CBB Exclusive: Jodie Sweetin’s newfound Full House
As Stephanie Tanner on the hugely popular 90’s show Full House, actress Jodie Sweetin was America’s darling. Millions tuned in weekly as Jodie literally grew up before the world’s eyes. CBB traveled to L.A. for an exclusive interview and photo shoot with the super smart, super funny Jodie, 26, and her equally wonderful husband, Cody Herpin, 30.
Expecting their daughter on April 6th, no topic was off-limits as we spoke about babies, battling personal demons and being a child star.
Photography: Gabbeli Photography
Hair/Makeup: Douglas Martucci
Click below for the interview and photoshoot!
Jodie, you know the first question has to be about Full House.
It was a wonderful experience. I actually never auditioned for ‘Full House.’ I had done a guest appearance on ‘Valerie’ as the next door neighbor’s niece, and from that I got into ‘Full House.’ I was only five years old, and I was on the show until I was 13.
I had always wanted to be on T.V.; my mom told me that when I was little, I told her I wanted to be a “modeler,” because that’s what I called actors on T.V. ‘Full House’ was a great outlet for me.
I’m still very close with most of the cast; I speak to Bob Saget all the time, and also Candace Cameron Bure and Lori Loughlin. They are like family to me.
How was it to grow up in front of millions of people?
It was really difficult. It’s bad enough that you have bad teeth, or you’re going through an awkward growth period, but to have it witnessed by millions of people made it harder.
I also went to public school in the morning and I would work in the afternoon. School was rough, because kids can be rough. The good thing was that I was halfway grounded in reality.
What was life like after Full House?
I was just starting high school and it was a huge adjustment for me. High school is just horrible in general. So, I think it was a good time for me to have stopped acting. I got to be normal in high school.
Once in a while, I would do guest appearances, like on ‘Party of Five’ and ‘Yes, Dear.’ It was nice to have my foot still in the business, but maintain a normal life.
You went through a rough period in your life.
Yes, I did. I had an addiction to methamphetamine. I was really fortunate to have family support to make it through to the other side of recovery. It was so hard to go through that publicly, but I turned it around.
Today, I speak at universities and talk to students about it. For me, it started in college, and I want to be able to talk to other kids and help them.
It’s great that you were honest about it.
The story broke in a magazine, and it was one of those things that either I could run away and hide from, or I could be forthright and be honest about it.
I decided to use it for some good. I’ve been speaking about my addiction for the past two years. I get to do a Q&A with the kids and communicate with them one-on-one.
The interesting part is that most of the kids I speak to have grown up watching ‘Full House,’ so they feel like they know me and can talk to me.
Let’s talk about something much lighter — Pants-Off Dance-Off!
Hosting ‘Pants-Off Dance-Off’ was so much fun! It was very tongue-in-cheek, wonderfully atrocious, silly and just plain out there! People didn’t expect Stephanie Tanner to do something like that, so I did!
I hosted the show when I was 23, and again, the same audience who had watched ‘Full House’ was now watching ‘Pants-Off Dance-Off.’
How did you meet Cody?
I had briefly met Cody a couple of times in the past. We met again in the spring of 2007, and we just instantly clicked. Our parents have said that we are perfect together. We are the yin to the other’s yang. We just compliment each other so well.
We got married July 14, 2007, and a week later, I was pregnant! This is definitely a honeymoon baby, and we are so excited! Cody and I are totally committed to each other; bringing a baby into the world is not a small decision by any means.
And you’re having a little girl!
Yes, I am so happy that we’re having a girl. I’m due on April 6th. We’re thinking about naming her Zoie.
Jodie, Cody, Zoie…
I know! We were trying to avoid having rhyming names, but when Cody and I were talking about names, we loved the name Zoie. It’s girly, but not overly flowery. It’s funky and the spelling is cute.
How has the pregnancy been?
Super easy! I’m crossing my fingers that the last few weeks go just as well. Of course, I have the emotional ups and downs of pregnancy, like crying jags for no reason and then the next day I can’t even remember what I was crying about!
We got the 4D ultrasound done; it was so amazing to see her! We tried to figure out who she looks like, but right now she’s all squished and blobby!
How do you think Ginger, your Yorkie, will react to the baby?
Ithink she’ll do really well with the baby. She’ll definitely becurious, but as long as she gets to still sleep in the bed, I’m sureshe’ll adjust wonderfully! After all, she was my first little baby!
Any weird cravings?
I couldn’t eat anything sweet for the first few months of the pregnancy. I’m big into salty foods! I love the salmon paninis from this great restaurant in Santa Monica.
I’ve also been religiously eating Marie Callender’s chicken pot pies. Our freezer is full of them!
When we were shooting downstairs, Cody opened up the fridge and I noticed that there’s a massive jar of pickles in there! Are they yours?
They’re for Cody! He loves pickles. We get the mega-sized jar at Costco. Cody is quasi-pregnant!
You had mentioned that you and Cody are only children and this is the first grandbaby on both sides.
Zoie is going to be the golden child! She will be so spoiled and so loved. The grandparents are already fighting to see who is going to take care of her! We moved equi-distant from both sets of parents so they can see their grandchild.
It’s also great because then Mommy and Daddy can have still have some sort of life!!!
Tell me all about your ultra chic nursery! It’s been fun and hard work at the same time! Every parent-to-be who has had to put a crib together that comes in many, many pieces understands what I’m talking about! Fortunately, we survived the assembly of the crib; it doesn’t fall apart, which is a good thing! The changing table was another story. We made a trip to Home Depot to get screws for the changing table, because Cody swore the table didn’t come with enough screws. It turned out that it was a misreading of the directions, and we made a needless trip to Home Depot! We worked with this company named Thank You Baby, who did all the custom paintings and everything for the nursery. We told them our color scheme — pink and black — and they did the nursery exactly to our specifications. It’s very Parisienne. Yes, Cody is French, so it’s a nod to his heritage. My Mom wasn’t happy about the black crib. She said, “Black for a baby?” and I said, “Mom, you don’t understand. This baby is going to be cool!” The baby has a better room than any other room in the house. Graco also gifted me with Sweetpeace Newborn Soothing Center at the Boom Boom Room event. I totally knocked Chris Noth out of the way to get it! It sounds like you’re ready for baby Zoie. I think we are. We’ve started our birthing classes. The thought of labor is scary; I fear that Cody or I — or both of us! — is going to pass out and no one will be awake to witness the birth of our child! I definitely want the epidural. I don’t plan to suffer through it. Cody’s mom delivered naturally, and I told her, “More power to you! You’re a warrior! I’m not!” I get a paper cut and I want stitches. What are your plans for after Zoie’s birth? Work-wise, I want to get back into working. We’re talking about doing a reality show, but we’ll see. We’re so lucky that our jobs afford us the luxury to be home with Zoie for awhile. Having our family around is going to be a huge blessing. People ask me if I would put Zoie into acting, and I would. It was a great experience for me. If it was something she wanted to do, I would help guide her, because it was something I definitely wanted to do. For right now, though, I’m just enjoying the pregnancy. I feel my heart getting bigger with love every day for her. We couldn’t love the baby more and we cannot wait for her to come. Photos copyright Jennifer Parris/Gabbeli Photography, shot exclusively for CBB in late January. Text copyright The Celebrity Baby Blog, Inc. Useof photos and interview text elsewhere is prohibited.
) We add some poodles in there for babyishness, but it has been a great room because the black and white were great for her as a newborn and it has transitioned well to the toddler room, and I think it will carry her much further (just nix the poodles) :O)
