‘Full House' child star in a ‘constant process of recovery' after finding fame at young age
The actor, 40, got candid about playing Michelle Tanner's (Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen) friend, Derek Boyd, on the sitcom, which ran for eight seasons from 1987 to 1995.
While on Jodie Sweetin and Andrea Barber's 'Full House' rewatch podcast, 'How Rude, Tanneritos,' on June 26, Ewing said he is most remembered for his 'Yankee Doodle Boy' performance from season six, episode eight, titled 'The Play's The Thing.'
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9 Blake McIver Ewing on 'Full House.'
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Ewing revealed that fans still 'absolutely' ask him about the song, adding, 'I get requests for it.'
'This is the time of year where I start to hunker down like a Cold War bunker,' he joked. 'Tis the season. The memes start coming.'
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9 Yankee Doddle Boy performance.
All kidding aside, Ewing said, 'It is an honor, and I'm glad that it still brings people joy.' Reflecting on playing Derek, the star noted he had 'a lot of similarities' to his character.
'I was very, very precocious and very able to speak my mind,' he confessed, expressing that they were both 'bossy.'
Although the Hollywood vet has fond memories from his time on 'Full House,' being a child star has left him a 'Recovering Child Actor,' as noted in his Instagram bio.
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9 Blake McIver Ewing's Yankee Doddle Boy dance.
Ewing starred in a slew of projects after his stint on 'Full House,' including playing Waldo in the 1994 classic 'The Little Rascals' and voicing Eugene in 2002's 'Hey Arnold! The Movie,' as well as starring in TV shows like 2001's 'Adventures in Odyssey.'
'I feel like we're all in recovery always,' Ewing shared with his former co-stars. 'It's an annoying process. People ask me about it all the time, and I'm like, 'No. It's not a negative thing. It's just like there's a constant process of recovery.''
Ewing also considered himself 'lucky' that his parents, actress Susan McIver and director Bill Ewing, didn't push him to be an actor, adding that he 'wanted to do it.'
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9 Blake McIver Ewing and Mary Kate/Ashley Olsen on 'Full House.'
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'Since both my parents were in show business, they didn't care at all,' he confessed. 'They were like, 'Well, if you're gonna do it, just don't embarrass us. At least be good at it.''
'But it's so funny because you become a teenager, you become an adolescent, and it doesn't matter. There is still a life learning curve,' said Ewing. 'And it's really more about that. It's like we recover in our own way.'
Sweetin, who played Stephanie Tanner, echoed her former co-star's sentiments, sharing that 'there's a whole extra layer of getting through that thing of being known as something [as] a child.'
9 Blake McIver Ewing performs on stage.
Getty Images for Family Equality Council
'Most people don't have to shake off a career at 13 and be like, 'Who am I now?'' Sweetin continued while noting that as a teen, you're 'really trying to figure out who you are anyway,' but being a child star adds extra 'layers.'
'Absolutely,' Ewing agreed. 'It is an identity crisis of a sort. And I always try to explain to people… you have your mid-career crisis at 18.'
From Barber's perspective, child actors from the '90s have their 'own language' and are 'like one big fraternity.'
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9 Blake McIver Ewing attends Family Equality Council's Impact Awards.
Getty Images for Family Equality
Ewing said while doing 'a lot of episodic work' on other series as a kid, it showed him just how 'lucky' the cast of 'Full House' was.
Ewing reprised his role as Derek on 'Fuller House,' which ran from 2016 to 2020. He starred in the series finale, Season 5 episode 18, titled 'Our Very Last Show, Again.'
'When we were doing 'Fuller House,' I was always thinking about, 'Where is Derek?'' he said. 'I hope he's teaching high school theater in San Francisco.'
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Along with the Olsen twins, 39, Sweetin and Barber, 'Full House' also starred Candace Cameron Bure, Dave Coulier, John Stamos, Lori Loughlin and the late Bob Saget, who died at age 65 in 2022.
9 John Stamos, Lori Loughlin, Dave Coulier; Candace Cameron, Andrea Barber, Jodie Sweetin, Bob Saget, Mary-Kate Olsen / Ashley Olsen in 1991.
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For the sequel series, everyone returned except Mary-Kate and Ashley.
In November, Sweetin admitted she would love to get the gang back together once more.
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'I've learned in this business never say never,' she told The Post. 'I'm totally down for it. I've been saying we need to do the 'Golden Girls Fullest House.''
Sweetin teased, 'Give it a few years and we'll be like appropriate old lady age. I think we could do it.'
9 Bob Saget (Danny), Dave Coulier (Joey), Mary Kate Olsen (Michelle), and John Stamos (Uncle Jesse).
Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images
But 'The Jane Mysteries' actress knows things won't be how they were without Saget, who played the beloved Danny Tanner.
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'He is the heart of the family in so many ways,' she explained. 'But I think the rest of us would definitely love to do it.'
Bure also shared that she has kept one very important piece of wisdom from the late comic in mind.
9 'Fuller House.'
©Netflix/Courtesy Everett Collection
'I try to remember to tell all the people I love that I love them every time I see them,' the Great American Family CCO exclusively told The Post. 'Tell the people that you love that you love them. Don't leave the room without it.'
Bure said she tries 'to laugh a lot,' adding, 'I miss Bob every day.'
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