Mary-Kate Olsen and Ashley Fuller Olsen, also known as the Olsen twins, gained fame at just six months old for playing the role of Michelle Tanner on the popular 90s TV show Full House. They have an older brother, Trent Olsen, younger sister, Elizabeth Olsen and two younger half-siblings, Taylor and Jake from their father’s second marriage.
The Olsen twins had a pretty successful acting career until Mary-Kate got tired of it. Her last film with her twin was in 2004. Ashley continued acting independently until 2012 when they both officially retired as actresses to focus on fashion. This was not necessarily a bad thing because younger sister Elizabeth picked up where they left off. She is now a prominent actress and has no intention of slowing down.
Since the Olsens lived an open book for the better part of their childhood, we may think that we know all there is to know about them, but not quite. Here are 15 lesser-known facts about the Olsen twins and their younger sister Elizabeth growing up.
1. They Got Their First Role By Fluke
Mary-Kate and Ashley landed their first role as Michelle Tanner purely by accident. According to lingq.com, when the twins were just six months old, their mother Jarnette heard her friend’s agency was looking for twins for a casting role and she sent the agency, her daughters’ photo. Soon, the girls were auditioned and they got the role, however, they had to share the role due to strict child labor laws.
2. Their Fame Led To Their Parents’ Divorce
A year after Full House ended, the twin’s parents announced their divorce. It seems they were losing both their first and second families within their role ending and their parents splitting. According to nickiswift.com, each parent had conflicting opinions on how to keep the girls’ financial success going which led them to constantly fight and bicker and eventually they divorced.
3. Mary-Kate Is Not Fond Of Her Childhood
Since Full House, the twins acting career started progressing, they were moving from set to set taking on different roles leaving no time to be just kids. It is easy to look at their childhood and admire them, but they never had time for other things like playing outside or even attending prom, they were constantly working. According to screenrant.com, Mary-Kate refers to that time as “little monkey performers” however she would not take it back.
4. Actor John Stamos Got Them Fired
While the Olsen twins won over the Full House producers. Actor John Stamos was lobbing to get them replaced. According to eonline.com, John felt it took too long to get a scene done because they were constantly crying. They auditioned other kids but they didn’t work and the Olsen twins were rehired.
5. They Became The Youngest Producers Of All Time
Normally, producers have to build years of experience acting, overseeing storylines, and even auditioning actors. This was not the case for the Olsen twins. According to thetalko.com, they became producers at just six years old when their parents opened for them their own production company, Dualstar Entertainment Group. The company produced most of their childhood movies.
6. They Sometimes Wore Fake Teeth On The Full House Set
Mary-Kate and Ashley are fraternal twins who look a lot alike but they are not clones. Therefore, they lost their baby teeth at different times. This was a problem because producers wanted their teeth to match in their subsequent scenes, as they played one character. As Lingq.com reveals they had to be fitted with dentures to make sure their teeth matched.
7. First Set Of Twins To Get A Walk Of Fame Star
When they turned 18, the Olsen twins became the very first set of twins to share a star as well as the youngest to receive one as screenrant.com reports. Prior to that, singer Jimmy Boyd was the youngest performer to be honored with a star at just 20 years old. There are still no other twins sharing a star to date.
8. They Started Their Fashion Empire As Kids
The Olsen twins currently own a billion-dollar fashion line company. However, what you don’t know is that they did not start building it after they retired from acting. They started as kids. According to thetalko.com, they learned to love fashion from all the designer clothes they wore on Full House and as teenagers, they started selling branded merchandise like t-shirts, baseball caps, clothes, shoes, fragrances, and purses.
9.They Missed Some Milestone Due To Work
Since the Olsen twins worked a lot during their childhood, they missed some milestones growing up one of them was prom. As thetalko.com reveals, they could not attend their prop because they were already booked to host Saturday Night Live that same night. Obviously, some of the downside of being child stars.
10. Their Careers After Full House Were Not So Successful
After the success of their role on Full House, the twins ventured out to other acting roles. Unfortunately, things were not as successful as their parents hoped. The first films did well but as they progressed, shows like Mary-Kate and Ashley in Action! and So Little Time were canceled after one season as nickiswift.com reports. Fortunately, it was just a bumpy ride and things got better thereafter.
11. Elizabeth Olsen: Started Acting In Her Sisters’ Film
When Elizabeth Olsen was born, she found her sisters already acting and when she turned four, she followed suit. According to screenrant.com, she debuted her acting career in the film Martha Marcy May Marlene and then in the horror film Silent House. The former did not do so well, however, she received a lot of praise for her performance, which propelled her to fame.
12. Elizabeth Olsen: She Wanted To Be A Dancer
As a child, Elizabeth wanted to be a dancer but unfortunately, her sister’s fame got in the way. As thetalko.com reveals, she was enrolled for dancing lessons, which led her to become a very talented ballerina. Unfortunately, she was not able to keep up with her classes because her parents were always attending to the older sisters’ obligations and therefore she was kicked out.
13. Elizabeth Olsen: Used A Different Name In School
When Elizabeth was young, she did not like all the fame that came with her family name. Therefore, to keep a low profile in high school, she never used her Olsen name; instead, she went by Elizabeth Chase which was her real middle name as moms.com reports. Even though she has a successful career today, Elizabeth still prefers a low-key life.
14. Elizabeth Olsen: Wasn’t Sure Acting Was Her Thing
Elizabeth co-starred in six films from her sisters’ production company. Her acting career was slowly picking up and she wanted to follow in her sisters’ footsteps but she was not too sure if acting was her thing. According to thetalko.com, she auditioned for the role of Carmen in Spy Kids and was glad she didn’t get it. She eventually stopped acting to focus on school. However, one of her biggest roles she has played so far is in the Avengers films; she is the superhero called Scarlet Witch.
15. Elizabeth Olsen: Nearly Quit Acting Entirely
After taking a break, Elizabeth was not too sure about returning to acting and the media frenzy surrounding Mary-Kate’s eating disorder made it worse. The siblings could not step out without paparazzi constantly on their faces. According to eonline.com, she wasn’t sure about fame anymore and wanted to quit acting entirely. Fortunately, she changed her mind and with older sisters to advise her, she has been able to keep things going great.
