Danica McKellar Explains How Patti Stanger Inspired Her New Hallmark Movie Character

Criminals are about to meet their match in Danica McKellar’s new Hallmark character, a matchmaker who is just at good at solving mysteries as she is at setting lonely people up with their ideal partners.

During a recent interview on NBC‘s California Live, the 44-year-old Wonder Years star talked about the inspiration for her upcoming Hallmark Movies & Mysteries film, Matchmaker Mysteries: A Killer Engagement. The actress recently joked that she was starting to sound like her character, Angie Dove, when she asked her Instagram followers to solve a mystery by looking for a clue in one of her swimsuit photos. However, the woman who Dove is based on didn’t make a name for herself by solving mysteries.

According to Danica, former Millionaire Matchmaker star Patti Stanger was the basis for her character, and the professional matchmaker for the rich and famous is co-executive producing the movie with Danica.

“I’m not playing her, but my character Angie Dove is loosely based on her,” the actress said. “So I’ve learned everything that I know about matchmaking from her.”

Danica said that one thing she learned from Patti was how to read people’s body language, remarking that this is something that her character pays a lot of attention to. The math whiz also said that her own fondness for solving mathematical equations made her the perfect match for Matchmaker Mysteries: A Killer Engagement.

“To me, solving a mystery is not that different from solving a math problem,” she said. “You figure out, ‘What do I actually know, and what am I assuming here, and how can I be clever and work this out?’ This is right up my alley.”

According to Hallmark‘s plot synopsis for Matchmaker Mysteries: A Killer Engagement, Danica McKellar’s matchmaker character works to prove the innocence of one of her clients after his fiancée is murdered. When she decides to get involved in the case, she butts heads with the detective tasked with solving the murder. The cop who she’ll be contending with is played by Victor Webster, who has appeared in multiple Hallmark original movies, including Love Blossoms and Homegrown Christmas.

Danica revealed that this movie will be the first of many in a series, saying that there are already three more Matchmaker Mysteries films in the works. She’s already starred in almost a dozen Hallmark movies, and this won’t be the last time Hallmark fans see her this year. She’ll also appear alongside living country music legend Dolly Parton in The Hallmark Movie Channel original movie Christmas at Dollywood, which airs December 8.

Matchmaker Mysteries: A Killer Engagement premieres Sunday, October 6 at 9 p.m. EDT on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries.