The Reason Hallmark Star Danica McKellar & Her Husband Ditched Hollywood

Danica McKellar is a California girl through and through. She was born in the Golden State and became a Hollywood fixture at a young age, with her iconic performance as girl-next-door Winnie Cooper on the coming-of-age series "The Wonder Years." She later focused on school and became a published author, but she never stopped acting. McKellar eventually became a regular on the Hallmark Channel before ditching the network for Great American Family. But despite all her Californian roots, she decided to find a new home away from all the hustle and bustle.

For McKellar and her husband Scott Sveslosky, who live an extremely lavish life, their decision to move to Tennessee was driven by a mix of practicality and a desire for a change of scenery. "We wanted more nature. We wanted to be surrounded by green," McKellar explained on an episode of Christine Taylor and David Lascher's podcast "Hey Dude... The 90s Called!" Perhaps more importantly, she had to look out for her son Draco, whom she shares with ex-husband Mike Verta. Draco had been living in Florida with his dad and flying between Los Angeles and the Sunshine State. McKellar and Svelosky did not want to move to Florida, but Tennessee was a promising in-between option that allowed her to be a lot closer to Draco.

On top of all that, McKellar realized that the movie and TV industry had changed enough post-pandemic that she did not need to always be in one particular place to secure acting gigs. And Svelosky certainly did not need to be in LA. all the time either. As she noted, "My husband's a lawyer, and his office is still in Los Angeles. He flies back a couple days out of the month and that's it, 'cause he was working from home for two years." 

Danica McKellar is not the only California transplant who has bolted out of Hollywood, nor is she the only one who has landed in Tennessee. On the "Hey Dude... The 90s Called!" episode, David Lascher mentioned some of his famous friends who have ended up in the Volunteer State, like Melissa Joan Hart and "Entourage" creator Doug Ellin. And McKellar mentioned "Beverly Hills, 90210" star Jason Priestley, who is clearly loving his new routine in Nashville. Priestly gushed to E! News, "It's so much easier to navigate your life here. And it's a cool, interesting place."

Priestley is also a fan of the changing seasons in Tennessee, especially in contrast to the "homogeneity" of Los Angeles And it sounds like that was part of the appeal for McKellar as well. People caught up with her back in November 2022 just as the holiday season was about to kick into high gear, and she happily noted how her personal life was starting to resemble her career. As she put it, "I am just loving the fact that my Christmas movie characters have rubbed off on me. I think it's just a wonderful example of life imitating art." Perhaps McKellar's example is a sign of things to come, and soon enough all the Great American Family and Hallmark stars, many of whom are aging like fine wine, will leave the big city for charming small towns, just like the characters they play.