Jodie Sweetin has come to accept – and even appreciate – the lasting recognition she receives for her iconic Full House character. 

“I will be Stephanie Tanner forever,” she tells PEOPLE exclusively. “And I've come to be really okay with that over the last 20 years.”

In an interview pegged to her latest Lifetime film, Dateless to Dangerous: My Son’s Secret Life, the 43-year-old actress reveals that reprising Tanner in the Netflix sequel series, Fuller House, not only brought personal fulfillment but also helped reignite her career.

“I kind of walked away from the business at some point in my late 20s and was working in other fields, and I was totally fine. I was happy, ” Sweetin admits. "I would've continued on that, but getting the chance to come back and do Fuller and bring Stephanie back to life was amazing and wonderful."

“It also gave me the opportunity to do other things because I think finally people were like, ‘Oh, you're an adult now,’" she adds. 

Being a former child star, Sweetin notes that even actors like Dakota Fanning, Jodie Foster, and Ron Howard faced periods where they were boxed into the roles that first made them famous. 

The Adolescence actress explains that it can take time for people to see past those early identities and recognize an actor’s full range. “For a while, people only think that you're capable of the thing that they've come to see you as," she says.

In a recent episode of Barely Famous, Sweetin told host Kailyn Lowry that she’s often called “Stephanie” by fans, and she doesn’t mind it at all.

She explained that most people grew up seeing her as the middle Tanner daughter, and she feels no resentment about the lasting association.

In fact, she’s grateful, noting that her decades-long career is possible because of the audiences' connection to her character. "I get to do what I do and continue to do it 37, 38 years later because people fell in love with Stephanie," Sweetin said. "Like, I'm not mad at that."

Since Full House came to an end in 1995, the actress has starred in multiple Hallmark movies, such as Finding Santa (2017), A Cozy Christmas Inn (2022), The Heiress and the Handyman (2024) and more.

“Our fans have been so wonderful and followed us through our whole careers,” Sweetin tells PEOPLE. “I have a really incredible fan base that's excited to see me do something different.”