Aurora Starchild
Danica McKeller, a.k.a. Winnie Cooper from Wonder Years, knows that the show has a massive following decades after it stopped filming. But apparently, she went through a phase in her life when she didn’t want anyone to recognize her from TV.
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Danica told E! News all about the progression of stepping into her fame. After speaking at the RomaDrama Live! Convention in Palm Beach, Florida, the Wonder Years and Hallmark Channel star admitted that ”it’s incredible to be part of a show that had that kind of impact.” She also said that she doesn’t want to take that impact for granted.
Danica started filming Wonder Years in 1988 when she was 13 and the show stopped making new episodes five years later. At that point, she hid behind her books and pursued a mathematics degree at UCLA. She ended up graduating summa cum laude.
Danica Needed To Find Out Who She Truly Was Off-Screen
Danica revealed to E! News, “I really wanted to find out what was my value in regard to my brain and not fame… I needed to find out who else I was. So, I threw myself head-first into math.”
She didn’t wear makeup, wore plain clothes, and says that her professors didn’t own TVs. All of this gave her a chance to “redefine” herself. And considering she was just eighteen at the time, it’s no surprise that Danica didn’t want to perpetually be thought of as Winnie!
Danica eventually embraced how much fans love Winnie Cooper from Wonder Years. Essentially, while it’s most important that we strive to know ourselves, the point is that the public is most enamored by the fictional TV character.
She admitted to E! News that it’s fine if you see her and want to say “Hi.” “Me as a person doesn’t matter to that person,” she says. “What’s so meaningful to them is the character I played, so there’s no reason to try to get them to see me instead. This is their moment.”
