Exclusive: Catching Up with Christine Lakin on her Step by Step Past and New Venture Lovin’ Lakin
It has been just about a decade and a half since Step by Step went off the air, and yet for a select demographic, that is the project for which series star Christine Lakin may always be best known. Refreshingly, though, she embraces it fondly and was even willing to walk down memory lane with Snakkle. You can check out Lakin's new web series, Lovin' Lakin on Hulu starting July 16. By Danielle TurchianoSnakkle: We have to start by saying you have one of the best Twitter bios we’ve ever seen. It’s so nice to see actors in your position so willing to talk about past roles.
Christine Lakin: Thank you. You know, I own whatever that experience was. It doesn’t mean it’s who I am now necessarily; it’s not that I’m, like, thriving or reveling in the memories every day of long-gone days of Step by Step, but it was a great part of my life, and I’m happy that people still enjoy it.
Snakkle: Do you remember your audition for Step by Step? What was that process like for you as such a young actor?
Lakin: I was living in Atlanta, and this woman had come and seen me in a production, and she gave my mother her card and said she was an agent. And my mom was like ‘Yeah, right, you’re an agent.’ But they communicated back and forth and became friends, and my mom decided, about a year later during my spring break, ‘Hey, you only live once’ so we were going to take a trip out to L.A. and meet the agent and see what comes of it…So she took us to the set of Full House where her daughter worked—her daughter was Candace Cameron—and she pulled some strings and said ‘They’ll film you on the set.’ I was thrilled because I was a huge fan! And I had this really dramatic monologue [because] I was always, for whatever reason, able to cry on cue; that was like my “kid actor trick.” So the monologue was intense, and I cried, and they filmed me, and we got it on tape, and I got to get a picture with John Stamos, and I was so excited; he kissed me on the cheek, and I never wanted to wash it again! So a few months go by, and this just goes to show you how small the world is—sometimes they say success is when preparation and opportunity meet, and I firmly believe that. It’s what they call a “break.” And sometimes it just is that. The producer of Full House was the same producer for Step by Step, and he was watching us in the control room…So they were looking to cast this show, and they saw audition after audition, and they hire a girl; they fire a girl; they are S.O.L. It is literally three days before the pilot, and they’ve got nobody. And Bob Boyett remembers ‘Who was the girl when I was on set—who’s that girl? Find her.’
Snakkle: All from such a dramatic monologue where you were crying! Who knew that would lead you to a sitcom!?
Lakin: Yeah, I get this phone call that’s like ‘Hey, can you be here in L.A. tomorrow for an audition?’ I was literally like ‘Yeah, right!’ I thought it was the funniest thing I had ever heard? Who flies across the country for an audition? But the only way I can say it happened was I was an only child, and my father traveled a lot, so he had the miles, and he came home and said, ‘You know, it’s a great opportunity. They really like you, and I think you should just go do it. Why not? You’ll get to tell your grandkids about it, and you’ll have fun.’
Snakkle: Looking back on some of the episodes of Step by Step now, do you find you’re super critical of yourself or your then-acting abilities?
Lakin: I think as actors we’re all always super critical of ourselves! But I was such a small child for so much of it that it brings back, more so than anything, nostalgia. I hadn’t seen it for a really long time. It was playing for a while on TV, and my boyfriend TiVoed my name in, but I was like ‘We can’t have this because we’re going to have 1800 Step by Steps by the end of the week; we’ll have no room left!’…But I was back home over Thanksgiving, and my mom, for whatever reason, someone hadn’t seen the show, and she broke out an episode. It was pretty funny, watching it back. First of all, I was like ‘Oh my God, I’m so green!’ Second of all, I was so young! And third of all, there were parts I had forgotten about…It’s almost like watching these odd home movies.
Snakkle: But do you see the appeal for fans today who grew up with the show to still watch it in reruns or on DVD?
Lakin: There aren’t that many sitcoms today, and yeah, you could say [ours] is a little dated, in terms of the clothes or the things we thought were funny, but I still do think it’s a really sweet show, and I do get a kick out of it.
Snakkle: When Step by Step was on-air, you guys were in all of those Teen Beat and Big Bopper magazines so fans could rip out your photos and tape them on their walls and in their lockers. Who were some of your celebrities crushes?
Lakin: Oh, get ready for this. I have these notes I sent my girlfriends in, like, fifth grade talking about my TV crushes. You’re going to die: Neil Patrick Harris…I thought he was so cute! And also, Fred Savage. Just because of The Wonder Years. And of course Michael J. Fox because I always seemed to like the funny, little, cute, witty thing. I loved that. Which is so weird. But then I remember meeting [Jeremy] Jackson from Baywatch, and I had a total crush on him! We met at some event, and I have this picture with him, and I would, like, salivate over him. I was thirteen, crushing on boys, so they were definitely some of my big ones.
Be sure to check out amazing pics of Christine from her personal photo albums, including incredible shots of her hanging out with a young Jennifer Love Hewitt, Keri Russell, Katherine Heigl and more!
Bonus! Christine also has an incredible new blog and live show called Worst Audition Ever. See our exclusive clip from WAE of Boy Meets World star Danielle Fishel’s nightmare horror film audition.
UPDATE: Christine’s new show <i>Lovin’ Lakin</i> premieres on Hulu on July 16th.