Audiences fell in love with little Michelle from Full House the moment she came on the screen in 1987, and she held their hearts all the way until 1995 when the show was canceled. She even still gets new fans today with reruns constantly being shown.
While Michelle is just one character, many viewers were surprised to learn that she was played by twin girls named Mary-Kate and Ashely Olsen. Here are some other behind-the-scenes facts about the cuties who played Michelle and their time on Full House.
10 Seeing Double
When it came time for Full House auditions, filling the role of Michelle was an interesting task. The show’s producers brought in many sets of twins and had them hang out in the office without their parents. The babies were watched to see who interacted well with strangers, who wasn’t too shy, and who had a good personality.
Twins were eliminated one by one—or two by two!—based on how they behaved. In the end, Mary-Kate and Ashley won the part over twenty other sets of twins!
9 Missing Mommy
While the girls did well in their audition, things became a bit difficult once filming began. They were originally taken from their mother Jarnie during the initial meeting, but she would stick around out of the cameras’ way while filming.
This caused the girls to be distracted and experience separation anxiety because they were always looking for their mom and wanting to be with her. Eventually, Jarnie was asked to just drop the girls off and come back later.
8 Terrible Twos
Jarnie leaving the girls to work alone helped solve some issues—but not all of them, particularly for Ashley. She used to cry on set a lot, which made things difficult for the other actors and staff. One day, Mary-Kate came in to work with a swollen red face, and she was unable to do the scene as planned. It was up to Ashley to take her place, and she did great! From then on, she had a better time being in front of the cameras.
7 Baby Wrangling
Full House and the character of Michelle would not have been possible without a woman named Adria Lately. She was dubbed, “The Baby Wrangler,” and it was her job to get the girls to “act,” which was an easy feat! In the beginning, this involved her hiding out of frame with intriguing objects such as jingly bracelets, rattles puppets, and squeak toys that she would use to get the babies’ attention. As the girls got older, Adria would say Michelle’s lines for either Mary-Kate or Ashley to mimic. Adria later became Baby Wrangler to the boys who played Nicky and Alex, as well!
6 Calling It Quits
Can you imagine if Michelle’s iconic, “You got it, dude!” had come from a different set of actresses? That was almost the case because the Olsen family was close to quitting after the first season. Jarnie mentioned to Adria one day that they probably weren’t going to come back next year because there was a lot on her plate.
In addition to Ashley and Mary-Kate, The Olsens had an older toddler named Trent, and they were pregnant with their fourth child. Adria quickly went to producers, who worked to get the Olsens assistance, including a nanny and driver to help with the load. The girls’ salary was also raised, which didn’t hurt matters!
5 Aw, Nuts
In the beginning, the other actors dreaded working with the twins. While the girls were all cuteness and smiles in the final cut of the episodes, it wasn’t always like that behind the scenes. It would often take a long time to do scenes with one of the babies because she wouldn’t cooperate or would need a diaper change.
This caused understandable frustration. However, once it was clear how much audiences loved Michelle, her costars began wanting to work with the twins more and more.
4 Growing Up
One thing that was different about Full House and Michelle’s character is that the world was able to watch her go from a baby to a child. This was the first time that a baby, let alone two, had been raised on TV. Viewers were able to see the girls go from crawling to walking and from babbling to talking.
Fans loved being able to see “Michelle’s” growth and development as she accomplished many firsts that Mary-Kate and Ashley were going through, including learning to ride a bike.
3 Twin Swapping
It was pretty handy having twins playing one role. Due to child labor laws, the babies could only be on set for twenty minutes at a time under the hot lights. So, when time was up for one baby, the would swap out for the other. This switch back and forth continued as they got older, and they would usually do every other scene.
As they grew up and developed their own acting style, Ashley was often used for emotional scenes, while Mary-Kate did comedic scenes. They took turns for the eating scenes, which were usually their favorite!
2 Round Of Applause
As the show went on, the girls’ popularity among fans increased. Before the taping of each show, the actors would come out one at a time and be introduced to the studio audience. Ashley and Mary-Kate always received a standing ovation!
Viewers just couldn’t get enough of the twins, and Michelle even ranked number two on a list of America’s favorite TV characters, just behind Bill Cosby.
1 Two Is Better Than One
Towards the second half of the show, there was talk about only using Mary-Kate to play Michelle instead of both girls. They were old enough to be on camera the full amount of time that they were needed, and they were starting to look less alike. (They are actually fraternal twins, not identical.)
John Stamos, who plays Uncle Jesse, was not okay with this idea at all. Fans have him to thank, as he fought to keep both Mary-Kate and Ashley as part of the Full House family.
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