Danica McKellar's Wonder Years Co-Stars Have A Lot To Say About Her

Danica McKellar appeared on "The Wonder Years" for the show's entire five-year run, so it stands to reason that in that time, she made a pretty big impact on her co-stars' lives. As it turns out, many of them have had a lot to say about her over the years, and yes, it's all good. We'll start with Danica's sister Crystal McKellar, because while some will remember her as Becky Slater on "The Wonder Years," they were initially neck-and-neck for the role of Winnie Cooper. Of course, Danica won out, which skyrocketed her career, but far from causing any animosity between the sisters, Crystal has spoken glowingly of her sibling. In fact, she gushed in one interview for "The Wonder Years" DVD extras that Winnie becoming such an integral part of the show was all down to how impressive her sister had been in the part. 

As Crystal recalled, "Winnie was not originally going to be a regular role, but because of her performance, the producers decided to make her a regular character, and that really helped drive the storylines," (via YouTube). Danica wasn't the only one to have wowed production, because as the Hallmark star shared in an interview of her own with TV Insider, in 2023, the character Crystal ended up playing was specifically created for her. "They said, 'We love Crystal so much, we're going to write a role for her,'" Danica recounted. The sisters' admiration for each other goes far beyond their time on "The Wonder Years." In that same interview for the DVD extras, she shared, "Danica has been the most wonderful older sister anyone could ever ask for. She's been such a role model to me." Can somebody get the McKellar sisters on an episode of "Sibling Revelry with Kate Hudson and Oliver Hudson," stat?

Danica McKellar is a great sister to Crystal McKellar, but she's also been a great friend to those she bonded with on "The Wonder Years," and Josh Saviano, who played Paul Pfeiffer on the hit show, has long made it known that they still hang out fairly regularly. In one adorable Instagram post from 2019, Saviano shared a snap of himself posing with both McKellar and Fred Savage. The former child star captioned it: "The more things change, the more things stay the same, and the more I enjoy hanging out with these 2." He concluded with, "You guys are like family to me. Love ya!" Saviano also did Instagram Lives with McKellar during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

In 2024, following a group meetup with the rest of "The Wonder Years" cast, he posted that the two of them had gone out with "Family Matters" actor Jaleel White, with whom they both co-starred in "Camp Cucamonga," back in 1990. McKellar has also offered some fun glimpses into her friendship with Saviano. In March 2026 she posted an Instagram carousel of them hanging out together on "The Wonder Years" and in the years that followed, in honor of his 50th birthday. "Grateful to have stayed in touch throughout the years. Here's to the next 50, my friend!!" she wrote. As for Saviano, his reply just about had us tearing up. "Thanks Danica, for the birthday wishes and the lifetime of friendship and creative collaboration. Love you," he penned. 

Dan Lauria barely worked with Danica McKellar on "The Wonder Years," but she clearly made a good impression on him all the same. In fact, the two have remained so close in the years since that both of them have spoken about having something akin to a father-daughter relationship. "Danica's my girl. I even babysit her kids sometimes!" Lauria gushed to The A.V. Club in 2014. He even went on to call her, "A real inspiration to young women." The actor, who played Jack Arnold on "The Wonder Years," has been very vocal about praising McKellar for her accomplishments outside of showbiz. 

As many will know, Danica McKellar stepped away from acting for a few years to pursue a career in mathematics, and has channeled that into a number of successful books. By the time Lauria appeared on CT Buzz, in 2018, she'd already authored four, and the actor didn't mince his words when it came to how proud he was. "She's written her fourth math book. She was inducted into the International University of Mathematicians. She's a genius. I don't know why she talks to me," Lauria quipped. 

The former co-stars ultimately got to work together again in the 2018 Hallmark holiday movie "Christmas at Grand Valley" — this time as father and daughter. In a joint appearance on "Home & Family," McKellar revealed that she'd suggested Lauria for the part, and everyone in production had immediately jumped at the opportunity to work with him. She also made it clear that the father-daughter dynamic went both ways, clarifying that even if they weren't doing scenes together on "The Wonder Years," "He was like my second dad."

Danica McKellar didn't stop at getting her "second dad" a spot in a Hallmark production. A few years later, she also suggested producers on the film "You, Me & The Christmas Trees" reach out to Jason Hervey for a part. Granted, he admitted in a Hallmark Channel promotional video that he initially had some reservations about it. "I reach out to Danica and I'm like, 'Is this for real? Are you doing this Hallmark Christmas movie thing, or?' I said, 'I hope I'm not ruining some surprise for you [...] But do you know about this?'" the actor disclosed. McKellar's response? "Who do you think suggested you?" He signed on without any further questions. 

As "The Wonder Years" fans will recall, Hervey played Dan Lauria's older son Wayne Arnold, and just like his onscreen dad, he's had a ton of good things to say about McKellar, and particularly her high intelligence. In the "The Wonder Years" DVD extras, Hervey recalled, "Danica [was] very studious. I don't think she ever left the school room," (via YouTube). Fast-forward to 2021 and he was still lauding her passion for academia, but added that she was gifted at more than just math. 

In a joint chat with New York Live, Hervey asserted, "Everybody knows that Danica is you know, like, a brainiac of brainiacs, but she's also an incredible writer. I don't know if a lot of people know [...] she's very, very accomplished, not just in her books [...] She's a very, very good writer." McKellar has written for several TV shows and movies. One of the big reasons she left Hallmark for Great American Family was because it gave her the opportunity to write her own stories. 

Like Jason Hervey and Dan Lauria, both Alley Mills and Olivia d'Abo have also spoken publicly about being seriously impressed by Danica McKellar, with Mills describing her in a group interview with Pop Entertainment Blog as, "A beautiful young woman and phenomenal." Likewise, in the "The Wonder Years" DVD extras, d'Abo called her co-star "brilliant," (via YouTube). D'Abo, who is a few years older than McKellar and was already an adult when the show started, also pointed out that she sometimes wondered if the young woman had any idea of just how big her passion for mathematics would become. 

"I don't know if she knew at that time [...] how interested she actually was in math, and how gifted she was," she opined. The beloved "Wonder Years" alum also acknowledged that many of her younger former co-stars had gone on to do very interesting things (and even more normal jobs), and that in a way, it made total sense. As d'Abo reasoned simply, "They were kids, so they ostensibly did have the rest of their lives, you know?" 

Things might not have panned out for Kevin Arnold and Winnie Cooper in quite the same way fans would have liked (some Redditors still debate whether or not they ended up together after the finale). However, we have no doubts many will take comfort in knowing that Fred Savage and Danica McKellar have remained close offscreen in the intervening years. And, just like the rest of the cast, Savage had great things to say about her. In "The Wonder Years" DVD extras, he gushed, "Everything real that you wanted in a girl or a girlfriend, what you would idealize, you embodied all of it," (via YouTube). Notably, that was a point Savage also made during a 2014 appearance at 92NY. 

"Danica is the embodiment of, like, the most ideal, you know, girl you could meet," he said at the time. The love certainly goes both ways. McKellar wished her former onscreen love interest a happy 50th birthday just as she had for Josh Saviano. She also revealed that he'd been her first kiss and that she'd had a crush on him early on in the show. That is, until Savage used the "pull my finger" prank on her and he became, "Someone more like a brother," (via Instagram), adding, "Fred, you've been many things to me, and I'm grateful we got to go on the 'Wonder Years' ride and grow up together!" It's pretty special that McKellar has stayed so close with so many of her past co-stars and that they continue to sing her praises. We'll go ahead and say that's a testament to her (real) character.