Danica McKellar credits education for avoiding child star pitfalls

Danica McKellar says she discovered steadiness in her life as a result of she saved her centered throughout her heyday as a toddler actress.

Chatting with Fox Information Digital on the thirty third annual Movieguide Awards, the 51-year-old actress shared how she managed to keep away from the devastating demise that younger youngster stars expertise as they get older.

“Deal with training,” she mentioned. “After I completed ‘The Surprise Years,’ I graduated from highschool in a couple of months, went to UCLA, acquired a level in math, and that is why I write math books, along with persevering with to be an actress.”

The actress has written many math books, together with “Math Does not Suck,” which focuses on excessive school-level math, “Kiss My Math,” for these on the lookout for assist with pre-algebra, and extra superior books reminiscent of “Sizzling X:: Algebra Uncovered” and “Ladies Get Curves: Geometry Takes Form.”

McKellar credit her deal with training as the explanation she did not observe the identical path as many different youngster stars. (Michael Simon/Getty Photographs)

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McKellar was simply 12 years previous when she was forged as Winnie in “The Surprise Years,” and says her dad and mom performed a giant function in retaining her grounded all through the present.

“I had no concept the magnitude of the present,” she defined. “I used to be wandering again to highschool, backwards and forwards between college and set, and so it wasn’t like I used to be getting caught up within the Hollywood scene in any respect – it is fairly the other.”

She shared related sentiments in a earlier interview with Fox Information Digital in March 2023, saying her dad and mom “by no means emphasised the significance of Hollywood sufficient” and that her appearing profession was seen as one thing “enjoyable” she did.

WATCH: Danica McKellar Recollects How Her Dad and mom Saved Her Grounded When She Starred in ‘The Surprise Years’

“The Surprise Years” premiered in 1988 and ran for six seasons on ABC earlier than ending in 1993. Though McKellar loved huge fame on the time, she instructed Fox Information Digital on the awards ceremony that it by no means felt overwhelming.

“The Surprise Years” aired on ABC for six seasons, from 1988 to 1993. (ABC Photograph Archive/Disney Basic Leisure Content material by way of Getty Photographs)

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“I do not assume I’ve had that second as a result of I’ve all the time balanced it with doing one thing else. For me it was math,” she mentioned. “First get a level in math after which write books. So in between appearing tasks I am specializing in one thing very elementary – the other of Hollywood – and that has positively helped me keep balanced.”

McKellar was nominated on the awards present for her function in “Have We Met This Christmas,” her twelfth vacation movie, which additionally marked her debut as a screenwriter.

The movie starred McKellar as an actual property supervisor who loses her reminiscence after a automotive accident and takes refuge in a small city inn. Whereas there, she falls in love with the innkeeper’s son, unaware that they’ve a historical past and that she as soon as mentioned she by no means needed to see him once more.

“Now we have a alternative about what we put out into the world, and there are plenty of issues in the actual world which are fairly detrimental,” she mentioned of her work at Nice American Household and religion and family-based programming.

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McKellar considers it a privilege to have the ability to create optimistic content material “to assist elevate individuals up.” (Nathan Congleton/NBC by way of Getty Photographs)

She added, “So I really feel prefer it’s a privilege to have the ability to deal with optimistic programming and serving to individuals degree up and exhibiting them that they don’t seem to be alone, and exhibiting them that there’s a manner for individuals to be good individuals and never simply present tales of individuals deceiving one another and mendacity and all that unhealthy stuff.”

The thirty third Annual Movieguide Awards airs March 5 at 8 PM ET on Nice American Household.

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