Growing up Olsen

THE FAMOUS, BUT PRIVATE, SISTERS OPEN UP ABOUT THEIR 'CHAOTIC' CHILDHOOD - AND HOW IT SHAPED THEM

- Penelope Clifton

Finding fame as infants after being cast as Michelle Tanner in Full House at just 6 months old, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen certainly didn't have what could be called a conventional childhood.

The pair spent eight seasons jointly playing the character before developing a cult following through their series of direct-to-video releases and spin-off merchandise.

“We were little monkey performers,” Mary-Kate, now 39, once admitted to Marie Claire of her and her twin sister's youth.

And that unconventionality appears to have extended to the pair's younger sister, Elizabeth, with the actress recently opening up about their “pretty chaotic” childhoods. “I was the youngest of four and we were all born within five years,” the 36-year-old told The Times.

While Elizabeth chose not to go down the same childhood star path, she still had the support of her famous sisters in her own endeavours in her early years. “[They] were forced to watch all my plays my whole life and go to my dance performances,” Elizabeth explained.