Actress Danica McKellar on Faith, Fairy Tales, and 'A Royal Date for Christmas'

Actress Danica McKellar has forged out a respectable career in Hollywood for more than 30 years. Best known for her five year stint on the hit television series “The Wonder Years” as Winnie Cooper, the California native has also made her mark for starring in family-friendly Christmas movies over the years.

The veteran of 10 previous Christmas-themed releases, McKellar is currently starring in a brand new holiday movie called A Royal Date for Christmas that is airing on Great American Family throughout this Christmas season. In it, Bella Sparks (McKellar), owner of Bella Sparks Couture, takes on a demanding new client (Damon Runyan) to outfit for a week of high stakes meetings and events after his luggage goes missing. One thing leads to another and soon Bella finds herself in love with a true to life Duke.

I recently sat down with the delightfully engaging McKellar to reflect on why she loves the Christmas movie genre so much, why others are so drawn to this genre, and some valuable life lessons people can learn from A Royal Date for Christmas.

If you were trying to encourage a friend or family member to take the time to sit down and watch A Royal Date for Christmas what would you say to convince them? What would your sales pitch be?

So, I've done a lot of these movies. I think this is my 10th Christmas movie. Maybe it’s my 20th. I don't know. I've done a lot of these romcoms. One of the special things about this movie in particular is it's royal and it's Christmastime, which is a great combination. But also, I worked with my co-star Damon Runyan years ago. I remember him being very emotionally available and this character, this storyline, really required that. So, that's why I suggested him for this role. And it's beautiful. He and I have some beautiful scenes that are so heartfelt and they'll just suck you right in. It's a beautiful experience. I'm not going to say these movies, sometimes they are similar to each other, but this one has this elevated emotional element that is just going to touch your heart. 

By my count, this is your 11th Christmas movie if I am to believe IMDB. What is it about this genre that draws you in to take these roles?

It's about happiness and spreading joy. This world has just gotten crazier and crazier, and it can be very disheartening. It's not that I want to give people an escape, although that's lovely. I love modeling human behavior that is aspirational. It's characters who are truly struggling with something, but they're just trying their best and really in earnest. So, it makes it a very pleasant experience. And yet you're actually seeing human conflict, dilemma, working together, and figuring stuff out. And then it all works out, which is so nice. You know with these movies, it's all going to work out. You're going to come away feeling happy and Christmasy to one extent or another. And that's a great thing to be a part of.

This genre seems to have a life of its own. Without fail, around the end of September or early October, we start seeing romantic Christmas movies showing on nearly a daily basis. Why do you think people are so drawn to and love this genre?

It's that feeling that we all want what I just described about what these movies do. They leave audiences with a feeling of joy, hope, and perhaps renewed faith in humankind in terms of how we handle the situations that are thrown out at us. And getting to watch that feels good, cozy, and comforting.

It's become its own genre, its own world. This is the third year in a row where Great American Family becomes Great American Christmas. I love being a part of it. It's just telling happy, good, grounded, and good natured movies. These are good natured stories to inspire people.

With that said, A Royal Date for Christmas tells the story of Bella, a boutique owner who takes on a last minute client named Stefan, who is keeping a royal secret. Is the storyline for this movie plausible? It seems like a fairy tale of sorts.

It is very much a fairy tale. That's part of what's so fun about watching it. So, the Duke of Sanford comes to America, but his luggage is lost in transit. And so his butler says, “Well, we have to get you outfits because you've got an entire week of Christmas events here in America.” He stumbles upon my boutique. And so, I end up outfitting him. But there's a catch, there's another element here, and that is his girlfriend just broke up with him and it was kind of a public breakup. He wants to avoid all the questions. And so he says, “Will you be my plus one for this event, these events, this whole week, just totally platonic? And I'll pay you for your time.” My character has got nothing else going. She's like, “Sure. I'm running my boutique, but I don't have a boyfriend. So sure. I guess.” My character has been broken up with also recently, and so they both have broken hearts that need mending and they get to be there for each other. It's really beautiful. She doesn't know if he's a Duke at first, he hasn't mentioned that detail. But after the first event, she heard people talking. So she’s like, “Did you fail to mention that one small little piece of information? 

From a faith perspective, what are some valuable lessons that someone can learn from this movie?

Having the courage to open your heart and take that risk to trust someone. And really, it comes down to not necessarily just believing things are going to work out because they may not. But having the trust in yourself, that you'll be able to handle whatever comes your way. And that's actually a line that's said in this movie by his secretary. She and I have a hard heart because she's saying, “I've never seen him like this. Whatever you are doing, please keep doing it.” But I’m nervous to open my heart. And that's when she brings the idea up of just, trust that you'll be able to handle whatever comes to you when it comes at you. That's just a great thing for us to all think about, is to trust that we will be strong enough to handle whatever it is and to not just hide from what could be a really amazing experience.

After people have watched A Royal Date for Christmas what would you like to see audiences take away from the viewing experience? What is your greatest hope for the film?

Oh my goodness. I'm excited to see people feel the emotion that comes across in the movie and to have their own hearts healed. I feel like we all have healing still to be done with ourselves. And this movie is so healing for the characters. And I think we see ourselves in movies and characters that we watch. That's why we do it. We do it to help people have their own experiences. And I think that's what this film could do for a lot of people. I'm excited to have people fully embracing Christmas.

WATCH A TRAILER FOR A ROYAL DATE FOR CHRISTMAS: