Conversations with Jodie Sweetin

And I'm sure some of you know and are familiar with her, and maybe some of you know who she is, but don't know what she's been through and the strength she carries. So I am really excited to interview her today. And with that being said, please welcome miss Jodie Sweeten. Thank you so much for coming on. Absolutely my pleasure. Olivia's good to be here. I'm so excited to have you. Obviously, I feel like I've known you forever just through my

mom and stuff. But and I know so many people who listen to this podcast know who you are and grew up watching Full House and are such big fans. But maybe for those who don't know who you are, which is probably a very small percent of people, but maybe you could explain a little bit about yourself. Um, yeah, I have been best known as Stephanie Tanner on full and Fuller House. Um. I have played the character since I was five years old and then got to come

back and do it on Fuller House for five seasons. Um. I'm also a mom to two girls, Zoe who just turned fourteen yesterday and Beatrix who was eleven and a half. And um, yeah, busy working and doing holiday movies and all that kind of stuff too. So there's a few places you can find me my podcast as well. You know, I'm kind of all over the place. I love it, So I obviously I just know who you are through my mom and through Full House and growing up around

all this. But then I also went before coming on here, I wanted to do my research and have some facts,

um what I thought was really interesting. And I was listening to another podcast you did actually, and you were talking about being adopted and how later in life you've kind of accepted that now and you're like, it's it's it's a positive to you, but maybe when you were a little bit younger, and for other kids that have been adopted, like feeling like, I don't know if unwanted is the right word, because obviously I'm not adopted, so

I don't want to put into your mouth. No, it's a it's a definite it's a it's a you know, this weird feeling of rejection that you that you oftentimes can't heal, that you can't find you know you you don't know the reason you can't find the person. Sometimes that beginning of your life is sort of a mystery. And I think for everyone that feels that would feel really strange just not know, you know what that little

beginning period of your life really was. Um. But for me, like coming through that and and becoming a mom myself, and like figuring out that just because you become a mom doesn't mean you'd stopped becoming a human who has to make really tough life choices for themselves. Um. It just changed a lot of things for me. And how old were you when you were adopted? You were really Yeah, I was like just around a year old, So it was you know, I don't have like a long history

of life without my parents that I know. Um, but you know, there is there's a lot of stuff that I just will never know, right, And you're okay with that now, Like, yeah, I mean I I've gotten to the place where I'm like, you know, what if for some reason information falls in my lap or I find out something cool, but I no longer feel like I

don't know who I am. And I think that's really what it was, is I once I really started getting more secure and who I was, it was no longer the search for what external thing made me who I was. It was more like, oh, no, I know who I am, right. And so my mom actually, when I told her you were coming on the podcast, she was explaining to me.

She was like, Jody has a really act, a very interesting story, and she was explaining to me that you're somehow your your your parents, the people that have adopted you have some correlation to your birth parents. Is that corre Yeah? Yeah, yeah, well my so, my my add sam Um. I adopted Dad his ex wife who he had three adult kids with, uh W. When they adopted me. She was my biological father's aunt, and so I've come

to stay at her house. I was staying at Rose's house, my dad's ex wife, and and he would go over there to check on her and check on the house that, you know, make sure things were working right or whatever is still around that family. And Um saw me there and my parents really wanted to have kids, and um, they were having some struggles and and so you know, it wound up that they were able to adopt me

through sort of through that chain. So yeah, it's an interesting story and I think actually is a story that happens a lot, but people don't really talk about it because I think there's like this weird sense of shame, um if there's like an inter family a option. But I think, you know, I think that in her family, adoption happens a lot. So I like sharing my story now because I think more people were like, oh my gosh, me too, and it doesn't feels isolating and weird and

like outside of the norm totally. And then so you were fourteen months essentially when you were adopted, and then at what age when you could talk, did you know you wanted to be in like the show business world and in this industry or how did that come about? I mean, I really did. I grew up. I was, Um, I was a pretty bright little kid. Um like you know, not to be like obnoxious about and stuff. But I was like reading full books. By the age of about

three and a half. You could set pretty much anything in front of me and I could. I could read just about anything. I loved reading. I was a voracious reader. UM. Memorizing dance music, all of that was what I absolutely loved. And I would tell my mom that, Um, I wanted to be a modeler, which was what I called people on TV. UM. And so I started doing like little print work, you know, in Orange County, down in like South l A where we lived, and um, I was

in dance recitals. But like I remember being in my first dance recital dressed as a cabbage patch kid. Just picture that form, gigantic bonnet, very eight oh so so eighties dance moms like sparkly. It was just amazing. Um. Anyway, so our dance recital, I was in the second row and the girl in front of me. I was like, she's just not doing it right. So I sort of wedged my way up into the front, was like this is how it's done. And I think it was that moment that my mom was like, you know, maybe she

likes to perform. I think maybe she can handle it. Yeah, And I started doing like commercials and little things like that. But because I, you know, I could pick things up really quickly. UM, I just started working a lot, and I was doing a ton of commercials and stuff, and then I did, um, Valerie. I did an episode of

Valerie and then got cast as Stephanie. Because the producers on when you were on Valerie weren't the same producers on Full House, right, Yes, they were Bob Boyette and Tom So Miller Boyette and also Rich Correll, who wound up directing a ton of Full House episodes, who I'm very dear friends with. Um, he was a producer on Valerie at the time. You know, there was a lot of people that I've known since I was four years old, and I did that Valerie appearance and that was how

I got cast to Stephanie. I never auditioned or anything. Um, it just sort of fell in my lap and and the rest is history. So I also feel like you can tell just from Full House and your rolling like as Stephanie, you were definitely a very bright child because you were so like just the way you talk at such a young age, literally like five years old, you

can tell you're so so bright. Um. Yeah, of course, I mean that's just I feel like a given to anybody because it's such a loved character obviously, but also I feel like you can see like a little bit of your personality as well, because when you're that young, I feel like naturally part of you half to shine through absolutely, Like I you know, there are definitely times when I look at, particularly getting to come back and play, you know, Stephanie as an adult, where I was like

the line between Stephanie and me is, you know, is very fuzzy sometimes because I'm like, she has so much of me in her, or is it that I have so much of her in me because I became her at five? Like I don't know, but we're definitely like intermeshed. Do you like being known like best known as you know, Stephanie from Full House? Because I remember when my mom was doing a lot of homework stuff, she was never upset if anybody would come and be like, you're in

Packy from full House. But when she was doing the Hallmark movies, I remember She's like, damn. I wish like people would say, like you're on one calls the heart or whatever it is, right, I mean, you know the there there, It's it's a blessing and a curse. And I think in a way I've grown through it and grown to accept it. I think at some point when I was young, there was some resentment about it and

like absolutely wanting to shed that image. UM, and I think sometimes I did some really self destructive things to do that, and as I grew up and like grew out of it. Like I had an experience the other day walking down the street over here with my fiance after lunch, and this girl a little younger than me stopped me and she just said, Oh my god, I have to tell you what an incredibly important part of my life you are. Like you are so I I grew up watching you. You were always my favorite, Like

I watched it with my mom and my grandma. You have no idea what you mean to me, and like I follow you, I look like, thank you so much for just like what you do and who you are. And it was the I was taken aback, Like I was incredibly moved by this experience, And it had to do with the fact that I'm so well known for this character that like people have watched it their entire lives and it means something incredibly important. And I've now

come to this place where I really appreciate that. Um, I'm glad that that I get to bring that to somebody, you know, and now do I wish I had other opportunities or that people may take me seriously as doing something else? Absolutely, I know I can do a lot more, um, but you know, sometimes I just have to make the choice of like, okay, but what you know, what do

you want to do? Do you want to like fight and you know, only try and do what you want to do, or do you want to just lean into the fact that you make people happy with me in this person? So? Yeah, yeah, it is such a big blessing. And you were So you started out five on Full House and then how long? How long did Full House run? We had eight seasons? So how many years? Is that

eight years? Well? Roughly? Yeah, roughly eight years because we would shoot like nine months um out of the year and then we usually have like a little bit of spring and early summer off and then we come back like around July. Got it. So when you were done

with Full House? Was that like a really weird transition period because I can only imagine being that young and being around the same people so often and like building these relationships with producers and like not being a completely normal kid where you have kids around all the time. In a normal school, like you're hanging out with like Bob and John and my mom and Canvas, and like, what was that like when it was over? You know, I look at it now and I realized it was

a big loss. You know, at the time, I think it I didn't realize, and I don't think I considered or gave myself enough credit for UM going through such a big loss at that age. It was the loss

of everything I'd really known growing up. I mean, I don't have many memories from before doing Full House and before these people were in my life, and a lot of my memories have to do with traveling with them, being on set with them, going to events with them, like they are so they are my family because they are what I knew growing up, Like they surrounded me. And so it's like, it's such a weird experience to

um to have that and then suddenly lose it. It's like being separated from your entire family, and you know that I could only imagine what that's like, but it was like a sudden disconnect. Did you and roll in school? I actually went to school. I went to school in the mornings and then rehearsed in the afternoon and then we because we worked four day weeks, I would have

Monday off all day, I'd go to school. Um, Tuesday and Wednesday I went to school and tell lunch, and then I would drive my mom would pick me up because I've lived in Orange County and drive to Set. I've learned my lines in the car and then like do homework in the car on the way home. Um. And then Thursday and Friday I was schooled exclusively on SET. So I did have like a foot in normal life,

So it wasn't quite as much of a shock. Um, but you know, it felt like it just felt really different all of a sudden, and and you certainly didn't just blend in, you know what I mean. And so I think it was it was this weird time in my life of trying to figure out who I was, but also to just blend into everyone else completely because I just wanted to be normal. Yeah, you know, so it was it was hard, It was no, it was

a it was a big loss. But um, like coming back to Fuller House and getting to do that again as an adult and getting to understand it in a different way was like such an incredible gift. So yeah, I feel like that's also such a testament to like how impactful Full House was, the fact that like, like

shows don't come back that often. And I remember when it came back, I said to my mom, because I didn't, I don't think, well, obviously I wasn't alive when you guys were all filming full House, and then I don't think I ever really had an understanding of like how big the show was until I started my YouTube channel and I knew a lot about like YouTube views, and I saw the fuller House trailer come out on YouTube and I saw the views it had, and I ran into my parents room and I was like, wait, mom,

was full House like a massive show? Like why does this new trail so many views? Yeah? And she was like laughing, She's like, yeah, that's a pretty big show. Um. And speaking of that, actually, I kind of want to know because obviously, when you guys were filming full House, there wasn't social media. It was a completely different world, Like people didn't see into your personal life. People felt

so connected to your character. But do you think there was like when you guys were out and about, was it like mayhem where people were coming up to you and it was a crazy, crazy thing at the time, or is that like, yeah, yeah, it was wild. I mean, and I think, you know, as a kid did it. That's like a weird way to grow up, you know, people following you into the bathroom and passing a note under the door to be like will you sign this for me? And you're like, this is really kind of

a bad time for me. I don't get touching your pen right now? Bro? What is wrong with you? You know what I mean? Um? And so growing up with that spotlight I mean and that you know, Yeah, there were times like I go to the mall. I'll never forget Oh my god, this was such a great one. I'll never forget it. I was probably nine or ten years old and someone came up to me in a mall.

I think it was like a meat and Greek thing that you know I used to do all appearances or whatever, and they came up and they just touched me like that and they were like, oh my god, you're real, Like it was what out what? What? What? What do you expect? Like? And it was just a real moment where I was like, oh, people see me as this thing that exists only here, but like me as a person is doesn't really exist for them and it was just like a weird realization. So yeah, but it was

it was crazy. I mean I had to get snuck out of a mall in Iowa once because um, a mall appearance attracted too many people and um, it was a mess, so wild. I think. Also, what's so special about Full Houses? Like how close the whole cast was, like genuinely and even being at Bob like Bob's memorial recently, it's like the love like that fills the room when it's all of you guys together is so genuine. Why

do you think that was? Because I feel like most shows and even friends that I have now that are on TV shows with other cast mates around their age and stuff, it's not like that. Like what made that so um special? I don't I truly, I know it was the people, But the fact that those people all came together at that time in their lives is amazing to me. I mean, there I always say like there was some sort of magical thing that happened with Full House,

with the cast, with the crew, with our producers. It was more than just a show. Um, it really was a family amongst all of us and you know, in in large part that was do we we had a cast, and we had adults on a cast who included the kids. We were not just these like, you know, annoying things. We were the kids that they joked around with in

between takes. And you know, I would spend time with Bob's family on weekends and they were, you know, changing the twins diet like somebody would change the twins diaper my mom or you know, our teacher. Like it was.

It was just a family unit. And I am so incredibly grateful for it, becaus I just gained this huge family of people that I know love me like no matter what, you know, no matter whatever happens, our differences are whatever, Like we just genuinely love each other and no matter what happens, we will always show up for each other. Yeah, it's so true. And you have two kids now and Bob obviously playing your dad on the show and having like John as the uncle and Dave

and everybody around that was a bit older. Do you feel like you not like maybe learned parenting tips, but like do you feel like that is like something that you remember and like it connects to how you parent now?

You know, um, in a way like when I think back on it, like I remember, I remember Bob just being really inclusive of his kids, like they he and he didn't talk to them like they were idiots like he really and he and he did the same with me, like he treated me with respect, um as a young person.

And so did John and David, Like I under stood that, you know when I had kids, like you can joke with them, you can have real conversations, and I, you know, my my mom taught me that too, like I and I think, I don't know, I just think they they've also brought a level of humor to my parenting. Um that my kids are also inheriting, which is you know, both good and bad. Uh. Yeah, it's uh, it's definitely a challenge. Sometimes I'm like, not in front of Grammy, please,

oh my god, don't do that. But yeah, I learned. I learned a lot from them, and I and I continue to. You know, Dave is an amazing dad and his son, I mean, Luke is so successful in what he does. And you know, it's all of our extended family too, like those are my you know, my my nieces and nephews and my cousins and my you know, but I grew up with Do you have any like funny stories on set that stand out? I mean I've heard a million and the thousand. Every time I'm around,

somebody always has something to say. But anything you can think of off the top of your hat, and then we can move on from Full House. Okay, there is there's one story, and I know we've told it before. I don't know if the guys have told it. But we had this director, joel's Wick, who was fantastic and directed a ton of episodes of Full House, but he was tying of like a small statured man, and he would get really frustrated and like he was great until he just lost it. And you know, Bob and John

and Dave would push things. Particularly Bob and Dave would push and push. They were the kids that just wanted to test the boundary and like keep going and keep sucking around and what um So anyway, uh that was there. There was a time, an incident whatever the guys were screwing around and Joel lost it and was like that's it.

Everybody up to the green room. Everybody up there. And so everybody went up there, like the kids, the adults and we're all like sitting around the stable and he walks in and he's like, hey, it's not the kids, they're actually doing well. I'm talking to the adult. And it was like we got kicked out of the room

so that the adults could get in front. Like I was just like, wow, okay, jeez, got you know, like it was just really funny, um when the adults were the kids exactly exactly and around, and I became that adult that was just screwing around, and I inherited that that gene was Fuller House. Do you feel like, I mean, I think it's different obviously because there were kids on Fuller House too, Like did you feel like then you were like in Bob or Day or John or my

Mom's position for these kids. Yeah? Absolutely absolutely. And you know what, in a big way, the way that John and Bob and Dave and your mom treated us as kids and as young people, as young adults really I think had an effect on how we treated the kids. We knew how to treat these kids with respect, We knew how to get them to do their jobs, um, and we knew how to have fun, you know, and we knew how to include them and stuff and how

to make it feel like the family. Um, and I really do think that's in large part two, how we were treated. We knew that's how it should be. It should be a family, you should actually genuinely care about each other and spend time together. So that was that was a huge influence. And I'm assuming when they came and said we're going to do Fuller House, there wasn't hesitation. Everybody was like, yep, on board, right, Oh well, we were actually in the rooms pitching the idea of meet

Candice in any way. I don't know that stays along with Jeff Franklin and Bob Boy we were in on all the pitch meetings. Um. So it was really our our you know, John and Jeff and the three of us had really you know, been fighting for this for a long time. So yeah, it was great. It was great. And then you went to college. So what was that? Like you were famous on full House doing all this stuff and then like you're going to be normal and go to school. I went, Yeah, I went to high school.

The show I did when I was thirteen, so I went right into high school after that, and then I did graduate high school, and I um, I was doing well, I wound up going to Chapman University UM, and you know, that was at the point when I really started struggling with some of my addiction and all kinds of stuff. UM. And so for me, the college experience, it was you know a lot of um falling down and getting back up.

But I managed to graduate. You know, it took me like a semester longer because my first semester was not pretty uh and you know, I wanted graduating with the uh bachelor's in Liberal Studies with an emphasis and elementary education and history minor. And I sort of tried to enjoy just being just having that normal life for a little while. You've been pretty open with like addiction, right,

you talked about that publicly. I don't want to ask any questions if it's about and definitely, you know, and definitely given me the perspective of life that I that I have UM. And I think, you know, the openness

has really helped a lot of people. So I was gonna say that when we share our stories, I think, you know, it not only loses the fear that we have in people finding out our secrets, but it also allows other people to realize that their secrets maybe aren't so isolating, right, I think that it's that's so true obviously,

Like especially in my age. I feel like my demographic is quite close to my age, like early twenties in college, going through all this stuff, being introduced to different drugs and alcohol and stuff like that, and it can be like a really hard time for so many people because I feel like a lot of people don't know like how addictive some of these substances can be, and so it's like funn in games until it's not. Um, how did you? How did that all happen for you? Like,

I mean, you know, it was a journey. It was, like I said, like I spent a lot of my not only college but twenties just sort of like climbing the mountain and then tumbling down the other side, but getting up and climbing in again, you know, And it was um uh gosho from eleven uh. It's been like eleven years. My sobriety is eleven years ago, my official one. But I haven't had alcohol or any like crazy drugs or anything like that. Other it was muscle relaxers that

I took. Um. Other than that, I've spent like fourteen years, um, since I've done any of that. And you know, I I as a person who I thought that was just who I was, that it was a part of who I was. Um, it was a part of my self worth. There was you know, there was a lot of things that played into it, um. But I look at it now as just someone who was trying to deal with a lot of hurt um and had nowhere to put it.

And so I think I judge myself a little bit less too, you know, and I um and as I've been able to do that, it has allowed me to open up a little bit more and not be so afraid of other people's judgment. I'm like, I really don't care. I'm giving time for it um And and connected me with some really amazing, wonderful people, And I, you know, hope that being open and honest about who I've been and who I hope to become and I'm still working on is a journey that we're all on. So yeah, totally.

Was there like a breaking point where you're like, Okay, I need to be sober or is it something that like somebody else in your life was I mean, I had those moments over and over and I think until, like you know, until you really all of a sudden, oh okay, like I get it. I get it now. Just exactly what this is doing for me? And why why I I abuse this? Why I you know, I

am searching for something? Um. And you know, ever since, those moments kind of all lined up and eventually I just decided that it was easier to go heal the pain than keep creating more. So, UM, yeah, you know, I'm so grateful for the place that I am in my life today and I and I've become grateful for

a lot of the hard things that I went through too. Right, what's like the one thing that you think you've learned just from being not only in the public eye, but going through a lot, coming out clean, being sober, being a wonderful mom to your two kids? Like, what's something that you would teach them or something that you're constantly

telling your own kids that's like so important to you. Um, there is no perfect, There is no perfect, don't It's an unattainable you know illusion that you can spend your entire life chasing trying to be the perfect mom, trying to be the perfect girlfriend, you know, actress. Um, whatever it might be like I just have to be perfect and that doesn't exist, and it's something that we create and then we judge ourselves by it. And I've just learned that, Okay, I'm just doing the best I can.

Like I'm I'm just trying, and sometimes that best is not great, and sometimes there's three days. Um, but like, don't get too hung up on the idea of perfect because it's it's impossible and it only makes you feel worse. So well, I will definitely take that advice in my life. Thank you. I know you have another interview. I'm being told we have to wrap it up. Um, I do want to plug the show Beyond the Edge, Yes, and April the Worst cook starts. You want to talk about

that really quick before you have to go. You know what, Beyond the Edge was amazing, talk about another incredibly pivotal time in my life. I'm not kidding. This was a life changing experience for me. Um, going out there and surviving in the jungle. Um, you know you you watched the show and I just wish the physical pain, like you could feel what it felt like out there. Um, it was one of the hardest things I've ever done in my life. Is it out. Yes it's uh. The

fourth episode airs tonight, uh on Wednesday's nine pm. I think tonight is at ten pm, UM, but yeah it is. UM. It's a pretty incredible journey that I am forever grateful for because it really changed a lot of my perspective on things. UM. And then Worst Cooks was really fun. Um. I am not a great cook, but I'm great ordering take out. Yeah. So I was really excited for the opportunity to play for Girls Inc. For both of these shows, UM, which is a really wonderful organization that builds up wrong

powerful leadership and young women. UM. And I got to learn how to cook and be taught by professional chefs. And let me tell you, that's this stressful. It is a lot to take in and it's super stressful. UM. But I I was really proud of myself. I'm proud that I took on that challenge of something that I didn't think I was good at. I like to challenge myself to do I think I might not be able to do and be like, why don't you try it? Just see. Yeah, that's how I fought with Dancing with

the Stars. I'm like, I don't know if I can dance, but I'm gonna try and see what happen. It's you know what, why not like? And and again that's kind of the you know, there is no perfect, there's no like. Just go for it, just try and do it if you can and be on the edge. Has also really tapped into that spirit a lot and been able to kind of show who I am and so I'm really grateful for that. Um, but yeah, it's been a lot

of fun. I've been. I've been very busy and shooting two other holiday movies that I just finished last week, and um, that's awesome. It's been really busy. I'm gonna be hopefully directing some soon as well. So um, yeah, amazing. I'm happy to hear your booked and busy, and thank you so much for coming on, Jody, and I hope I see you soon. I'm about to talk to you.