Danica McKellar explains leaving Hollywood for obscurity to rediscover herself
Wonder Years star says stepping away from fame allowed her to pursue math at UCLA and return to acting later with a new sense of self.
Danica McKellar says she left Hollywood after The Wonder Years ended in 1993 to escape being defined by a single role and to figure out who else she could be. In a recent appearance on the podcast Hey Dude.. The ’90s Called, she described fame as a teenager as very limiting and said she needed to break away. "Everywhere I went it was, 'Hey aren’t you that girl you know that played Winnie? Aren’t you that girl from TV?'" McKellar recalled. "It was a blessing to be on a show that’s that popular but it was very limiting as a teenager when you’re 18." She described feeling insecure after the show ended and wanting to figure out who else she was. That led to enrolling in UCLA to study mathematics.
At UCLA, McKellar pursued a mathematics degree and graduated with honors. She said the turning point came when she scored well on a calculus test, which shifted classmates’ focus to her intellect rather than her acting credits. "It was the greatest feeling… It was just me," she explained. "It had nothing to do with the superficiality of Hollywood or all the great writers or the sound design and all the things they did to make Winnie Cooper [into] Winnie Cooper. It was just me and my brain who did this." After earning her degree, she worked as a mathematician and started a website to provide math help to students.
She later returned to acting because she missed a connection with people. McKellar went on to star in a string of Lifetime and Hallmark films and also appeared on The West Wing. The path back to the screen came with a different perspective on fame and work-life balance, shaped by a deep dive into academia.
Her personal life has included two marriages. She tied the knot with composer Mike Verta in 2009, and they welcomed a son in 2010 before amicably divorcing two years later. She later wed Los Angeles attorney Scott Sveslosky in 2014.
As McKellar has described, the mix of math and storytelling remains a part of who she is. The detour into higher education allowed her to redefine success beyond a single character, and she has since blended educational outreach with acting projects, choosing roles and projects that align with her evolving interests. The journey underscores a broader narrative about entertainers finding long-term fulfillment outside of early fame, and McKellar’s story continues to resonate with fans who followed her as Winnie Cooper and as a lifelong learner.
