John Stamos Once Wanted to ‘Distance’ Himself From ‘Full House’

John Stamos hasn’t always looked back fondly at his time as Uncle Jesse on the ABC sitcom, Full House.

The 54-year-old actor revealed in an interview with PEOPLE this week that he spent years “trying to distance” himself from the show that launched him to stardom.

“For years I was really trying to distance myself from [Full House],” he said. “Then I realized, it ain’t going away, so I better embrace it.”

He adds: “It provided a really beautiful, great life for me and my family. My parents were at every show. I started [playing] with the Beach Boys.”

The actor has plenty of blessings to count. In the interview, he also talked at length about the impending birth of his first child. He and Caitlin McHugh, who got engaged this past October, announced the pregnancy on Wednesday.

“I’ll be a fun dad. I’ve been practicing for a long time,” Stamos said of the news. “I’ve done every shtick thing you can do with a baby, on TV. I’ve sang every slow Elvis song, I’ve done all the bits and jokes and diaper gags.”

He told reporters that he’s more excited to become a father than for any role as an actor. He revealed that fatherhood is one of the last goals to check off on a mental list he’s kept since he was young.

“I don’t have that fire for my career as much anymore,” Stamos said. “I can put that fire into my family. I want to become a better actor, producer, I want to do more, but I’ve done a lot for me. I had that list when I was a kid: Get on TV, a show like Happy Days; play a character like Fonzie. I’m not kidding. I’ve done it all except have a kid, so now I scratch that off.”