Danica McKellar’s road from child star to seasoned actress was a lot easier, thanks to her friendships with Candace Cameron Bure and Melissa Joan Hart.
“It’s great to be friends with somebody who you’ve known for so long, but also somebody who has a similar life,” McKellar, 51, exclusively told Us on August 14, while promoting her upcoming Great American Media holiday film The Greatest Christmas Gift.
McKellar — a child star like both Cameron Bure, 50, and Hart, also 50 — explained that the trio “kind of understand each other” thanks to the “bizarre life running off and doing these movies.”
“It’s a very unique job that we have and we’re all also strong in our faith, which is nice as well,” she shared, referring to all three women’s belief in Christianity. “So we have that in common.”
Danica McKellar, Candace Cameron Bure, and Melissa Joan Hart. Getty Images (3)
McKellar noted that “it’s super important” to have friendships like hers with Cameron Bure and Hart in one’s life.
“I think when you’re busy with your career and being a mom and a wife, it’s easy to let friendship sort of fall by the wayside,” she confessed. “So I always try to, you know, send that text and reach out and make a plan to grab lunch in the midst of all the other stuff.”
McKellar began her career in 1985 with two guest starring roles on The Twilight Zone. She gained fame in 1988 when she began playing the girl-next-door Winnie Cooper on The Wonder Years, which lasted six seasons, ending in 1993.
Danica McKellar and Candace Cameron Bure recently discovered that their longtime friendship has an unexpected third-party connection. “So, in 1989, I believe it was, there was this party that a teen magazine was putting on and Jeremy Miller, who was also a young actor, he was at this party,” McKellar, 48, told Fox News Digital […]
Cameron Bure, meanwhile, got her big break in 1982, playing Megan White on several episodes of St. Elsewhere. She went on to play D.J. Tanner on Full House from 1987 to 1995, before reprising the role on Fuller House from 2016 to 2020.
Hart was also a young star, landing small parts in the 1980s before making a big splash in Hollywood as Clarissa Darling on Clarissa Explains It All from 1991 to 1994. Hart then played Sabrina Spellman on Sabrina the Teenage Witch from 1996 to 2003.
Melissa Joan Hart and Danica McKellar. Jason Davis/Getty Images for Alzheimer’s Association
After being teen queens throughout the late ‘80s and ‘90s, McKellar, Cameron Bure and Hart all had second acts in the form of made for TV movies, most of which fall into the rom-com genre.
Both McKellar and Cameron Bure were staples on Hallmark Channel before switching to Great American Media in 2021 and 2022, respectively. Hart, meanwhile, has found success on ABC Family and Lifetime.
Through it all, the actresses have remained friends — even if they don’t all live in the same place.
Danica McKellar‘s holiday season just got infinitely more exciting courtesy of her new Great American Media movie, The Greatest Christmas Gift. “This is a beautiful story,” McKellar, 51, exclusively tells Us about the new film, premiering across the world on Great American Pure Flix on Saturday, November 29. (It will also air on Great American […]
“Candace lives in California. I’m in Tennessee, and Melissa’s also in Tennessee. So Melissa and I see each other for sure,” McKellar told Us. “Candace and I, I mean, we text. Every now and then, we’ll get to see each other at, like, some Great American Christmas Facebook Live or whatever, but we don’t get to see other often.”
The Christmas Yes List actress noted that she did go to California for Cameron Bure’s 50th birthday party earlier this year and she returned the favor on her milestone birthday in 2025.
“So we make the trip sometimes,” McKellar confirmed.
Candace Cameron Bure and Danica McKellar. Rachel Luna/Getty Images
When asked whether the trio would ever share the screen, McKellar told Us, “Gosh, I don’t know,” admitting, “That would be super fun.”
She pitched possibly being part of a movie series in which “there’s one main character and there’s another actress [who] is a secondary character, and then there’s another movie where it’s swapped.”
McKellar teased, “That could potentially work. It would be great.”
Danica McKellar surprised fans when she left Hallmark and switched over to competitor Great American Media — but for her, it wasn’t about leaving one network for another. It was more personal. “It’s so interesting because when I joined Great American … I would call it coincidental timing, but it was obviously divine timing,” McKellar, […]
As fans hold out hope to see McKellar act alongside Cameron Bure and Hart, they can see the actress in two holiday features coming to Great American Media this year.
The Greatest Christmas Gift premieres worldwide on Great American Pure Flix Sunday, November 29, followed by Great American Family that same day at 8 p.m. ET. It will also be available to stream on GFAM+.
The Christmas Yes List, which McKellar filmed in July, will be part of Great American Christmas 2026, but doesn’t have an official release date.