that these people have grown up with us now too. It's built this community, and it's really cool."

Strong is leaning toward the Cheddar Pop Mmms but also loves the Crunchy Chocolate Chip Cookies.

"The difference is they're made with much better ingredients. They're much more intentional than what we were eating back then, but they still taste like those nostalgic snacks," he says.