John Stamos melted hearts as the loving Uncle Jesse on Full House, but the actor almost quit the show before it even started. In a recent conversation with Dave Coulier (who portrayed Joey Gladstone on the sitcom) for his new rewatch podcast Full House Rewind, series creator Jeff Franklin shared some insight into the series’ origins. As it turns out, Stamos was none too pleased that Jodie Sweetin, who was five at the time, stole the show during the very first table read. In the early 1980s, just years before Full House premiered in 1987, Stamos was well known for his portrayal of Blackie Parrish on ABC’s General Hospital; the role earned Stamos a 1983 Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series.
When Full House began, Stamos was the most recognizable castmate and as Franklin shared (via EW), most of the studio and network executives attending the series’ first table read were there to see Stamos. But things didn’t quite turn out as expected and Sweetin, Franklin said, “just stole the whole thing.” The young actress, he added, was “knocking jokes out of the park.” Coulier recalled speaking with Stamos after the table read:
“And I remember walking out with John and he’s like, ‘The whole show’s gonna be her. We can’t do this.'”
Obviously, Stamos stayed on the series and went on to portray Jesse Katsopolis until 1995. In 2016, he reprised the role for sequel series Fuller House, which followed Sweetin’s character, Stephanie, and older sister DJ Tanner (Candace Cameron Bure) as adults co-habitating in their childhood home. Stamos also served as an executive producer and producer for the Netflix series, which ran for five seasons until 2020.
Related: Full House Star John Stamos Recalls Getting the Olsen Twins Fired Just to Ask for Them Back
John Stamos Says He ‘Fought’ Full House for ‘A Long Time’
ABC
During a recent episode of Hot Ones, Stamos spoke about his rough beginning on Full House. Stamos said the series was pitched to him as Bosom Buddies type series with “a couple of kids in the background”:
“We did a table read of it, and I was the star. I was coming off of General Hospital. We sit down, and we started reading, and Jodie Sweetin, who plays Stephanie, reads her lines, and people are dying laughing. I mean screaming. I was like, ‘What’s happening here?’ They couldn’t even hear my lines. They were laughing so hard at her.”
Eventually, Stamos came around, telling Hot Ones host Sean Evans:
“I fought it for a long time. And then I finally said, ‘What am I doing, it’s a beautiful show.’ We built it with sweetness and kindness. There was no central character on that show, I realized. The central character was love.”
In recent years, Stamos has been vocal about his closeness with the show’s cast. However, late last year, Stamos was hesitant to commit to any future Full House related projects, saying that following the death of co-star and friend Bob Saget, “there’s a piece missing.” As for Sweetin, she says she’d like to channel Bea Arthur for “the Golden Girls version of Fullest House.”
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