Candace Cameron Bure has opened up about her experiences growing up on the set of Full House, especially concerning an episode focused on her character D.J. Tanner’s weight insecurities.
Cameron Reflects on Growing Up in the Spotlight
On Boy Meets World rewatch podcast Pod Meets World, Bure detailed the peculiar experience of growing up with viewers intensely focused on her appearance. I was always the chubby-cheeked girl and a lot of people loved that I was,” she said. “And I can look back and go like, I was just a normal, average girl. And yet you meet people and they’re like, ‘You’re so much thinner in person.
Bure admitted that she felt the weight of these observations keenly, especially during her teenage years: Of course, as a teenager, you feel that insecurity whether you’re on television or not. It gets magnified when you are, so those ages were a little bit more awkward for me.
The Impact of a Memorable Episode
Bure recalled the fourth season of Full House, especially the episode titled “Shape Up,” where D.J. embarks on a crash diet to avoid wearing a bathing suit at a pool party. In a dramatic scene, D.J. faints at the gym due to malnutrition.
The producers took care to ensure Bure’s comfort with the storyline;I was like, ‘Yeah, sure.’ But when you’re in it and doing it, it feels a little awkward,” she explained. This episode resulted in significant discussions but also led to personal changes for Bure; by the next season, she had lost 20 pounds. The producers found it noteworthy enough to include a scene in which she’s on an exercise bike in the opening credits.
Fishel’s Experience in Comparison
Boy Meets World actress Danielle Fishel shared her own story about how weight was addressed on her show. Unlike Bure’s experience, Fishel noted that showrunners didn’t check with her before incorporating the storyline into an episode titled “She’s Having My Baby Back Ribs.”
I remember thinking, ‘Wow, these people think I’ve gained enough weight [that they] have to write an entire episode about my weight gain,’” Fishel remarked. At the time, she was aware she had gained weight but said,
I was still a size four.” She also recounted that aside from her own weight gain, co-star Will Friedle’s weight was highlighted similarly.
The divergent approaches and experiences of these two actresses reveal much about how shows handled adolescent appearance issues in different ways during that era.
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