During the late '80s and '90s, Full House was wildly popular, and some consider it one of the best sitcoms of all time. Folks still regularly rewatch that beloved series, and the nostalgia was so strong that a follow-up series Fuller House aired for those with a Netflix subscription for a whopping five seasons before ending in 2019. But the original series will always be beloved, and creator Jeff Franklin recalled the amazing moment where The Olsen Twins proved their talents at a young age.
While Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen weren't in Fuller House, they remain synonymous with their tenure sharing the role of Michelle Tanner. During a conversation with People about the early days of Full House, Franklin recalled one episode in particular where the Olsens impressed him from a very young age back in Season 1. In his words:
There was an episode about Uncle Jesse being an Elvis impersonator, which I happened to direct, which had John’s mom and my mom make little cameos in it. And that was really fun for us. And then that was the show, if you go back and watch it, that was the show where — and I think it was Ashley — it went to entirely another level. For the first time, we had an Olsen twin playing a scene that went on for minutes, and they hit all their cues, played the scene, never looked at the camera, never looked up at the boom, never looked at the audience, stayed in character, hit every joke.
And just like that, a star (or two) were born. While Jeff Franklin previously spoke to the "bizarre" process of auditioning the Olsens to play Michelle, the twins would play the beloved member of the Tanner family throughout its original eight seasons on the air. Although it was the 21st episode of Season 1 that would prove just how professional the actors could be at such a young age.
They say that one should never work with children or animals, but in order to bring the Tanners to life, that's exactly what Franklin and the Full House cast needed to do. They hit the jackpot with Mary-Kate and Ashley, who were able to lock in and do their job starting at just 1 year old. In the same interview, the show's creator went on to speak about how remarkable this was, offering:
I mean, it was insane. This is something that doesn’t exist anywhere else on the planet. It was actually the last show of season one, and I’ll just never forget it. It was just miraculous. How is this possible? In what universe does this little one-year-old person have the audience in the palm of her hand and is hitting jokes? It was just jaw-dropping.
Given this firsthand account, it shouldn't be surprising that the Olsen twins became household names, and would also end up becoming the youngest producers in Hollywood history when they co-founded their company at just six years old. They had acting instincts at 1 year old, so why not make them prodigy producers as well?
Full House is streaming now on Hulu and Disney+, while Fuller House is on Netflix. Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen might have retired from acting, but their legacy is still alive and well.
