Grown Up Joey Lawrence Kept the 'Y' -- Here's Why

By Nicki Gostin Posted Jul 26th 2010 04:01PM

You can almost establish how old someone is by when they first laid eyes on Joey Lawrence. In the '80s, he was adorable Joey Donovan on 'Gimme a Break,' co-starring the late, great Nelle Carter. The following decade, he was long-haired teen heartthrob Joey Russo on 'Blossom.' A few years ago, he made America go "Whoa!" yet again when he placed third on 'Dancing With the Stars.' And next month he'll be starring opposite Melissa Joan Hart in the ABC Family sitcom 'Melissa & Joey.' Unsurprisingly, his character -- a male nanny or "manny" -- is also named Joey.

PopEater talked to the affable star about his new show, his enduring career and his rationale for sticking with Joey rather than changing it to the more mature Joe or Joseph.

So 'Melissa & Joey' exists because of a TV movie, right?
Exactly. Melissa and I did a movie together [2009's 'My Fake Fiance'] that did huge numbers and then we developed a TV show that sort of used the chemistry we had on the movie but obviously a completely different scenario. The network fell in love with the pilot, picked us up and we're on our way.

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Joey Snapshots

Joey Lawrence and his daughter Charli attend a birthday party for Melissa Joan Hart's son, Mason. The former teen stars have a new sitcom on ABC Family called ... 'Melissa & Joey.' More pics >>

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Joey Lawrence Snapshots

LOS ANGELES, CA - JUNE 13: Joey Lawrence attends the 21st annual "A Time For Heroes" celebrity picnic at the Wadsworth Theater on June 13, 2010 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Noel Vasquez/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Joey Lawrence

Joey Lawrence Snapshots

LOS ANGELES, CA - JUNE 13: Actor Joey Lawrence arrives at the 21st A Time For Heroes Celebrity Picnic sponsored by Disney to benefit the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric Aids Foundation held at Wadsworth Great Lawn on June 13, 2010 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation) *** Local Caption *** Joey Lawrence

Joey Lawrence Snapshots

HOLLYWOOD - APRIL 22: Actor Joey Lawrence arrives at the Us Weekly Hot Hollywood Style Issue celebration held at Drai's Hollywood at the W Hollywood Hotel on April 22, 2010 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Joey Lawrence

Joey Lawrence Snapshots

You play an ex-stockbroker who lost everything in a Ponzi scheme. Do you invest in stocks?
No. I'm not a big stock market guy, even though I'm a big free market fan. I've dabbled a little bit, but I'm kind of a much more financially conservative guy.

Isn't it nice that people adore you after all these years in the business?
For sure! I've been around for a long time. The cool thing is I'm only 34.

By Hollywood standards you're up around 100. I remember when you were a little guy with a bowl haircut.
Yeah, this is sort of my third career. When I was really little, a 5 to 8 year old, I was popular, then sort of extremely popular as a 16 to 22 year old and now I'm resurging again.

You never changed your name to Joe Lawrence, a la Ricky/Rick Schroder.
I never did that. I don't know why people do it. It just feels very forced and fake to me. It's like, "Okay, I'm grown up now, so I'm going to drop the 'y' from my name." If you're going to grow up then for God's sake just grow up.

You were a wildly-popular child star and (surprise!) no arrests.
I love what I do because of the work. It allows me to do it and it gives me financial freedom to take care of my family and my mom. I don't do it for the narcissistic reasons -- because I feel like I'm famous or I feel like I can get into a club without waiting in line. It's always been about the work for me. I feel lucky and blessed that I could make the kind of money I could make, doing what I love and having the opportunity to do it, especially when there are so many other people out there dying to do it. As long as you keep that perspective, you realize what it's all about.

When you were on 'Blossom' you must have had a million girls chasing you.
It was pretty crazy. We had autograph signings with 20,000 people. Literally, it's not me throwing out a number. They would be unclothing in front of your eyes and whistling your way. You'd get bras and panties thrown at you. Pretty incredible stuff.

Speaking of girls chasing you ... didn't you date Katherine Heigl?
Well, that was rumored. We hung out a bit.

She seems sort of, um, difficult. Am I right?
[Laughs] I haven't known her for a long time. She's getting a rap of late of being quite difficult. I can't confirm or refute that because I haven't spent a lot of time with her. But we were just kids back then. I didn't know her outside of hanging out. One-on-one she was cool.

You're Italian. Can you make a good pasta sauce?
Yeah, yeah of course! Though we call it gravy.

You have two kids with wife Chandie Yawn-Nelson. Are you a strict dad?
I am. I was taught by my grandfather [that] you don't want to be their best friends, you want to be their parent. Sometimes you have to do it with a heavy hand and they will learn to respect and appreciate that as they grow up. I'm a pretty strict dad.

'Melissa & Joey' debuts August 17 on ABC Family.

Tags: joey lawrence, melissa and joey

Comments

(38)

Monday 26 July

By Lori

Highest Rank Vote down Vote up Report this

He sounds like a really great guy.....enjoyed the article. Whoever raised him (Mom, grand father?) did a great job. Wish him and Melissa good luck with their show.

By batsale46

Lowest Rank Vote down Vote up Report this

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p a y p a l Accept,Door to Door

really great guy.....enjoyed the article. Whoever raised him (Mom, grand father?) did a great job. Wish him and Melissa good luck with their show

Tuesday 27 July

By lotttalove

Great article. It's nice to read about positive actors in Hollywood, especially one who grew up in the Hollywood system but was not tainted by it.

Sunday 01 August

By Seakinyounger

OOOPS! I almost forgot to report the spam...:-)
Always enjoyed your work Joey...Keep it up! :-)

By kel

So much for the premise of the article. I have seen his name listed in credits as "Joseph Lawrence" MANY times.

By Akuin

That is because his name is Joseph Lawrence. his nick name is Joey, just like Ricky is a nickname, it's still a valid article. While his name is Joseph, everyone knows him as Joey. so the Article is again still valid. All it's saying is that he's never going to be Joe Lawrence, only Joey to people.

By Angelaontherloose

He's still a good looking dude but not as sexy as he was. Niether am I so what the heck. Good luck Joey.

By WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG

High Rank Vote down Vote up Report this

OMG girl how can you say that. He is at his sexiest ever.........

Monday 02 August

By Brenda Walsh

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He's also got a lot less body hair too. Look at the two pics of him as a teeneager and as a metrosexual. He's shaving his chest, tweezing/waxing his eyebrows, has some weirdly trimmed goatee stubble going on, not to mention his hair. He's trying to look like Justin Timberlake. Yuck.

By Frank Casino

I took Joeys prom photo. Still have the negative if he would want it it is his just contact me at my E-Mail address.

By RJ

He sounds like something rarely seen in Hollywood... a true GROWN UP.

By oommma

Love, love, love Joey Lawrence. I'll watch absolutely anything he's in. Always have...always will. It just seems like he has such a good and positive spirit. Not something you can fake. No he's not as hot as he used to be he's hotter!

By Ronn

For the life of me, I cant understand how you guys call spaghetti sauce "gravy". That is soooo crazy. Gravy is something you put in mashed potatoes or turkey and things like that. Iam 100% Italian and I still cant understand this gracy thing. Actually, its kinda revolting and demeaning to our culture.

By robert

Um.... get a life.

By Right

Gravy is something that is made from the renderings of meat. Sauce is not.

By Nacole

he is still hot

By non ya business

He is still one SMOKIN piece of man!!

Loser. I've never seen so much "manscaping" on a guy's face in my life...he looks like a painted Ken doll with those waxed eyebrows and glossed lips! I guess he doesn't have much of a hairline to work with but still he could try to look less feminine...he reminds me of Sinead O'Connor.

By WTF

I see somebody who is extremely jealous. You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. He's got the handsome good looks, who cares if he waxes his eyebrows or not. 99% of hollywood actors do. He is one gorgeous hunk of man.

By klkkd2

I have been in love with Joey Lawrence for years, every since Gimme a Break. It is so nice to hear about a child star who grew up and didn't go to jail or rehab. I wish him the best in all future pursuits.

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