Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen began their career as infants, and never really slowed down.
"I wish someone would share their pancake with me."
“Here, daddy.”
In 2002, when the twins were only 16 years old, Fortune called them "the most financially
successful child stars ever."
The sisters' success was so pervasive that their team founded the production company
Dualstar in 1993, which generated $500 million in retail sales in 2001 alone.
By the early aughts, they had their own fan club, dolls, countless movies, and more.
But despite their astronomical success, the twins have pretty much disappeared in recent
years — so much so that an exhibit titled 'Olsen Twins Hiding From the Paparazzi' opened
up in New York City.
So what's this secretive duo been up to?
[Music]
Silver-screen sayonara
We first met the Olsen twins as infants when they shared the role of Michelle Tanner on
Full House from 1987 to 1995.
And while most child stars' popularity slowly fades, the opposite was true for Mary-Kate
and Ashley.
"I've been on Full House for...ever."
Before they ditched the public eye as adults, the two starred side-by-side in a handful
of feature films, made-for-TV movies, and even had their own television show, So Little
Time, from 2001 to 2002.
It wasn't long after, that Ashley worked her last big role in 2004's New York Minute.
Mary-Kate kept it going 'til 2011, appearing in a few episodes of Weeds in 2007 and finally
alongside Vanessa Hudgens in 2011's Beastly.
"So I don't know how the extras think I am in real life, because when I get those shoes
on, you know, it's a whole other story."
By 2012, the twins confirmed to Elle UK that they had pretty much retired from acting altogether.
Mary-Kate's rehab
Spending your entire childhood in the public eye isn't easy.
For Mary-Kate, weight became an issue, and she reportedly attended rehab in 2004 for
an eating disorder.
She told Marie Claire in 2010, "I think it's really important to be able to talk when something's
wrong.
I learned at a really young age that if you don't talk about it, it can drive you insane."
Fuller House pass
In 2016, Netflix rewarded Full House fans with a reunion show, Fuller House, which began
airing in February of that year.
The entire cast returned — minus the Olsen twins.
About a year before its release, Mary-Kate told WWD, "We just found out about it today."
Of course, the cast had to acknowledge their absence.
In the pilot episode, Bob Saget's Danny Tanner explained to the family…
"Well, Michelle sends her love, but she's busy in New York running her fashion empire.”
When asked about the twins not returning to the show, Dave Coulier told Entertainment
Weekly, "I think they have a different perspective.
When we get together and we reminisce, they were babies.
So they don't share those same memories."
Candace Cameron Bure had a different take, telling Glamour, "Stop asking us about Mary
Kate and Ashley!
There are no hard feelings at all...If they show up, great, but if they don't, we have
this awesome, amazing show."
All about that style
Just because Mary-Kate and Ashley aren't working in Hollywood, doesn't mean they're not working.
"And we'd like to thank our customers."
"Our customers and our, um..."
The girlbosses currently own two fashion lines, Elizabeth and James and The Row.
Ashley told Net-A-Porter, "I've always been a worker.
It has taken me a lot to figure out how to take a vacation."
As for whether or not they'll ever return to the big screen, Mary-Kate told Marie Claire
in 2010, "I still read scripts, and if something great comes along, that's great."
#Private
These days, being active on social media is everything.
But, Mary-Kate and Ashley have zero public social accounts.
Ashley told Net-A-Porter, "We don't dive into that world; we don't have Instagram or Facebook.
We've stayed quite sheltered."
And for good reason…
"What do people say to you when they come up to you?"
“Can I have your autograph, can I have your autograph?”
“Take a picture.”
The duo posted their first ever selfie in 2016, when they took over Sephora's Instagram
account to promote their Elizabeth and James line.
Hating on the fame
Back in 2002, when the twins were 16, their manager Robert Thorne told Fortune, "They
are a property now, aside from being people with a heartbeat."
In 2007, Mary-Kate told Entertainment Weekly that their career, "Wasn't about acting...It
was about entertaining a specific audience...It was about pleasing other people and making
kids smile."
But while their work was about others, it seems that the twins grew to resent how it
wasn't really about them.
In 2010, Mary-Kate made it plain when she told Marie Claire, "I would never wish my
upbringing on anyone."
Settling down
"Who was the first to get kissed?
You must have discussed this.”
“Me?”
Both Mary-Kate and Ashley are busy nurturing relationships.
In 2015, Mary-Kate married Olivier Sarkozy, the half-brother of former French President
Nicolas Sarkozy, in a very private wedding.
According to Page Six, all guests had to turn over their phones before entering, and were
also treated to "bowls and bowls filled with cigarettes."
A little more interesting than jordan almonds, right?
Family-gal Mary-Kate explained everything to Net-A-Porter in 2017, "I have a husband,
two step-kids and a life."
As for Ashley, she was most recently linked to financier Richard Sachs; but according
to Us Weekly, the couple split in March 2017 after five months of dating.
Regardless of how they fill their days now, the Olsen twins have secured a place in pop
culture — whether or not they ever decide to hop in front of the cameras again.
"But I am the cute one / She's just my sister."
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