John Stamos turns the camera on for our scheduled Zoom call and he immediately begins praising his son, Billy, for being so good at his karate lessons. The Full House actor just got home after touring with the Beach Boys and is relishing the time he has with his son and wife, Caitlin McHugh. You can't help but feel the pride he has for his family, especially as he smiles wide while listing all of Billy's accomplishments.
Amid a jovial personality and a twinkle of mischief in his eye, John admits he's nervous. His new memoir, If You Would Have Told Me, just hit shelves, displaying a vulnerable side that only loved ones know about. What's more, his newest career venture comes after what, he says, has been a tough few years in his life.
"You know, I never thought I would write a book," he shares with Good Housekeeping. "It just seemed so daunting ... Well, Bob [Saget] wrote one and just talked about it every day like he won a Pulitzer Prize. I was like, 'I couldn't do that!'"
But it was actually Bob's sudden death in January 2022 that made him want to document his story on his own terms, using his personal narrative to relay anecdotes of life before fame with his mom, Loretta, and his dad, William. He also felt compelled to document the important moments that shaped his career, which included his time with Bob on- and off-screen.
As he started to detail his life on paper, John found that writing about his former co-star was harder than he anticipated it would be. As he later explained, Bob's never-faltering presence throughout the book felt painful, especially as he was grappling with the massive grief that came with losing one of his best friends.
"The second [chapter] I wrote was the day I found out Bob died," he emotionally says. "It was painful, a lot of it. You know, the word cathartic comes up a lot — I guess it was. But I'm so glad I did it. The last three or four months, I really stuck to it, because it started to take shape."
Although the 60-year-old brings up the times he spent with other friends (and TV legends) he lost, like comedian Don Rickles and famed director Garry Marshall, none played a bigger or more consistent role in his life than Bob. He became a close confidante as John struggled with sobriety (in 2015, John was sentence to three years probation for driving under the influence), the death of his parents and finding love again years after a heartbreaking public divorce from actress Rebecca Romijn.
"Sometimes I'll read [the book] and I'll go, 'Oh god, Bob would be so mad if he was alive that I said this stuff,'" he jokes of the stories he inserted about the late comic in the memoir. "But you know, it's the truth. I want to make sure that I really highlight everyday, real issues that other people are going through as well."
While there were multiple things John and Bob learned and experienced side-by-side, there was one element of life that Bob experienced first: becoming a father. When the duo met in the '80s while working on Full House, Bob was already a dad to three daughters — just like his character on the hit sitcom.
It wasn't until 2018, when John was almost 55 years old, did he and Caitlin welcome their son. John admits he felt apprehensive about the new role of fatherhood, and was concerned with not feeling a connection with his then-infant right away.
"Bob said, 'Wait until he laughs,'" he recalls when talking about the advice Bob gave him during those first few months as a new parent. "That's when I would connect with him ... and he was right."
Five years after Billy's birth, John shares how he sees Bob in his son. He laughs that Billy's sense of humor is "a little closer to Bob's" than his own, and he loves to do his own comedy bits. Despite Billy being only three-years-old when Bob passed away, John and Caitlin ensure Billy knows of his presence in his father's life.
Billy not only watches Full House, but John mentions there are pictures of him with Bob in their home. John also notes that Billy has seen him cry whenever he watches Bob on screen.
"I wrote about [a moment] where I walked in, and there was a scene of me and Bob on the show," he remarks with a chuckle. "It just made me break down and I think Billy noticed it. But he let me have my moment for a minute, and then he made fun of me."
Despite the sadness of losing loved ones along the way, John emphasizes how grateful he is to have had the chance to remember them in If You Would Have Told Me. He also emotes that above all, he hopes the memoir will be a love letter to Billy, something for him to read when he's older and wants a better understanding of his father.
"You know, [Billy] had a bigger impact on me than I realized until I wrote it," he adds with a sentimental look. "When you can't control everything — and most of the time I found that in my life anyway — it's always been for the better. "
"I hope Billy sees that I'm just like him, you know?" he concludes. "I really am."
