Danica McKellar urges families to ‘keep it simple’ to dodge holiday dinner drama
Danica McKellar has a little advice for holiday dinners with family: "Keep it simple."
The Great American Family star told Fox News Digital her favorite tradition is "everyone coming together for Christmas dinner, for sure."
She added that it’s something she loves to "model" for people in her Christmas movies.
"Get everyone together and stay away from the topics that are controversial," McKellar said from the Conrad Nashville Hotel in Tennessee. "Just keep it simple and just enjoy the food."
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She added, "I love being in Tennessee for Christmas. It's so great. We have seasons, and I love watching the leaves change and then the leaves all fall. And we call it stick season, and it just gets cozy and put the fireplace on and, the seasons here are amazing."
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The "Wonder Years" alum moved to Tennessee with her family in 2022.
The actress has a new Christmas movie premiering on Great American Family on Dec. 13, which marks her 12th holiday film, as well as her writing debut.
"Have We Met This Christmas?" stars McKellar as an amnesiac whose ailment gives her a "second chance at love," according to the actress.
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"I have amnesia. I don't remember him [co-star Jesse Hutch] or the fact that I never want to speak to him again," McKellar said of the plot. "So it's really fun. Also, I play a real estate buyer who is in the process of buying his family's inn, but I don't remember that."
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She continued, "So, as I'm recovering, I find out that they're selling the inn, but they really don't want to, and so I help them hatch a plan to save the inn from the big corporation, having no idea that I am that big corporation. It's a really fun story. It takes a few things that we've seen many times, flips them on the on their head, and I think people are going to really love it."
The 50-year-old actress said she’s been making Christmas movies for a decade because she wants to remind people what’s important about the season.
"I love them so much, and for me, it's not just that I love Christmas and all the twinkle lights and all the magic and family togetherness," she told Fox News Digital. "I love all those things, of course. But I really feel like these films bring people to a place where they can remember and be in touch with what's really important about Christmas and help them to feel good and help them — but not in a superficial way — in a way that they're reminded of the reason for the season."
She noted on Great American Family that they bring faith into their Christmas movies more than other networks.
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"Also, it's just modeling good behavior for people at Christmastime," she added. "Christmastime can be stressful. I mean, there's a lot going on. And so, just to remember to do that family tradition that you haven't done for a couple years because you forgot about it, you know? Do that, string that popcorn with your family. Just carve out some time to create memories with your family. And I love that I get to help be a conduit for that."
"Have We Met This Christmas?" will also stream on Great American Pure Flix starting Dec. 11.
McKellar, who studied math in college, has also just written her 12th math book, a children's story called "I Love You 100: A Counting Book Full of Love," which was released on Nov. 4.
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She said the book was inspired by her son.
"When my son, Draco, was very young, he's 15 now, but when he was tiny, we used to play this game where I would say, ‘I love you,’ and he'd say, ‘I love you too.' I'd say, ‘I love you three,’ ‘I love you four.’ We'd go back and forth, counting all the way to 100. It's kind of how I taught him to count to 100. And so the book starts off with the mom and the son. And yes, they're supposed to kind of look like us, with a mom and son playing the same game."