Danica McKellar

You may know Danica McKellar from the Wonder Years and the West Wing but acting isn't Danica's only interest. Danica's favorite subject in school was math. She majored in pure math at UCLA and earned a Bachelor's degree. Because of her achievement in math, she was selected to be featured on our web site.

When Danica was nine years old she moved from LA to San Diego with her mother and sister. Around this time, her mother explained to her that, “acting is when you pretend to be other people.” Danica and her sister would pretend to be different people that they knew and would act out short skits in front of their family. This is what prompted Danica to become interested in acting. Soon after their mother signed Danica and her sister up for acting classes for a year. And at the age of 10 Danica got an agent and began her career starring in television commercials. Danica auditioned for a part on the Wonder Years at the age of 12 and earned the part of Winnie Cooper. She continued to work on the popular show until she was 18.

She always knew that she would go to college but had never planned on majoring in math. She began as a film major but never imagined that she would be successful in math, even though she had always been an A student. She believed that math was unattainable. During her first year at UCLA she had to take a variety of classes in all subject areas. However, she knew that something was missing from her life and soon realized that it was math. During her first year at college she took a calculus class and did really well. In the class she had to take a mid-term and she got a 22 out of 40. She was very disappointed because she studied very hard. Then she found out that the test was designed so that it was almost impossible to get a good score. Danica had the best score in the class and impressed the teacher because he hadn't expected anyone to perform as well as she had.

She was happy because she wasn't known as that girl from the Wonder Years but as this smart math person. Also at UCLA, she joined the Shakespearean group so that she still would have the opportunity to act. She completed her degree in pure mathematics in four and a half years.

Danica's mentors growing up were her parents. Another mentor was her seventh grade math teacher Ms. Jacobson who helped to make math fun, at a time when Danica was truly struggling with the subject. Danica has vivid memories of this teacher being patient with her while she was struggling on a quiz. The teacher knew that Danica was very hard on herself and allowed her to have more time to complete her quiz. Danica would have probably failed the quiz had the teacher not believed in her ability.

That one sign of faith ended up being a turning point for Danica. After that experience she began to find her confidence more and more, and ended up finishing high school in honors math classes.

Danica is now back into the entertainment industry. She said that one day she was watching the West Wing and decided that she really wanted to be on the show. So she auditioned for a one-episode part on the show but the part soon expanded into eight episodes. Danica's performance impressed the writer's so much that they decided to lengthen her time on the West Wing. Also, Danica has appeared on the UPN hit show Eve. Danica continues to shine on the small screen.

Where is she now?

You can learn more about Danica from her website and if you visit the math page she will even help you with your math questions! http://www.danicamckellar.com/