As Stephanie Tanner, Jodie Sweetin could steal a scene like few child actors before or since. The world knows Jodie Sweetin then and now as one of the breakout stars of Full House (and its Netflix reboot, Fuller House), but privately, the actress has had to battle some pretty significant demons. While her struggles and issues could have easily destroyed her, making her just another name on a long list of troubled and wounded child stars, that’s not what happened at all. Sweetin lived to tell her tale, and while the details of her story are disturbing, they are proof positive that recovery – and hope – are always possible.
The Jodie Sweetin biography begins in Los Angeles, where the actress was born in 1982. She started acting just five years later, and the role of Stephanie Tanner became the second job she ever booked. As happens all too often with child actors, she became overly identified with her most famous role, so much so she lost sight of who she was. When Full House ended in 1995, Sweetin’s issues began.
Read on for some stories, facts, and things you didn’t know about Jodie Sweetin and her remarkable journey back to sobriety, sanity, and success.
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In 2004, the Olsen Twins were still making movies and not yet the toasts of the fashion world. Sweetin attended the premiere of their movie New York Minute, where she snorted meth in a bathroom stall. She was, in her own words, “high as a kite” as she walked the red carpet for the event. “I was pulling off the deceit. It was hard for people to believe I was doing that much drugs,” she said. “I look at photos from that event, and I didn’t even look strung out!”
Her Mother Was An Addict And Her Father Was Killed In A Prison Riot
Sweetin had already lived through substantial hardship by the time she landed her Full House role at the age of five. Her biological mother was an addict, and her biological father was eventually killed in a prison riot. She was adopted by an uncle and aunt when still a baby. Sweetin didn’t know about any of this until years later, and the discovery was a game-changer. She saw, for the first time, what being an addicted parent can really do to a child.
“When I started seeing my own addiction getting in the way of being a mom, I finally understood: If you’re not in the right place to get sober, you’re not ready to be a mom,” she said.
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She Got So Drunk At Candace Cameron’s Wedding She Had To Be Escorted Out
When her longtime costar Candace Cameron married Valeri Bure in 1996, Sweetin was in attendance. But after downing multiple bottles of wine, her behavior became erratic. She ended up having to be escorted out of the wedding. At the time, Sweetin was just 14 years old, but her binging would be indicative of the intense type of drinking that would become her habit. “That set the pattern of the kind of drinking that I would do,” she said.
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During Her Early ‘Sobriety,’ She Actually Wasn’t Sober At All
When Sweetin first revealed her struggles with drugs and alcohol, she told the world she was sober. In reality, she was still struggling with addiction… and struggling to keep it hidden from the public. At the time – around 2007 – she was regularly speaking on the college circuit about the dangers of drugs and alcohol.
“I was trying to be that person that everyone was expecting me to be,” she told Kathie Lee and Hoda. “I felt like a fraud, and a lot of shame went with that. And with all that, came more using, and feeling bad about it, and continuing to do it.” During the writing of her memoir, she finally got sober for good.
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She Wrote A Memoir
In 2009, Sweetin wrote a memoir about her life and recovery. The cleverly-titled UnSweetined chronicles her rocky path from stardom to addiction and back again. She held nothing back, bravely discussing the problems she faced and taking responsibility for the damaging choices she made in her younger life. She also talked about life on the Full House set and her enduring relationships with many of her costars. But, at the end of the day, Sweetin keeps it real. “Life isn’t like a Full House episode,” she wrote.
She Appeared On ‘Dancing With The Stars’
Sweetin was one of the celebrities who appeared on Season 22 of Dancing with the Stars in 2016. Paired with professional dancer Keo Motsepe, Sweetin danced her heart out, and she used the exposure the show brought to share her story of addiction and recovery.
An injury almost forced her out of the competition early. “Luckily my ankle is okay, but I bruised a bone on the outside of my foot, which is tender and sensitive, but the ankle at least is stable,” she said. “I keep it wrapped and ice it when I can and then I push myself the rest of the time.” She and Keo were eliminated in Week 8, finishing sixth overall.
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Before ‘Fuller House,’ She Worked In Substance Abuse Treatment
Prior to reprising her role of Stephanie Tanner in Fuller House, Sweetin was devoting herself to helping others get sober. She worked in a drug and alcohol treatment center, but proving that the past can be hard to escape, she had a surprising neighbor in her new job. Her office, ironically, was practically next door to the set of Grandfathered, former costar John Stamos’s then-new sitcom. Perhaps it was sign of things coming full circle. Fuller House soon beckoned, and Sweetin once again became a working actress.
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She Never Wanted To Act Again After ‘Full House’
By the time she was 20, Sweetin was still trying to get sober and had had enough of Hollywood. “I don’t have any desire to ever act again full time,” she said. “I don’t mind doing occasional guest appearances on shows, but I have other things I’d like to do in my life now.”
She had just gotten married and had high hopes for a “normal” life, but, unfortunately, drugs took center stage. Not long after, Sweetin discovered meth and quickly developed a daily habit
She Once Drove Drunk With Her Baby In The Car
With her drinking spiraling out of control, Sweetin was engaging in riskier and riskier behavior. Sometimes, however, this behavior can be a wakeup call, as it was for Sweetin. “I had two glasses of wine and drove with [my daughter] in the car,” she confessed in her memoir. “I not only put myself in danger, but also my daughter, who I loved more than anything. I felt terrible.” She considers this chain of events her rock-bottom, the place addicts and alcoholics hit that open their eyes to the reality of their issues.
She Started Using Drugs And Alcohol At Age 14
At the age of 14, Sweetin had her first drink. Like most addicts, that’s all it took for her to become hooked. “That first drink gave me the self-confidence I had been searching for my whole life,” she said. Drugs soon followed, and Sweetin abused cocaine, ecstasy, and methamphetamine in the subsequent years. She would be in and out of treatment programs throughout her teens and early twenties.
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