For many of us, she will always be Winnie Cooper. The girl next door with the brown eyes, the quiet strength, and the late 80s and early 90s warmth you can still feel on rewatch. But here is the part that sneaks up on you.
Winnie Cooper just turned 50.
Danica McKellar has written 12 books that have helped kids fall in love with math. She has also starred in 12 Christmas movies. In fact, she wrote the story for her newest one, Have We Met This Christmas?, debuting this month. She produces. She parents. She bakes Yule log cakes from scratch. She homeschools her son. She goes live on X with fans during premieres and stays connected with the audience that has grown up alongside her.
Our dear Winnie grew up, but she is very much still here.
Danica laughs when she says it out loud. Forty years on television. Twenty years writing math books. Now she is creating and producing her own holiday stories, and she marked the milestone of turning 50 with a dance party in Nashville.
“I had a big party with a bunch of friends. I love ballroom dancing, so I actually put together a performance for my guests. We had a salsa lesson for everybody. So fun.”
Her latest film, Have We Met This Christmas?, carries that same sense of joy and renewal. She didn’t just star in it, she wrote it.
“It was going to be my first novel. And Great American Family channel wanted to make a movie out of it. I’d written the entire outline already, and then they brought on a screenwriter, and the two of us together wrote the script in 12 days... crazy.”
In the story, she plays a woman who loses her memory in a car accident and ends up back in front of the one who once broke her heart.
“I’ve always wanted to play a character who has amnesia. I’ve always thought it would be interesting to have no idea who I am and have to figure out what it means to be a person if you don’t have any memories.”
The setup gives her character a second chance at love and gives the story its heart.
“Without giving it away, the conflict comes naturally. You totally understand why my character feels betrayed. You totally understand why he does what he does. And you totally understand why she ultimately forgives him.”
Danica believes Christmas movies are more than comfort.
“Many people consider Christmas movies just an escape. While that is partially true, I don’t believe that’s their biggest value. I believe their biggest value is in modeling good behavior, modeling feel-good stories, and also giving people inspiration for some fun family Christmas traditions. Ultimately, these movies help create bonds in your family over the holidays.”
That love of connection extends to her own life.
“I just love the holiday-time family togetherness. I love that people travel to see each other.”
And eat.
“I’m not a baker at all,” she says, laughing. “So it takes me half a day to make my annual Yule Log Cake following my mom's recipe step-by-step.”
She also makes ornaments with her son, Draco. It started when he was a baby and they never stopped.
“When he was really little, he was super into garbage cans. We made a little trash can ornament together, and it's really sweet to have them pile on the tree.”
Her son is now 15, and that milestone is another one she treasures.
“He’s my only child, and fifteen is getting close to 18. I want to soak up every moment I can with him amidst my busy life.”
A life that started to the tune of "With a Little Help from My Friends.”
“I’ll go into a store or a restaurant, and just a few minutes later, The Wonder Years theme song will start playing,” she says. “And I’m like, okay, well, that’s hilarious. Thank you. Whoever did that, it’s very funny.”
Does it still hit her?
“For sure,” she says. “It’s amazing to me how many warm and fuzzy feelings that show holds for so many people. I feel really blessed to have been a part of something like that.”
In fact, she credits Winnie with shaping more than her career.
“I think playing a wholesome character with integrity from a young age was really good for me. It definitely colored the way I play my roles even today. It’s about being a person who tries their best to do the right thing. Not always necessarily doing the right thing, but always trying.”
That sense of purpose led her to her second legacy, math.
Right after The Wonder Years, she stepped back from acting and enrolled at UCLA to study mathematics.
“For me, it was really important to take that break from acting and discover this other thing that made me feel like a rock star,” she says. “Doing well on a math test and getting accolades from professors really meant a lot. They were like, you have a gift.”
It was a turning point.
“I needed to find out who else I was aside from Winnie. When you hear about child actors going the wrong way, a lot of that comes from not knowing what your value would be without that show. For me, math gave me that answer.”
She helped prove a new theorem, testified before Congress about keeping girls in math, and went on to write books that make the subject less intimidating and more joyful. Her latest, I Love You 100, is her twelfth.
“This book is for kindergartners, teaching them how to count to 100,” she says. “And it’s all in the context of a story of unconditional love from a mother to her child.” (Hint-hint: a good stocking stuffer.)
Twelve books. Twelve Christmas movies. Twelve years with her husband.
“It’s a year of numbers,” she says.
When she looks ahead, she doesn’t talk about reinvention. She talks about recommitting.
“Resolutions… no. I don’t like to say here’s a new thing and I’m never going to do this again. Instead, I am recommitting to myself to be healthy and recommitting to my faith.”
If Winnie could see Danica now?
“I think she’d be very proud,” she says. “Especially with the math books. I feel like I’m living the life Winnie Cooper might have lived.”
And maybe that is why it still feels so personal, seeing her at 50. She let us grow up with her, and somehow, she’s still the girl who makes everything feel a little warmer. The one who reminds us that wonder doesn’t fade, it just grows… especially at Christmas.
Have We Met This Christmas? premieres December 13th on the Great American Family channel and will also stream on Pureflix.
IG @danicamckellar
mckellarmath.com
“I feel like I’m living the life Winnie Cooper might have lived.”