After Fuller House concluded its run last year, John Stamos has addressed the complete absence of the Olsen Twins on the Full House spinoff series. While the former actresses had made it clear that they weren’t coming back while the series was ongoing, many fans were hoping that Michelle Tanner would make a surprise appearance in the finale. The final episode came and went without so much as a mention of the youngest Tanner sister.
Speaking about the situation on Andy Cohen’s Watch What Happens Live, Stamos was asked if he was surprised that Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen opted not to come back for the show. The Uncle Jesse actor explains that the rest of the cast was “disappointed” that neither of the twins wanted to return, but at the same time, everyone completely understood their reasoning. As Stamos regales:
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“We were disappointed, but we understood. I remember Lori [Loughlin] saying to me, ‘They won two or three CFDA Awards. That’s like winning two or three Oscars. If you won three Oscars, would you come back and do this?’ I was like, ‘Eh, maybe not.'”
Even without the Olsen Twins, filming the final episode of Fuller House proved to be an emotional experience for Stamos. Speaking further about the show’s finale with Cohen, Stamos describes why shooting the final episode with his last-ever appearance as Uncle Jesse was rather taxing to go through.
“It was emotional. When we did the original series, we got canceled, and we knew like a week before, and we were just doing a regular last show. We never really did the final show. So, it was pretty emotional.”
In 2016, executive producer Bob Boyett told People that the Olsen Twins had turned down appearing as Michelle Tanner on the show. According to the producer, it was a hard no from Ashley, who hadn’t been in front of a camera since she was 17 and didn’t “feel comfortable acting.” Mary-Kate reportedly said, “It would have to be me because Ash doesn’t want to do it. But the timing is so bad for us.”
“They’re family members,” Full House and Fuller House star Dave Coulier, who plays Uncle Joey, also told People at the time. “But I think they have a different perspective. When we get together and we reminisce, they were babies [at the time]. So they don’t share those same memories. I can’t really speak for them but I would understand why they don’t have the same sentiments that we all do.”
Fuller House wrapped its run on Netflix in 2020 after five seasons. The series followed Candace Cameron Bure, Jodie Sweetin, and Andrea Barber reprising their respective roles from Full House as DJ Tanner, Stephanie Tanner, and Kimmy Gibbler. Several original actors like Stamos, Coulier, and Bob Saget would also return. Michelle Tanner’s absence was explained on the series with DJ mentioning that Michelle was busy with her fashion work in New York, a reference to the Olsens’ real-life careers. This news comes to us from Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen.
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