WATN: Winnie Cooper from ‘The Wonder Years’

For six years she graced our screens as Winnie Cooper, the object of Kevin Arnold’s affections throughout his so-called Wonder Years, but where is actress Danica McKellar now?

Born in La Jolla, California in 1975, both Danica (pronounced as in “Monica”) and sister Crystal began acting at a young age. Early modelling gigs and appearances on the likes of The Twylight Zone, helped land McKellar the role which she describes as “a blessing” – Winnie Cooper.
Between the ages of twelve and eighteen, McKellar literally grew up on screen. In fact, her first kiss was with Fred Savage in an episode of The Wonder Years. She later said, “My first kiss was a pretty nerve-wracking experience! But we never kissed off screen, and pretty quickly our feelings turned into brother/sister, and stayed that way.”
When Savage married real estate agent Jenny Stone last year in Los Angeles, rumours began that Fred’s bride had stopped Danica attending. McKellar rubbished this urban myth in an interview with TV Guide, explaining, “I was out of town. Jenny is very sweet. I’ve met her many times.”

Although she enjoyed her time on Years “I learned what ‘Pull my finger’ meant the hard way.” Danica has since admitted the transition from “child actor to adult actor was a little bumpy.”

In fact, when The Wonder Years ended in 1993, McKellar temporarily turned her back on acting to attend UCLA to study maths, or as they call it in the States, Math. She graduated Summa Cum Laude (which I assume is good) with a BA in Mathematics in June 1998 and the following year co-authored a paper in the Journal of Physics: Mathematics & General that helped solve a problem in the area of statistical mechanics, now known as the Chayes-McKellar-Winn theorum.

She’s had two books published as well – “Math Doesn’t Suck” and 2008′s “Kiss My Math”. Her aim apparently is to make math accessible and her mantra is “cute and smart is better than cute and dumb” – astounding.

There is even a section on Danica’s website where you can submit maths questions for her to answer math@danicamckellar.com. She must be the only actress who will actually do your homework for you.

Having conquered the world of Math, Danica turned her attentions back to acting. In the last four years she has written, directed and starred in two short films, one of which, Speechless, won an award at the 2002 Hollywood Underground Film Festival.
Danica’s most recent high profile role is the character of Elsie Snuffin on The West Wing. “If I could pick any show to be on, it would be this one,” McKellar told the Cincinnati Enquirer. She also said that it was only when she debuted on the show in 2002, “that people started to admit to themselves that I had grown up after all.”

Danica, 29, proved this point yet again earlier this year when she posed for a series of scantily-clad pics for Stuff magazine. The magazine asked its readers to vote for which 90′s TV star they would most like to see in lingerie. McKellar was the people’s choice. “I’m guessing most people are going to be like, ‘Oh, look, it’s Winnie Cooper!” Danica said at the time, “Maybe after these pictures come out, people will start giving me grittier roles.”