‘CROWN FOR CHRISTMAS’ Cast Bios DANICA MCKELLAR (Allie) - Danica McKellar, recently seen competing on the ABC juggernaut “Dancing with the Stars,” is best known as Winnie Cooper on “The Wonder Years” and Elsie Snuffin on “The West Wing.” She is also a three-time New York Times bestselling author, having written the groundbreaking books Math Doesn’t Suck, Kiss My Math and Hot X: Algebra Exposed. Her fourth book, Girls Get Curves: Geometry Takes Shape, was released in 2012. Tackling math education and simultaneously breaking the stereotype of the “math nerd,” McKellar was named “Person of the Week” by “ABC World News with Charles Gibson.” This honor came on the heels of her debut as author of this highly entertaining and illuminating math book series. Using fun topics like popularity and jewelry-making – as well as stories from her own life - McKellar shows girls and their parents how to master the tough mathematical concepts introduced in middle school and high school, the time when young girls begin to shy away from math. McKellar’s message to girls? Smart is sexy! A summa cum laude graduate of UCLA, McKellar earned her undergraduate degree in mathematics while also contributing original research. She co-authored a paper in the field of statistical mechanics entitled “Percolation and Gibbs States Multiplicity for Ferromagnetic Ashkin-Teller Models on Z2,” which she presented at the 87th biannual Statistical Mechanics conference at Rutgers University. Her theorem, since dubbed “The Chayes-McKellar-Winn Theorem,” was published in Britain’s esteemed Journal of Physics and has been featured on the front page of the Science section of The New York Times. In addition to continuing her acting career with such roles as a recurring spot on CBS’s hit show “How I Met Your Mother” and a guest appearance on “The Big Bang Theory, ”McKellar voiced the regular role of Miss Martian on Cartoon Network’s “Young Justice.” She also recurred as a voice on “Phineas and Ferb” and “Generator Rex,” which reunited her with her “The Wonder Years” co-star Fred Savage. McKellar starred in SyFy Network’s futuristic TV movie “Tasmanian Devils” and in the 2012 Lifetime movie “Love at the Christmas Table.” In 2013, she starred in “The Wrong Woman,” another Lifetime feature, which garnered some of the highest ratings in the network’s history. Recently, she created a sensation with her risqué guest cameo in the hit Avril Lavigne video Rock and Roll. Earlier this year she starred in the Hallmark Channel original movie “Perfect Match.” McKellar often appears around the country as a speaker on mathematics education, a vocation she began following her invitation to speak to a subcommittee of Congress on the importance of women in math and science in 2000. In recent years, she has served as a spokesperson for St. Jude Research Hospital’s Math-a-thon program, which raises millions of dollars every month for cancer research and to help provide free care to young cancer patients. (more) HALLMARK CHANNEL/’CROWN FOR CHRISTMAS’ – Cast Bios – Page 2 McKellar was honored with the 2012 UCLA Award for Recent Graduate Achievement. The award, bestowed by the UCLA Alumni Association, pays tribute to alumni who manifest outstanding achievement in their professional fields, in service to their communities and in academic pursuits. She was also honored with the 2014 Communications Award from the Joint Policy Board for Mathematics, which includes the American Mathematical Society and the Mathematical Association of America. RUPERT PENRY-JONES (Maximillian) – Rupert Penry-Jones was born in London to Welsh actor Peter Penry-Jones and English actress Angela Thorne, he was educated at Dulwich College in southeast London until the age of 17, when he enrolled at Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. In 1995 he appeared with his mother on television in the movie “Cold Comfort Farm,” starring Kate Beckinsale. That same year he made his London stage debut at the Hackney Empire theatre as Fortinbras opposite Ralph Fiennes’ Hamlet in an Almeida production of “Hamlet.” Other theatre credits include Richard in the premiere staging of Stephen Poliakoff’s “Sweet Panic” and “The Paper Husband,” both at The Hampstead Theatre; a revival of Arnold Wesker’s “Chips with Everything” on the Lyttleton stage at the Royal National Theatre; Edward Albee’s “The Play About the Baby” at the Almeida Theatre, in which he created the role of the Boy; the Royal Shakespeare Company at Stratford-upon-Avon’s production of “Don Carlos” in the title role; Alcibiades in “Timon of Athens” at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre; Robert Caplan in J.B. Priestly’s thriller “Dangerous Corner” opposite his now-wife Dervla Kirwan, at the West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds before it transferred to the Garrick Theatre in London’s West End for four months; the lead role of Louis XIV in Nick Dear’s historical drama “Power” at the Cottesloe Theatre; and as Carl in Michael Wynne’s new play “The Priory” at the Royal Court Theatre in London. American television audiences have seen Penry-Jones in the FX series “The Strain” and the Starz drama “Black Sails.” In his native England, he was Adam Carter in the BBC spy drama series “MI-5,” as Clive Reader QC in the BBC legal drama “Silk” and policeman DI Joseph Chandler in the ITV murder mystery series “Whitechapel.” He has also been seen in the television movies “North Square” for C4, BBC’s four-part production of “Cambridge Spies,” Russell T. Davies’ production of “Casanova,” ITV’s adaptation of “Persuasion,” “Burn Up opposite Bradley Whitford and Neve Campbell and the BBC adaptation of “The 39 Steps.” In August 2007 he married actress Dervla Kirwan, whom he met in 2001 during the theatre production “Dangerous Corner.” # # # --HALLMARK CHANNEL-- .