Girl Meets World star Ben Savage is pleased to be back as Cory Matthews.
The 33-year-old actor portrayed the character on seven seasons of Boy Meets World from 1993 to 2000 on ABC, and reprised the role for the new Disney sequel series. The program features a grown-up Cory and Topanga (Danielle Fishel), and focuses on the couple's 12-year-old daughter, Riley (Rowan Blanchard), as she navigates pre-teen life. Savage told The Mirror he is happy to portray Cory as a father, and excited to introduce the character to a new generation of viewers.
"I think we were all really excited about it," the actor said of the spinoff. "Personally for me I was excited to get a chance to play the Dad, and a teacher, I just thought that would be really exciting and I hadn't done that role. I thought it would be really interesting to be the same character but as a dad now."
"I'm really enjoying it again, it's really fun to be playing the same character from a different perspective," he continued. "He's older, he's hopefully a little wiser, and is much more focused in this point of his life because he is a dad with two kids and a teacher. It's still sort of this same quirky, neurotic, fun, sweet guy, but that being said, I think he is really endeavoring to be a good teacher and to set a good example to his kids."
Savage said it has been great to reunite and reconnect with Fishel on set, and likened the experience to spending time with an old friend. The actor expressed his hope that people like the show, and said he and the cast are "taking it one step at a time."
Girl Meets World airs Fridays at 7:30 p.m. ET on the Disney channel. The series was renewed for a second season in August, and season two will premiere in 2015.