'The Wonder Years' star Danica McKellar on escaping Hollywood 'superficiality'

Fox News

06-05-2025

Danica McKellar found stardom as girl next door, Winnie Cooper, on "The Wonder Years" as a teenager, but by the time the show was over, the actress knew she needed a break from Hollywood.
"When I finished 'The Wonder Years,' I went to UCLA to get a degree in mathematics," the 50-year-old told Closer Weekly.
She continued, "I stopped acting for four years. I just needed to find out who else I was. For me, the way I could find out was just to do something else and really exercise my brain and let go of all the glamour and superficiality of Hollywood. That was really empowering to me."
After college, McKellar returned to her acting roots on shows like "Love Boat: The Next Wave," "Even Stevens" and former "The Wonder Years" co-star Fred Savage's late '90s show "Working."
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But she said when she returned to the industry, she felt like she was trying to "catch up."
"I was doing all these independent films that weren't very good," she admitted. "Then I started getting some traction. I did 'The West Wing' for a season."
McKellar told Closer that even though she knew she "had to" take a break from acting during college, "I was still worried about it. What if I can't go back to acting? What if I don't pass the math test?"
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Along with "The West Wing," McKellar also did episodes of "NCIS," "NYPD Blue," "How I Met Your Mother" and "The Big Bang Theory" before she began to find her stride as a Christmas movie princess.
Last fall, McKellar told Fox News Digital that she was excited about her latest holiday movie with Great American Family, "A Cinderella Christmas Ball," because it's the first time she's gotten a writing credit on a movie.
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"This is a wonderful experience for me. It's been amazing, because I got to write the script with someone else, but it's the first time my name is on the script for one of these movies, and it's really gratifying," she said. "Plus, I get to waltz in it! I love ballroom dance, as I think everybody knows who follows me on social media."
McKellar has been starring in Christmas movies since 2012, when she played the lead in "Love at the Christmas Table," and has acted in many since, including "Crown for Christmas," "My Christmas Dream," "Coming Home for Christmas" and "Christmas at Dollywood."
In her opinion, the popularity of Christmas movies continues to rise because "people need comfort" and a way to "escape from this crazy world," which holiday flicks provide.
"More than an escape, it provides a reminder of what human nature can be," she told Fox News Digital. "We need that. We need that reminder. We need, yes, the feeling of comfort, but also ideas for how to move forward in a wholesome, earnest kind of way."
In addition to her work, McKellar is passionate about her faith. She said she finally got perspective on her life three years ago when she "came into" her faith.
"It just hit me like all at once," she told Closer. "I had a lot of biases against Christianity for most of my life because of looking at the wars – the Spanish Inquisition."
She said she previously thought of Christianity as some sort of "evil force that was controlling people," adding that it's "really interesting and strange for me to suddenly be talking about Jesus."
McKellar said she realized faith isn't about religion but rather "having a relationship with God," which she said for her is about "letting go and trusting and not thinking that I have to be in charge of everything all the time."
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Fox News' Lori Bashian contributed to this report.