Danica McKellar From ‘The Wonder Years’ Watches this Popular Disney Movie to Unwind

Perfect Night In is a series where we ask actors, artists, entrepreneurs, and beyond how they’d spend the ultimate luxury—a blissful evening at home.

Danica McKellar has been in front of the camera since the ripe age of 9, beginning her acting career on “The Wonder Years” to eventually become a Hallmark movies regular. While McKellar’s long list of appearances in film is definitely noteworthy, that’s far from the only endeavor she’s tackled in recent years.

With a degree in mathematics, McKellar has authored several educational books that teach math to kids in an entertaining way. And with many parents taking a stab at schooling for the first time, her new math book “The Time Machine” is a great tool, using graphic novel panels and humorous biographies of historical figures to make the process as fun as possible.

In addition to her books, McKellar also utilizes her Instagram as a platform to help parents in the current school-from-home climate. Her Instagram Highlight “SchoolAtHome” is filled with clever hacks and tricks to make home schooling easier for both parties—and she shows her doing them with her son, Draco, too.

So when McKellar isn’t performing on screen, writing educational books, and helping her son (and all of us) navigate at-home schooling, how does she spend her time unwinding within her own space? We got to chat about what her perfect night in looks like and got the scoop on what she’s watching, wearing, and munching on.

Describe your perfect homebody scene in five words: Relaxed, PJs, house, cuddles, music.

Are you alone or with someone else? I’m cuddling with my husband and my son.

What’s your night-in uniform? Soft, comfy, cotton PJs. Drawstring pants.

What two people, dead or alive, would you let crash your night? My grandmother, who passed away when my son was almost born, and Dolly Parton, who I got to work with last year. I would like to introduce my grandmother to Dolly Parton because she loves her so much and just would have been so happy and excited that I did this movie “Christmas at Dollywood” with her last year. I felt very connected with [my grandma] when I was doing that movie.

Favorite cozy product: There’s this bean bag stuffed animal, it’s an aquatic seal. I got it for Draco and I use it, too. It’s fuzzy and warm and it smells like lavender, and you can put it in the microwave and warm it up.

TV or a movie? Movie.

What are you watching? “Moana“. It’s so empowering and life-affirming and wonderful.

Silence or music? Music. Billy Joel, probably.

E-books or the real deal? Real deal.

What are you reading? “Limitless” by Jim Kwik and then the other one is a book called “Enter Wild” by Carlos Whittaker—I like his stuff, very spiritual.

Board games: yay or nay? Yay. My favorite one is Clue. Sorry is fun, too.

Order in or cook for yourself? Mostly cook for myself. I’m a health nut and I’m particular. We do order in sometimes, but mostly I like to know what I’m getting.

What are you eating? I like to make brown rice, steamed vegetables, make some chicken, cut up the chicken, cut up the veggies, put it on top of the rice, drizzle olive oil on it afterwards, and put a little salt. It is so tasty and so healthy.

What drink are you pouring? There’s this pressed juice brand called Little West. It’s owned by one of my former Hallmark channel co-stars Andrew Walker and his wife, and it’s so good.

What’s for dessert? I love dark chocolate covered almonds and maybe some ice cream. But generally speaking, I resist.

Late-night snack? I do cereal at night with hemp milk and a natural version of Cheerios called Purely O’s. If I don’t eat before I go to bed, I will not fall asleep.

What do you try to avoid at all costs? Doing the dishes!

Candles: yay or nay? (if yay, what’s your favorite?) Yay! I don’t do them often enough, but around Christmastime we have these scented candles that smell like cinnamon rolls.

Bubble bath: yay or nay? Nay. I like Epsom salt baths or magnesium baths.

Chores: yay or nay? Nay. I just want to relax.

Ideal bedtime? 11 p.m. is ideal. Usually, after the day is done, there’s little stuff that I like to take care of. I’m a workaholic and I love it.

Thanks for chatting with us, Danica!