‘I’m Still Me’: Jodie Sweetin Talks Motherhood, Recovery and the Bob Saget She Knew Best (EXCLUSIVE)

When she was five years old, Jodie Sweetin stole America’s heart playing Stephanie Tanner, the adorably, funny, wisecracking middle sister of a widowed father of three on the hit series, Full House. The program ran for eight seasons on ABC and at that time Sweetin was riding the wave of success and living a good life. 

But in 1995, the show ended and then came the harsh reality her status in Hollywood was shifting. In her 2010 book, unSweetined, the actress documented how she went into a downward spiral by turning to drugs. After hitting rock bottom, Sweetin sought treatment, got healthy and today is celebrating her latest achievements. 

Sweetin co-hosts the popular Podcast, How Rude, Tanneritos! and is also starring in the Lifetime movie, Dateless to Dangerous: My Son’s Secret Life, which premieres on the cable network on June 21st at 8 p.m. ET.

In this exclusive interview for Woman’s World, Sweetin not only recalled her difficult journey but revealed why her victories taste much sweeter.  

WW: You’re starring in a new movie for Lifetime called, Dateless to Dangerous: My Son’s Secret Life, that has some parallels to your own life. You play a single mom of two children and in real life you are a mom to two children.

Jodie Sweetin: Absolutely. My daughters are now 17 and almost 15. It’s part of what drew me to this project. When I read the script I was like, I can relate to being a single mom or a mom with kids who live in split households.

WW: Is having different homes hard?

Jodie Sweetin: It does create a different dynamic and puts a different pressure on women and parents. I related to that with Noelle. Like Noelle, I try my best to keep all the balls I juggle in the air and keep a handle on everything.    

WW: Did being a single mom help you relate to the difficulties and challenges Noelle faces as she struggles to provide for her children while being there and present when they need her?

Jodie Sweetin: What Noelle struggles with is her son who is having trouble finding his crew and his people. You see a lot of kids having this same problem because nowadays young people are feeling isolated. Noelle’s son is facing that same hardship until he gets into the gaming community. 

At first Noelle is happy her son found people he could connect with. I know a lot of people went searching for people they could connect with during Covid. People wanted to find some sort of action with the outside world and then when we went back to normal, it was hard to undo that. We are living in this post-Covid world as parents and helping kids try to navigate their social life and balance the good aspects of being social online with the really dark side that could potentially present a lot of other problems. I think that’s the real story here. In the film I’m raising a kid who is lonely, angry and is trying to figure himself out in all the wrong ways. 

WW: Was it easy for you to find your people because you were a big TV star?

Jodie Sweetin: No. It is harder to find your people because of that. It is definitely harder to trust people and know if their intentions are good. When I was in elementary and middle school I would divide my schooling. 

Some of it was in-person and some was on-set, so it was really hard to find my people, which is why for me, my people were the Full House cast. Today as an adult, my people are in the entertainment business since they too work this crazy job, which I love.   

WW: Do your kids like having a famous mom?

Jodie Sweetin: I think they have struggled with it. It’s hard to tell your kids that high school is not going to be like what you see in Friday Night Lights. High School can be awkward. You go through friends, things don’t work out, which is okay and you may not find your people now but at some point you always do. 

WW: What advice do you give them?

Jodie Sweetin:  You are going to change so much from the person you were in high school to the person you are going to be in 10 years and 20 years.     

WW: Your TV son enters the dark side and in real life you too have had to overcome a lot of demons. How did you push past that so you can celebrate where you are today? 

Jodie Sweetin: At 43, I can look back and say I am so happy I kept going. I am glad that no matter what life threw at me or what chaos I created in my life, and yes, it took me a while to figure out how to keep moving forward but I did. I am so glad I did and that is something I tell people all the time.

WW: Which is what?

Jodie Sweetin: I promise you the only way out is to keep marching forward. It does get different and sometimes it gets better and other times it just gets different. 

WW: This movie will explore your TV son’s difficult childhood. How would you describe your childhood? 

Jodie Sweetin: My childhood was really great. I had an excellent experience on the set of Full House. It was the best environment you could ask for a working child actor. It was a lot of responsibility because it was a job, but I loved going to work. It was fun. 

I never went through a period where I did not enjoy it so my childhood. I got to do stuff I loved. I got to be around people I loved. I traveled to some amazing places and overall I would say I was really fortunate.  

WW: And your home life?

Jodie Sweetin: I was raised by great and normal parents who did not want the entertainment business for themselves; instead, they wanted to see me shine, succeed and do what it is I love doing, which is performing. 

WW: What would you say is the biggest misconception about you?

Jodie Sweetin: I try to be 100% authentic myself but I think people are surprised, especially when they come to see me that I am more like Bob Saget than Stephanie Tanner, who I think had some sass.

WW: Some sass? Stephanie was all sass.  

Jodie Sweetin: She was [laughs] always the one to address the elephant in the room.

WW: Her sass sparked one of TV’s most famous catch-phrases, “How Rude!” Are you surprised it still resonates with fans and is popular among many different generations?  

Jodie Sweetin: It is crazy! The whole experience of being in Full House starting when I was five years old and to think people are still loving it to this day amazes me. 

“How Rude” took on a life of its own. I always joke that it will be on my urn one day. It’s kind of fitting if you think about it. I used to hate it in high school when I wanted to be normal and like everyone else but now I have a whole new appreciation for it. It is something that stuck around for a long time and I am honored. 

WW: When people meet you, is it a common request, to recite it?

Jodie Sweetin: Oh yes (laughs)  

WW: It was also the inspiration for the title of your Podcast, “How Rude Tanneritos!”

Jodie Sweetin: That is so much fun. Andrea Barber (Kimmy Gibbler) and I have the best time doing it. I have to confess, I look forward to it all week. It’s just two hours where I record and get to be with my friend. We even get to be silly. We watch the  episodes, relive it, poke fun at it and talk about the good times. The fact that we can have a Podcast about a show that was on over 30 years ago and is still successful in syndication is crazy. It’s a huge thank you that I get to do what I love so many years later.      

WW: You made reference to Bob Saget (Danny Tanner) who played your TV dad for over 12 years between Full House and Fuller House. Father’s Day recently passed. What comes to mind when you say his name?  

Jodie Sweetin: I spent so much time with Bob on the set and weekends with his real family. I hung out with his daughters at their house. Bob had the biggest heart and he was wonderful. 

As for my real dad, I am so fortunate because he is 90 years old and in good health. He walks without a cane and is doing so well. I don’t take for granted one moment with him, such as celebrating Father’s Day or any day. I was so lucky to have both a real dad and a great TV dad. The fact that so many people loved  Bob and felt so comforted by him as a parental figure in their lives through this character he played on a show we loved doing is a pretty great gift.         

WW: Was it easy to transition from being a cute child star into an adult actress?

Jodie Sweetin: No not at all. I stepped away from the business for a while. I did small things here and there but at one point I was working in treatment and rehab. 

WW: What was the turning point and motivation when you knew you wanted to come back to the industry?

Jodie Sweetin: Fuller House! It reintroduced me to people. I also had more creative control, I was a bigger part of the show and I got to be a part of the choices and direction of the show. I am really enjoying it. I would not say it was an easy transition but now that I am here, I think of it as the icing on the cake. 

WW: Now that you are back in the saddle, what types of projects are you focusing on?

Jodie Sweetin: I would love to do more dramatic stuff. I am working on a few projects right now. They are a lot darker than what I have done before and a lot of fun to play. I love comedy and would love to do an Arrested Development-type of show.    

WW: Do your kids have any interest in following in your footsteps?

Jodie Sweetin: My younger one does. She is a singer and does performing arts stuff. My older one is a soccer player and is very athletic. She was an extra in Fuller House and thought it was long and boring on the days she was on the set.   

WW: You talk a lot about the popularity of Full House and overcoming a lot off-camera. Does it make you feel so proud to be a part of TV history and come out swinging?

Jodie Sweetin: Oh yes! I can’t believe I get to have so much fun at this stage in my life and it all started from a character I created when I was little and the people I did the show with are still my family.

WW: Speaking of your Full House family, how is Dave Coulier (Joey Gladstone) feeling following his cancer diagnosis?

Jodie Sweetin: He is doing so much better. He is moving to Michigan where he has a house with his amazing wife Melissa. Dave is cancer-free and he is doing well—definitely on the road to recovery. I know he’s doing work with the V Foundation, which is a cancer research charity, which ironically, my cousin is the CEO of. It is great to see him go out to create awareness after everything he went through.

WW: What about what you went through? You must be proud of yourself, too?

Jodie Sweetin: I don’t know if proud is the right word. If I am proud of anything I’m proud that I kept going and I am proud that I am still me.   

WW: Do you like yourself more now?

Jodie Sweetin: I do! I am definitely very comfortable in my own skin these days. At 43 I care less and less what other people think.(laughs) No really, as the years go by I really don’t care and I actually find it very freeing. For the first time I feel like, “Look out world, here I come!”