Blake McIver Ewing has offered a glimpse into the life of a child actor and “recovering” from the stardom achieved at such a young age.
Fame is something Ewing, now 40, grew up with. He is best known for his role in “Full House” as Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen’s character Michelle’s friend. He also starred in 1994’s “The Little Rascals,” “The Nanny,” “Home Improvement,” “Recess,” and “Hey Arnold!” according to People. In his Instagram bio, he partially describes himself as a “Recovering Child Actor,” something that became a talking point during an episode of “How Rude, Tanneritos,” the “Full House” rewatch podcast hosted by stars Jodie Sweetin and Andrea Barber.
“I feel like we’re all in recovery always,” he told the hosts, who agreed. “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.'”
Reflecting on his childhood, Ewing said he was “lucky” his parents didn’t push him into acting, something that he “wanted to do.”
“Since both my parents were in show business, they didn’t care at all. They were like, ‘Well, if you’re gonna do it, just don’t embarrass us. At least be good at it,'” he said.
“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,” he said. “And it’s really more about that. It’s like we recover in our own way,” Ewing added.
“There’s a whole extra layer of getting through that thing of being known as something [as] a child,” replied Sweetin, 43, who played Stephanie Tanner. “Most people don’t have to shake off a career at 13 and be like, ‘Who am I now?'”
As a teen, she said, you’re “really trying to figure out who you are anyway,” adding that being a child actor creates extra “layers” to work through.
“Absolutely,” Ewing said. “It is an identity crisis of a sort. And I always try to explain to people…you have your mid-career crisis at 18.”
“Full House” aired for eight seasons, ending in 1995. Ewing returned as Derek in the series finale of its sequel, “Fuller House,” which was on the air from 2016 to 2020.
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