Image Credit: Chris Hatcher/PR PhotosThere’s certainly been a lot of John Stamos around lately. Between his run on Glee as dentist Carl Howell, his uber-dark upcoming guest spot on Law & Order: SVU, and an unfortunate situation in which he found himself in the middle of the Charlie Sheen madness, he’s been hard to ignore. Luckily, Stamos is unfazed and looking forward to the next step, which, he tells EW, could include a full-time gig on television.
Before you ask, it’s likely not the show you might be thinking — as you’ll see, he declined to discuss Sheen and Two and a Half Men, at least directly. Besides, Stamos seems to have his mind on other more important matters (like brainstorming his New Year’s Eve role with Garry Marshall over dinner!), and he couldn’t be happier about it.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: So you’re a busy guy these days, but I wanted to start with Law and Order: SVU (airing May 4) because I’m excited to see you take on this dark role. (Detailed here in Spoiler Room.)
JOHN STAMOS: I love it. I’m having a good time. It’s just such a different role from me. But when you see it, you go, “Oh, that makes perfect sense.” The casting is really kind of an interesting choice to put me in there. I don’t really have to do much; I just say the lines. The girl finds out today that she has 47 children, and he looks at the actress — and it’s Lori Singer [from Footloose] – and he says “Well, I told you I love kids.” [Laughs] It’s a sick character. Again, I’ve been doing lighter stuff, Glee, and some funny stuff on Entourage this year, so it’s been really nice to get to dig into a darker character.
Speaking of Glee, after this week, when will you be back?
They don’t really tell you much.
It’s like Fort Knox over there.
Yeah. Even for me, which is fine with me. I think this week I was scheduled to be there, but was like, “I got this thing in New York.” So they were like, “Oh, no, no. Go ahead.” What I feel is that they need to wrap the story up by the end of the season. I don’t care; I love them. I love Ryan [Murphy]. Whatever they want me to do…
You’re there.
I’m there.
You’re everywhere, actually.
I’m a little bit too much everywhere right now. [Laughs] Some places I don’t want to be in, let’s put it that way.
[Laughs] Yeah.
You’re not going to get anything out of me either, I can say that. But I feel that things, at least with my involvement, has subsided. So I’m happy about that.
Anyone would be. You’re busy filming New Year’s Eve anyway, right?
I haven’t started yet. Garry [Marshall] is my showbiz godfather, you know. He’s always trying to get me to do things. Garry’s always like, “We gotta find you something.” I said, “Garry, I don’t need work. You’re my friend. I love just being with you.” [Laughs] He’s like, “No, I want you in the movie.” I don’t know what I’m doing. We went to dinner last night, I took him to The Championship Season [on Broadway], and so we were at dinner at Joe Allen’s, and we were writing my part in New Year’s Eve. So it could be anything. I don’t know what we ended up with — a makeup artist or I’m going to be on the roof playing drums at New Year’s Eve. I don’t know.
With the Beach Boys?
No, Beach Boys. No.
Damn.
I know.
Wrapping this up, you’ve definitely been around since ER went off the air, but lately you’ve just seen this resurgence. What do you attribute that to? Is it just a good time for a man of your various talents?
[Laughs] I’d like to say that it’s all premeditated. I finished ER, and I thought I wanted to do theater. So I went back to the theater. So I’ve just been laying low. Believe it or not, I’ve been turning down more stuff than I’ve done. Glee has certainly helped a lot. That put me back on people’s radar. I’ve just been ready to work again, I guess. [Laughs] And, clearly, I got dragged into a situation I had nothing to do with, so that’s one thing, I guess. The beauty is that since I don’t have a home base in television — which I will soon; I’m just zeroing in on a few things — it’s been nice to pop around and work on different shows.
So you are looking to helm a show?
I haven’t been. But the last month or two, I’ve thought it’s time to get back into it. And television has just gotten so rich. Everybody wants to be on TV now. Every movie star — well, not every movie star — but everybody’s coming to television. So I guess I’ve waited around 30 years for TV to be the place to be. So I’m looking for a place to settle down in television again.
That’s a good point. I mean, look at your fellow Glee guest star, Gwyneth Paltrow.
I think good actors are just realizing that you should go where the good material is. When I started, you were either a television star or a movie star. And I never bothered me because I was always a TV fan when I was growing up. I mean, I liked movies, and I’d go to the movies. But I grew up with television — all of Garry Marshall’s stuff, Laverne & Shirley, Mork & Mindy, [and] Bosom Buddies, Happy Days, all that stuff was part of my childhood. So I don’t really like being on location. I like having a home and having my life and having my family and friends, and I like the theater. But there’s really great stuff in television, so I think that’s why every good actor is on TV now.
It’s Garry Marshall, not Gary. The man has only been in the business for 50 years…
OH MY GOSH HOW DARE YOU!!
Fixed. Thank you.
Two r’s in Garry. Jeez Sandra! you upset this person. this is really important apparently
Zip it, Charlie. Don’t you have another trainwreck of a web broadcast to do?
Stupid name spellings don’t warrant correction.
And was Stamos implying that Garry Marshall did Bosom Buddies? Because he was not involved with that show.
Glee sounds like a clusterf**k. They don’t care if he’s there or not. No wonder Jessalyn Gilsig gets very little screentime.
Earlier this season, in John Stamos’ EW interview, it was revealed that he signed on for 7 episodes, so hopefully he will appear in all the episodes he’s signed onto.
Not one “two and a half men” question?? riveting interview.
oops… just saw. he didn’t want to chat about it. that’s what i get for jumping right to the questions.
He’s always seemed to take things with a grain of salt and keep it classy. Carl is a thankless character (as are a lot, Glee’s cast has just gotten way too big and they obviously don’t have plans for all of them), but I always like seeing him around.
John Stamos would be a much more believable “Ladies man” than charlie Sheen since he is actually a nice looking man who does not look like he is cracked out!
Stamos doesn’t use women for a punching bag either. I like him.
STAMOS WINNING!!!
I’d like to apply for the 2 and a hlaf men role to repalce Charlie Sheen. I’m 74 years old abd could play the part of a self rightious codger
Instead of taking over the Sheen role in *Two and a Half Men*, it would be better for Stamos to be found a completely new comedy property that puts his talents to optimum use.
Neither his public image (*Glee* notwithstanding) nor his real abilities fit him precisely as a replacement for Sheen, and he’d suffer in the existing show by way of comparison with his predecessor.
I like when they bring people back as an all-stars game of sorts but I ralely dislike when they mix new ones with old ones. Survivor does it all the time and this year I think too. I feel like new people are EASILY manipulated by veterans. Look at Boston Rob taking out everyone in his 4th season. This BB showed it too. Had Adam, Shelly, Kalia, and Porsche not been so easily swayed, this may have been a totally different game.