Andrea Barber played Kimmy Gibbler, the quintessential neighbor and sidekick with clashing wardrobe choices, on the TV show and streaming series Full House

Synopsis

Full Circle details Barber’s career as a child actor playing Carrie Brady on Days of Our Lives. When that role ended, she was cast as Kimmie Gibbler on Full House which ran on ABC from 1987 until 1995. Unlike many child stars her job as an actor did not define her and she had almost a normal childhood, attending class in the morning and acting in the afternoon.

After Full House ended Barber easily segued into college life and academic administration before becoming a full time parent. Though unlike ‘Full House’  life did not always come with easy resolutions, and she discusses in honest detail her battles with depression and anxiety and divorce from her husband. The book ends with her coming back to acting on the reboot ‘Fuller House’ and the culture shock that occurred after being away from Hollywood for over a decade.

Most Shocking Revelation

Andrea had an internship at the United Nations in college. Definitely against type for the person who played a quirky character.

Is it Worth Your Time

Barber wrote the book to connect herself to readers and she achieves this. Unsurprisingly Full Circle was very well written, Barber was an English major after, with a conversational format as if she never strained to find the topic to write about.

Overall the book is a straightforward memoir that gives an account of an actor who has some fame, but manages to keep her feet planted in reality. In a poignant section Barber opens up about battles with anxiety in a way that does not make it seem like she is clamoring over the ailment of the week. For a veteran actor who has played the same character for over a decade it could be easy for Barber to have become apathetic to the character of Kimmie Gibbler. However, she presses the reader to not just remember her for a quirky character, but to help them understand why it matters that the oddball is played with a human touch, and to demonstrate for others that it is ok to dance to the beat of their own drum.

Photo Credit: Kensington Publishing Corp.