Originally appeared on E! Online
Lori Loughlin is living in the moment.
It's been five years since the "Full House" alum's involvement in the 2019 college admissions scandal, and in that time she's kept a decently low profile. Now, in her first major interview since news of the scandal broke, Loughlin reflected on growth and how she's doing today.
"I'm kind and I'm strong," she told "First For Women" for an April 26 feature. "And open — open to life, open to experiences. And I'm grateful. So I'd say I'm strong, grateful, open and kind."
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The 59-year-old also shared her thoughts on overcoming biggest challenges.
"As an actress, I hear 'no' a lot, so I just have to be myself and persevere and try not to let in negativity," she explained. "My advice is to just keep moving forward. Everyone has good times and bad times. That's life. I think you just have to pick yourself up. Nobody said life was going to be a breeze. There's beauty in life, but there's also hardship in life."
And while Loughlim didn't address the scandal directly, she did voice her opinion on forgiveness.
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"I try to be a forgiving person," she said. "I'm not one to hold onto stuff. Stuff happens to everyone. We've all been in positions to ask for forgiveness but to ask for it, you have to learn and know how to give forgiveness, too."
In fact, forgiveness was a key element of how she was raised.
"My family wasn't one to hold grudges," the "When Calls The Heart" alum continued, "I didn't grow up in a household where if you made a mistake, you weren't forgiven. No one is perfect, we all make mistakes. So I was always told to let stuff go. And I think for your own health, you have to let things go because you can't hang on to negativity. Life's too short."
In 2019, Loughlin and her husband Mossimo Giannulli pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges for securing admission to the University of Southern California for their two children, Olivia Jade and Bella Giannulli, as part of the school's crew team, despite the fact that neither daughter was a rower.
Loughlin ultimately served two months in jail, paid a $150,000 fine and completed 150 hours of community service, while her husband Giannulli was sentenced to five months, a $250,000 fine and 250 hours of community service.
And though she didn't speak to her part in the scandal — which ultimately charged forty people for their involvement, including fellow actress Felicity Huffman — in her interview, Loughlin did recently poke fun at the situation, and herself, during a guest appearance on "Curb Your Enthusiasm"'s final season.
In the March 10 episode, Loughlin plays a real-life version of herself who star Larry David helps to secure admission to a country club — a feat she was having trouble with having been blacklisted due to the scandal — only to discover this TV version of Loughlin is as bad as people say. The meta episode sees TV Loughlin cheat on the golf course, bribe her way into better tee times and lie to receive handicap privileges.
"This was an idea that we loved from a writer named Teddy Bressman," "Curb Your Enthusiasm" writer Jeff Schafer told The Hollywood Reporter. "But it's not going to be funny with some sort of thinly veiled surrogate. It only works if we get Lori. So we called her manager up, who loved it, and who then talked to Lori, and she said, ‘I'm in, I'm totally game.' And she was."
"She was so great," he added. "Everything we threw at her, she was game to do. She makes the episode. I'm so glad she wanted to do it."
