She was once branded as ‘America’s Sweetheart’ – but now, this beloved 1980s child star looks completely different.

Danica McKellar was skyrocketed into the spotlight when she was only 13 after she began starring as Winnie Cooper in The Wonder Years, the love interest of Fred Savage’s character, Kevin Arnold.

The show premiered in 1988 and transformed Danica into a massive star practically overnight.

It felt like the entire country watched her grow up right in front of their eyes – but after the ABC comedy-drama ended in 1993, she left the spotlight and made a shocking career change.

Now, decades on, Danica looks very different from her The Wonder Years days.

She recently appeared on the Hey Dude… The 90s Called! podcast, during which she reflected on her decision to take a break from acting.

While chatting with cohosts Christine Taylor and David Lascher, Danica, now 50, admitted that she had no idea how big the show really was until someone on set referred to her as ‘America’s Sweetheart.’

‘I didn’t realize that I was sort of a virtual girlfriend or something for a lot of [boys watching],’ she admitted, adding that it felt ‘bizarre’ knowing she was a lot of guys’ first crushes.

She explained that while it was a ‘blessing’ to be on the show, she felt ‘very limited’ when it concluded.

‘I needed to figure out who else I was besides Winnie Cooper,’ she explained. ‘It was a blessing to be on a show that’s that popular but it was very limiting as a teenager when you’re 18.

‘Everywhere I went it was, “Hey aren’t you that girl you know that played Winnie? Aren’t you that girl from TV?”

‘It’s like constant, you’re trying to figure out who you are as a teenager and everyone else is telling you who you are.’

Danica added that she developed an intense ‘insecurity’ after the show ended.

‘You have a lot of success early on, and then you don’t have that anymore, and you’re like, who who am I now? Where do I get my validation?’ she reflected. ‘I had to get away from it and find out who else I was.’

She ultimately decided to attend UCLA, where she said she truly found herself.

‘I took all my makeup off and I would wear a backpack and a T-shirt and throw my hair in a ponytail,’ she continued.

After she did better than almost everyone else in her calculus class on a huge test, she realized she had a passion for mathematics.

‘The next day, I kid you not, somebody tapped me on the shoulder and he says, “Excuse me, aren’t you that girl?”‘ she revealed.

‘And understand, everywhere I went was always the girl who played Winnie Cooper. But he goes, “Are you that girl who got the [good score on the test]?”‘

‘It was the greatest feeling… It was just me,’ she gushed. ‘It had nothing to do with the superficiality of Hollywood or all the great writers or the sound design and all the things they did to make Winnie Cooper [into] Winnie Cooper. It was just me and my brain who did this.’

Danica ultimately graduated from UCLA with honors and started a career as a mathematician, launching a math website where she would give advice to students.

But she said she missed having a ‘connection with people,’ and returned to acting soon after.

She’s gone on to star in a slew of Lifetime and Hallmark films and the show West Wing.

She’s also written and directed two short films, voiced a slew of characters in famous video games, competed on season 18 of Dancing With the Stars, and was a judge on Fox’s Domino Masters.

But her love of math never left her, and over the years she has written 11 books on the subject, with her 12th set to drop in November.

She married composer Mike Verta in 2009 and together, they welcomed a son in 2010, but they split two years later.

She went on to wed a man named Scott Sveslosky, who is a partner at a Los ANgeles legal firm, in 2014.

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