Actor John Stamos first came to fame in the '80s playing Blackie Parrish on General Hospital, earning an Emmy nomination. It was ABC's Full House that made Stamos a huge star as Uncle Jesse, raising Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen with the help of Bob Saget and Dave Coulier—eventually having twins himself on the show.
Afterwards, he went on to guest-star in Friends and played a gay wedding planner on the A&E movie Wedding Wars. He became a series regular on ER in 2006. On Glee, he romanced Emma Pillsbury, and then guest-starred on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and Two and a Half Men.
Stamos continues his strong television career, now appearing on The New Normal on NBC. This Ryan Murphy-helmed hit follows the story of a gay couple attempting to adopt a baby from a surrogate single mother. Ellen Barkin is the conservative grandmother on the show and meets Stamos' character Brice during a real-estate showing. Determining if he's gay or not is part of the plot of the recent episode.
Stamos talked about gaydar and how gays have influenced his life—making his career a "new normal."
Windy City Times: Hi, John. You are now officially on the gayest show on television!
John Stamos: Wait a minute. I did Full House. I mean how much gayer ... oh, you're talking about The New Normal.
WCT: [Laughs] Yes, The New Normal. What was it like working with Ellen Barkin and Ryan Murphy?
John Stamos: Oh so good. I think it was our first show where we had to kiss. We did the read-through of the first episode and I felt like we were kind of cat-and-mousing each other. I [asked] Ryan, "What if I just grab the back of her hair and just make out?"
The whole room was silent and then everybody looked at Ryan. He said, "Oh my God. That's a great idea." Ryan likes surprises, especially when he's directing. He's very spontaneous and he loves to kind of throw out jokes and ideas. I've known him for so many years and I have a great relationship with him.
He's always been so good to me. He's also protected me in the stuff that I've done. Like he'll say, "I'm going to write you this." He always comes through for me.
I'm proud of him. I knew him before all those big shows happened. He came to me originally right after Full House with a show about three [people who] would fix marriages like Charlie's Angels—but they were hookers.
It was a little too much for me at the time. But looking back, I'm like wow, I should have done that. I know I'm probably one of five guys that say this, but he offered me Nip/Tuck and I didn't do it.
When Ellen and I started working together it was just this great chemistry, and I think it was sort of set up where I would do an episode.
WCT: What is the plot of the episode?
John Stamos: I come on and they don't know if I'm gay or straight. The truth is, nowadays, who the hell knows? Maybe it was more defined 10, 15 or 20 years ago if you were a florist or hairstylist—stereotypical crap.
WCT: Did you have instant chemistry with the cast of The New Normal?
John Stamos: Yes. They're really good. I have to be honest. I didn't watch the show a lot before. But I knew the acting was good but I didn't realize how good it was until I got down there. It's a very well run show.
It's sort of exciting because it's not like Glee that was getting ready to blast over the whole world and stuff. But there's still feel a little bit of what I felt when I jumped onto Glee, which was they have something here. They have something important to say. Ryan once again put the right people together to get the right message out.
WCT: What cracked you up on set?
John Stamos: [Co-star] NeNe [Leakes] is very funny. I've seen naturally funny people like Bob Saget, but this girl is funny.
WCT: What did you add to the character Brice?
John Stamos: There was the kiss that we put in. So I already played through the character and sort of his result and where he ends up being. I'm not gay, but this is a modern world and just because a guy wears a bracelet or is into hair processing and culture and fashion doesn't make him gay. Just as I say that my gay hairstylist walks by and goes, "Here, here!" I've never played that guy that you couldn't tell where he was at because, again nowadays—I mean it's so unfair and I think that's the point of the episode, which is that gaydar doesn't work anymore.
The rules don't apply any more. And I think that's what we were trying to get at. It was a very difficult line to walk because as it turns out he's not gay.
I had to sort of give the impression that I was but I didn't want to play into any of the stereotypical things there are that people think of gay men and women.
I wanted to get it right and, thankfully, they gave me the right amount of time. I really gave it a lot of thought because I care about it and I don't want to be flip. I don't want to be simple about it because it's not.
WCT: This could really open up some doors for you. This shows your support for the gay community that some people may not know about, and it's important.
John Stamos: I agree. When I was 18 my first publicist was gay. His name was Greg Olipolis, rest in peace. I loved that man so much and he taught me so much. I came from a very conservative Orange County where I didn't understand it growing up.
It's funny because I was at Disney World a couple weeks ago and I saw a kid that I grew up with; I guess he turned out to be gay but he had sort of a feminine thing about him, and kids would beat him up and make fun of him.
He told me this at Disney World the other day. He said, "Boy, you protected me and you said I'm just like everybody else." I don't know where I got that but I know it was solidified later when my publicist said something very simple to me that I'll never forget.
He said, "You see that girl over there." I said, "Yes." "You see that feeling you get when you think about kissing her and you get excited about talking to her or asking her on a date?" I said, "Yeah." He goes, "That's what I feel when I see a guy." I said, "Oh. Okay. I get it." And that was that.
WCT: Have you ever been mistaken for gay maybe before your were famous?
John Stamos: I'm sure Ryan could have called up another guy and got him in a few seconds but I hope I was the first call for this because I am the perfect example.
I grew up with musical theater and [I played] with puppets. I liked magic but I liked all the arts and I loved doing makeup. Halloween was my favorite time of the year. I was quite good. I was a good makeup artist. I tried out for a lot of musicals. I'm such a shitty singer. I mean later in life I guess I got a little better, but not much.
I wanted to be in musicals so bad; I studied singing and it's not my favorite thing to do. But I can sort of get through a song if it's in a musical theater setting I can play the character. I even think my father at some point thought, "Well, okay, he's gay, who cares?" So yes, I guess, I have been mistaken.
WCT: How do you stay looking so young?
John Stamos: I'm very flattered when people say that. I think good genes and, truthfully, I do take care of myself in a sense. If there's any secret, I sleep a lot. I try to go to bed early.
WCT: Now that you have been on Ryan Murphy's shows Glee and The New Normal, are you going to talk to him about being on American Horror Story?
John Stamos: I haven't, but I am going to call him right after this.
The New Normal airs every Tuesday on NBC.
