Danica McKellar Battles Monsters With A Flamethrower In SyFy Original Movie

Danica McKellar has come a long way since she was Winnie Cooper.

After playing the sweetheart neighbor on The Wonder Years, Cooper is trying her hand at sci-fi movie heroin.The actress battles monsters with a flamethrower in Tasmanian Devils, a SyFy Original Film that debuts on Saturday.

The flick may seem like classic B-movie fodder, but it actually has built up some anticipation among the sci-fi community. It marks the debut film of Zach Lipovsky, the special effects master from the Steven Spielberg television show On The Lot, Slash Film notes.

And to top it off, Danica McKellar’s co-star is none other than Apolo Ohno, the Olympic gold medalist and star of Dancing With The Stars. There are also some character actors from 24 and Battlestar Galactica.

SyFy puts it succinctly on its website: “Tasmanian Devils go wild after a taste of human blood.”

A press release from the network fleshes out some more details, however:

“Olympic speed skating medalist Apolo Ohno (Dancing With the Stars) and Danica McKellar (The Wonder Years) star in Tasmanian Devils, premiering Saturday, January 19th at 9PM (ET/PT). In the movie, daredevil base jumpers trespassing on a remote mountain in Tasmania lose a comrade in a bloody jumping disaster. Their presence on sacred land stirs up an ancient aboriginal curse, provoking an attack by giant Tasmanian Devils. Tasmanian Devils is a production of Vesuvius Films.”

Danica McKellar, who made headlines this summer when she filed for divorce from husband MikeVerta, has been doing a bit of acting work since The Wonder Years ended, doing voice work on shows like G.I. Joe Renegades and Young Justice.

She’s done more than just acting too. Danica McKellar has become an education advocate, publishing four popular non-fiction book encouraging middle- and high-school girls to have confidence to enter math and science fields.