David Lipper Says He LostStep by StepRole to Sasha MitchellBecause He Looked Like He 'Would Sell More Lunch Boxes'

Mar. 15, 2025

Max; ABC Photo Archives/ABC via Getty

On a recent episode ofJodie SweetinandAndrea Barber’sFull Housere-watch podcastHow Rude, Tanneritos!, Lipper explained his circuitous route to playing Viper, and how he’d been developing a version of the character before he ever set foot on the show.

“I was a bigWelcome Back, Kotterfan as a kid,” he said. “So I tried to bring some of that into Viper and kind of some rocker version.”

David Lipper and John Stamos in ‘Full House’.ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty

ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty

“It came down to me and Sasha Mitchell for this role of Cody, the cousin who lives in the van,” he recalled. “Really, the Viper character is the way I did it. You know, the Vinnie Barbarino, baseball cap on. So, I already, like, felt really good about this kind of character that I’d been working on.”

According to Lipper, the show’s producers loved his take on the character. “They’re like, ‘Listen, Sasha’s still not here. If he doesn’t show up in five minutes, it’s yours because we absolutely love you.”

“And, at four minutes and 50 seconds, in walks Sasha Mitchell,” Lipper continued. “And he goes, ‘Dude!’ He’s like, ‘I got so lost, this place is so big!’ I’m like, ‘I’m not gonna lose to this idiot, am I?’ And like, ‘Wait a second, the character’s an idiot…’”

The show’s producers liked Mitchell’s Midwestern vibe and asked Lipper to read the part again — without the New York-Vinnie Barbarino spin he’d put on the character.

“Apparently, this went back and forth. I think maybe [famed sitcom producers Thomas L. Miller and Robert L. Boyett] themselves were at odds on it. I don’t remember,” Lipper recalled.

“Whatever happened, it took three days. And then finally, they decided to give it to Sasha. And the casting director — I’ll never forget this — told me the final decision was a marketing person who said they thought Sasha would sell more lunch boxes. And that was the end.”

David Lipper and Candace Cameron Bure in ‘Full House’.ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty

Lipper, however, went on to land what would have been a starring role alongsideGiovanni Ribisi,Hilary Swankand a very youngKaley Cuocoin a Fox sitcom pilot calledReality Check. When the network declined to move ahead with the series, Lipper says then president of Warner Bros. Television,Les Moonvessat him down for a talk.

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“He said, ‘Look, we’re fans. I’m a fan. We’re gonna put you on another show,” Lipper recalled. “And that’s when they put me onFull House.”

Lipper ultimately appeared in four episodes as Viper beforeFull Houseended in 1995. On a June episode fellowFull HousealumDave Coulier’s podcast,Full House Rewind, Lipper explained thatViper and D.J.’s love story was cut shortwhen the show was canceled ahead of its eighth season finale.

“I was slated to be her next boyfriend going on and on for the rest of the series,” Lipper told Coulier. “Until they found out they were gonna be canceled.”

source: people.com