Michael Campion: ‘Fuller House’ Has Changed Me, But It’s ‘90% Positive’
Season 4 of Netflix's nostalgia-driven series, Fuller House, is fast approaching.
Premiering on Dec. 14, the trailer for the new season promises plenty of Fuller family drama. To curb some of our anxious anticipation about this newest installment, we decided to catch up with Michael Campion, Jackson Fuller's real-life alter-ego.
Beyond giving us a tiny sneak peek into the new season, Michael also gave Sweety High some insight into the start of his acting character, his similarities to his rebellious Fuller House character and how his life has changed in the two years that he's starred in the series.
Keep scrolling to see everything he had to say!
Sweety High: So you started acting when you were pretty young, right? What first inspired you to get into that field?
Michael Campion: So I started acting when I was 5, actually. And honestly, I tried a lot of things. I was just going about seeing what I really liked, and hit theater. I was like, "Yes, this is it right here." I started with theater at this place called the Magic Curtain down here in Orlando, so that's where it all started.
To be completely honest, I was a performer even before all of that. I won this Halloween costume competition when I was like three years old. I don't even know what I was doing, I was just working it for the judges. Man, I saw a video of myself and I was like, "Yeah, okay. I can see how I got into all this." So it's just kind of natural for me.
SH: What's been your favorite role so far? Besides Jackson.
MC: To be completely honest, I really haven't done a bunch of stuff, but I think I had the most fun on a short film called Bike. I got to go out to Atlanta for two weeks. It was the apocalypse and I was this one kid that was just trying to survive on my own, and that was a lot of fun to shoot. I'm not necessarily sure if that's my favorite character to play—Jackson is for sure because I have a lot of fun with Jackson—but for my favorite shoot besides Fuller House, definitely Bike.
SH: When you found out you'd been cast for Fuller House, how did you feel?
MC: Oh my goodness. I need to tell you this story. I auditioned like four or five times before they called me out to L.A. On the 4th audition I was already self-taping another, completely different audition when they said, "Hey, we need to do this audition right now." Like, right this second. So I put it on tape, and then two hours later, they called us and said, "Okay, we want you to come out to L.A."
So they flew me out to L.A. the next day. It was my final audition and I was in the room with just one other person. It was honestly such a shock because we had just arrived, it was only my 3rd time in L.A. and we just got off the plane, so we had all of our bags with us in the lobby. It was very nerve-racking.
After a couple hours of waiting, they said to the other kid, "Hey, you can head home, but Michael we want to tell you about your (quote unquote) 'hotel information.' " It was just all a ruse. Then they took me into this room with all the Netflix producers and executives and everyone and they actually filmed it. I don't have the tape, but they filmed my reaction to them telling me that I got on the show. I started crying and it was great. It was actually a lot of fun.
SH: What's been your favorite moment on the show so far?
MC: 100% my favorite thing from the entire show was going to Japan. That was just… that was crazy. We went to Japan for two weeks. We filmed an episode there. And it was, let me tell ya, that was about the coolest thing I've done in my life because it's just a culture shock, you know? It was amazing because we did stuff all as a cast, and had some really great experiences. We went to Disney there, we went to all the historical monuments and museums and some really cool shows that they have. So yeah, for sure Japan.
SH: How would you say you relate to Jackson?
MC: I relate to Jackson in a lot of ways, actually. He's very clumsy at times, and I'm definitely clumsy all the time. He's just a teenage boy going through a lot of typical teenage problems, so I guess of lot of teenage boys can relate to him in that way. But me more specifically because, you know, I'm actually playing that character.
SH: How would you say that you're different from him?
MC: I would say that Jackson is a little bit impulsive. Like he just kind of does things because he thinks it's fun. I'm definitely a very organized, logical thinker. I won't do things unless I've triple-checked it. And I get that from my dad. My dad does that all the time. So yeah, I think that's the main difference. A lot of things Jackson does I probably wouldn't do.
SH: So has your life changed since starting the show? Has it been a big adjustment or is it pretty much the same?
MC: It's definitely been a big adjustment, but it's a great adjustment. I mean, I wouldn't ask for anything more—this is amazing. I obviously have to take pictures with fans who come up to me and recognize me, which is a lot of fun. I love taking pictures with fans because I know how I feel if I meet someone I really like and they're nice to me, and that just makes my day. So I'm glad that I can make other people's day just by existing, you know? So that's kind of cool. Yeah, a lot of changes, but a good 90% positive. There've been very little negative changes.
SH: What would you consider the negative changes?
MC: I mean, the fact that we have to move every time we go out there. It's very expensive and moving is not fun. And not really being with my friends down here in Florida. I mean, I have friends out in California as well, but it's just very bittersweet. I want to be close to my California friends and my Florida friends, but it's just hard when you're going back and forth, so that's a little bit of a struggle.
SH: Obviously you can't talk too much about the new season, but can you give us a tiny hint of what we might expect?
MC: A lot of changes in this one. Positive changes, for sure. I feel like Jackson's becoming his own, new character. He's really stepped up since Season 3 and gone through a lot of changes. As for the other characters, I think the biggest stuff is around the three girls. If I were to pick out specific plots, that would kind of give away too much, but it's coming out soon, so you'll see in a couple weeks.
Wonder where you might fit into the Fuller House universe? Click HERE to take our quiz to find out which Fuller House girl you are.