Former ‘Full House’ Star Describes Life as a ‘Recovering Child Actor’

A former Full House star is opening up about his life in the spotlight.

Blake McIver Ewing, who recurred on the TGIF sitcom as Michelle’s friend Derek S. Boyd, described himself as a “Recovering Child Actor” in his Instagram bio.

He appeared on a recent episode of Jodie Sweetin and Andrea Barber’s Full House rewatch podcast, How Rude, Tanneritos!, where they discussed the tough transition from child star to adulthood. Sweetin and Barber pointed out the Instagram bio, with Sweetin saying they can “all relate to.” Ewing admitted that people ask him 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. You know, I was lucky that I wanted to do it. “My parents didn’t push me into it.”

“But it’s so funny because you become a teenager, you become, you know, an adolescent, and it doesn’t matter,” Ewing continued. “There is still a there is still a life learning curve. And so that it’s really more about that. It’s like we recover in our own way.”

“Sort of the recovery, you have to, there’s a whole extra layer of getting through that, that thing of being known as something for a child,” Sweetin added. “Most people don’t have to, like, shake off, you know, a career at 13. You know, I’d be like, ‘Who am I now?’ I always said it like it’s at the time when you’re really trying to figure out who you are anyway. And now you’re pretending to be somebody else. But other people think you’re this.”

“Absolutely. It is an identity crisis of a sort,” said Ewing. “And I always try to explain to people, you know, when you have your mid-career crisis at like 18.”

Ewing, Sweetin, and Barber bonded over having to find their identity, of sorts, when they were still young and went through a “quarter-life crisis” while still a teenager. Along with Full House, Ewing was also known for The Little Rascals, Tom and Huck, Minor Adjustments, Recess, and Hey, Arnold! He also reprised his role as Derek for Fuller House’s series finale in 2020. While he doesn’t seem to have any regrets about his life as a child actor, stressing that it was something he wanted to do, he still had trouble finding who he really was as he got older, and still seems to be struggling. It’s certainly not uncommon.