Full House Stars Reveal Which Olsen Twin “Did Not Like” Filming Series

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It really did take two Olsen twins to film Full House.

Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen shared the role of Michelle Tanner on the popular TV show “Full House” from infancy until they were nine years old. However, it seems they didn’t both have equally positive experiences while filming.

Jodie Sweetin and Andrea Barber, the actresses who played Stephanie Tanner and Kimmy Gibbler on the show, recently discussed their on-screen relationship on their podcast, How Rude, Tanneritos.

A fan asked if the directors ever preferred working with one of the twins over the other, giving them more screen time. They also wondered if it would be possible to replace one twin with the other, and how that would work, especially as the twins got older and weren’t babies needing to be switched out for crying scenes. Andrea read this question during the November episode.

Jodie responded to the question by stating that there was a time when they preferred collaborating with one party over the other.

The 42-year-old explained this happened early in the twins’ involvement with the show, not later on, and then shared which twin was easier to work with during filming.

Jodie explained that it was Ashley who handled being on set better. While Mary-Kate didn’t enjoy it, Ashley was relaxed and went with the flow. She was much more easygoing about the whole thing.

The actress pointed out the amusing thing about this contrast: she’s noticed it remained true as Mary-Kate and Ashley grew up.

“That really sounds like them,” Jodie explained. “Ashley would probably just say ‘Okay, whatever.’ And Mary Kate didn’t want any part of it.”

She explained that they’d have different preferences for certain scenes – what one person found acceptable, the other might not.

Andrea explained that sometimes an actor would choose to perform a particular scene simply because they enjoyed it more, even if their fellow actor didn’t mind which scene they did.

The twins found that working separately on some scenes was effective, but they often disagreed when filming certain other types of scenes.

Jodie shared that the directors carefully planned the scenes where the twins ate sweets. They had to make sure each twin ate the same amount, because the actresses playing them would have protested if it seemed unfair – one wouldn’t want the other to get more treats!

Ultimately, though, the actress noted that the twins were “a package deal.”

As a long-time follower of Jodie’s work, I always found her explanation of using doubles so insightful. She basically pointed out that when you’re working with babies or toddlers, it’s nearly impossible to get a good result within the time constraints unless you have two performers. You simply need two people to handle everything effectively – one body just won’t cut it!

Keep reading for more behind-the-scenes secrets about Full House…

Although Full House is remembered as a heartwarming family show, its creator, Jeff Franklin, initially planned to include more stand-up comedians alongside Dave Coulier, who played Joey Gladstone.

He initially envisioned a show called House of Comics, a comedy centered around three comedians sharing a house. However, when ABC expressed interest in shows similar to Family Ties and The Cosby Show, he adjusted the idea to better fit their preferences.

Originally, Franklin wanted Bob Saget to play Danny Tanner, the widowed father of three on the show. However, Saget was already committed to a contract with CBS’ The Morning Program. Because of this, John Posey played the role in the first pilot episode.

After Saget lost his job, Franklin hired Posey and gave him a role. Posey later appeared in popular shows like Seinfeld, ER, NCIS, and more recently, Teen Wolf and How to Get Away With Murder.

The original script gave Danny’s brother-in-law the name Adam Cochran. However, John Stamos didn’t feel it was the right fit, so it was changed to Jesse Cochran. Later, after the first season, Stamos asked to change the last name to Kastopolis, reflecting his Greek background. The show explained this switch by saying Jesse had been using a stage name to create a more rock-and-roll image – because, apparently, Cochran wasn’t cool enough.

Many pairs of twin babies tried out for the part of Michelle Tanner, but Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen won the role because they were the only ones who didn’t cry during the audition. When you’re filming, it’s important to avoid having babies who are easily upset and might disrupt the shooting process.

Okay, so get this – John Stamos wasn’t immediately head-over-heels for Mary-Kate and Ashley at first! Apparently, their calm demeanor during auditions was a total act. He actually told reporters this – they were crying a ton at the beginning! Can you believe it? There was even a point where they almost got replaced by another set of little red-headed twins, but they didn’t do much better, which thankfully meant the Olsens got another shot. He confirmed it all – it was totally true! I just… I can’t even imagine a world without those two!

The producers of the show decided to keep the fact that twins were playing Michelle Tanner a secret. From seasons two to seven, they listed both actresses as simply “Mary-Kate Ashley Olsen” in the opening credits. It wasn’t until the eighth and final season, when the Olsen twins had become very famous and the deception was obvious, that the credit was changed to “Mary-Kate & Ashley Olsen.”

I remember when Mary-Kate and Ashley got a little older, and you could actually tell them apart! The show’s producers actually talked about just keeping Mary-Kate on as Michelle, which is so hard to believe now. Thankfully, John Stamos stepped in and refused to let them fire Ashley. It’s amazing how quickly things changed – just a few seasons earlier, they were completely inseparable on screen!

He didn’t just connect with the twins; their younger sister, Elizabeth Olsen, also became part of the group through regular visits to the set. She even had a small role in a 1995 episode, appearing as “Girl with Flowers.”

If you watch the first season carefully, you’ll find that the mannequin in Joey’s room always wears the same shirt as Joey does in each scene. This running joke only lasted for one season, but it’s a surprisingly detailed one, making you wonder: why did Joey always dress his mannequin?

If you assumed Dave Coulier created his famous “Cut. It. Out” catchphrase on his own, or that the Full House writers came up with it, you’d be mistaken. Coulier has confessed he actually borrowed it directly from a friend.

Before the show, while performing comedy with his friend Mark Cendrowski, Cendrowski often played a charming character and would jokingly tell women in the audience, “You’re in love with me, now stop it!”

Back in 2014, Coulier told Buzzfeed a story about how he borrowed a bit from another comedian. He’d said, ‘I’m going to use that someday,’ and the comedian playfully protested, ‘You can’t steal that!’ Coulier then used the bit as his signature introduction on the Nickelodeon show Out of Control, and when Full House began, he brought it over with him – and it became a lasting part of his persona.

Following a season three episode featuring the characters as adults, Dave Coulier married actress Jayne Modean, who had played the grown-up Michelle on the show. They married in 1990 and had a son, Luc, that same year, but divorced in 1992.

Before her legal troubles, Lori Loughlin was famous for playing Aunt Becky on television. Interestingly, that wasn’t the original plan! She was initially hired for just six episodes as a love interest for the character Jesse. However, the producers were impressed by her connection with John Stamos, so they gave her a larger role and she became a regular cast member.

According to Scott Weinger, who spoke with the Huffington Post in 2012, his character Steve was originally intended for just a single episode and wasn’t expected to become a recurring character later in the series.

He remembered being hired for a single episode of the show, where D.J. was meant to be babysitting but wanted to go on a date and brought the kids along. Unexpectedly, the producers then decided to introduce a recurring boyfriend for D.J. in the next season, and they offered him the role. He was thrilled, of course.

Jodie Sweetin is the only main cast member of Full House who didn’t need to audition. After appearing on another show produced by Miller-Boyett, Valerie, producer Franklin was so impressed that he offered her a role on Full House, believing she’d be a great addition to the cast.

Both Dave Coulier and Bob Saget brought personal experience to the storyline of Joey moving in with Danny. Coulier actually lived with Saget for three weeks after they met in 1979, when Coulier was traveling through Los Angeles and Saget offered him a place to stay. The humorous difference? Unlike Joey, who famously stayed much longer, Coulier eventually moved out of Saget’s house.

Everyone knew Bob Saget’s comedy was much edgier than his role on Full House suggested. It turns out he and his co-stars, John Stamos and Dave Coulier, were always joking around on set, even when they weren’t filming, just to make each other laugh – and sometimes that got them into trouble.

Bob, John, and I were always getting into trouble with the mothers on set, Coulier explained on Oprah: Where Are They Now in 2015. We didn’t know the other kids could watch us through monitors in their rooms.

During the first season, the three main male actors didn’t have much on-screen chemistry, so a trip to Las Vegas was planned during their break to help them connect. Unfortunately, Bob Saget, who was married at the time, couldn’t go, leaving John Stamos and Dave Coulier to make the trip together. They bonded so well that the show’s writers started giving their characters, Jesse and Joey, more scenes together as often as possible.

Throughout the show’s 193 episodes, just three actors – John Stamos, Dave Coulier, and Jodie Sweetin – appeared in every single one. Bob Saget would have made it a quartet, but he wasn’t in the very first pilot episode.

Despite being set in the San Francisco Bay Area, Full House almost entirely filmed indoors. The only time the show actually filmed on location in San Francisco was for one episode – “Comet’s Excellent Adventure” from season eight – which featured a city-wide search after the family dog, Comet, ran away.

The script called for settings that couldn’t be realistically created on the show’s set in Burbank, so the actors traveled north for a few days of filming.

The show filmed a special episode at Walt Disney World, and D.J. playfully imagined her co-star Steve as Aladdin. In a funny moment, Steve actually dressed up in Aladdin’s costume – a clever nod to the fact that he originally voiced the character of Aladdin in the 1992 animated movie.

Danny Tanner is famous for being a neat freak, but surprisingly, that didn’t show up until the second season of the show. In fact, early episodes – like one where the guys need help from their moms – show a much messier reality. It just goes to show that things weren’t always consistent from the start.

Just like D.J. and Steve on the show, Candace Cameron Bure took Weinger to her real-life prom, too.

Just to clarify, the dog famous for playing Air Bud wasn’t actually the one who played Comet. While that dog made a cameo appearance in one episode to show off some basketball skills, a different dog played the Tanner family’s dog for the rest of the series.

When Full House was most popular, both Stephanie and Michelle starred in their own book series. Stephanie’s series had 33 books, while Michelle’s had 40. Later, a 14-book series called Full House Sisters focused on their relationship. Finally, there was a four-part series, Full House: Dear Michelle, which was based on advice columns Michelle wrote as a third grader.

What’s the Russian equivalent of saying “You got it, dude!”? Back in 2006, the American TV show Full House was licensed to a Russian network called STS, based in Moscow, to be remade for Russian audiences. The resulting show, called Topsy-Turvy House, closely followed the original storyline but was adapted to fit Russian culture. It first aired in 2009 and ran for two seasons.

After ABC unexpectedly ended Full House in 1995 following its eighth season, there was a try to revive the show on the new WB network. However, the plan failed because both John Stamos and Candace Cameron Bure chose not to participate.

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2025-12-01 16:48