Joey Lawrence reveals his real surname and regrets that he and his brother changed it
Joey Lawrence And brothers Matthew Lawrence and Andrew Lawrence surprised fans when they revealed their true surnames.
On Friday, Joey, 48, Matthew, 45 and 37, Andrew, whose legal surname is Mignogana, appeared on the 90s Con panel.
“It was my middle name,” Joey was born to Joseph Lawrence Mignogana. Entertainment Weekly. “So I was named after my grandfather, who was by my father and father’s side. And in the early ’80s it was like, ‘No one can pronounce mignona, that’s not what people call it.’ ”
Joey Lawrence revealed that his true surname is Mignogana. (Getty)
“That’s what’s been celebrated today,” continued the “Flower” star. “In the 80s, it was like, ‘We need to water this. There’s a silent GS.’
Joey Lawrence believes he is protecting him during “very vulnerable moments” as a child star
“Because you spell our last name (Mignogna) like Filet Mignon,” Joey added. “So they were like, ‘Let’s call him Joey Lawrence.’ That’s what they did. ”
“It just makes sense,” Joey said. For Matthew Andrew uses the fake surnames of their siblings when they follow in his footsteps and start working as a child actor in Hollywood.
Matthew shared the view that the trio’s parents, Joseph and Donna Mignogana, also saw the advantage of providing children by using different surnames.
The “Blossom” star brothers, Matthew and Andrew, also began using Joey’s fake surnames when they were child actors. (Gerard Mora/Getty Images)
“I think my parents are wisely (I knew) too. You can hide behind them in front of the internet.
“Some people may check it out in the old fashioned way, but it’s going to be very difficult to find us,” he added. “That was great.”
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but, Brothers They now agreed that they would not use Lawrence as their last name in place of Mignogana.
“In the early ’80s, they said, ‘No one can pronounce Mignogna, that’s not what people call it.’ ”
“It would have been easy,” Andrew said. “It’s really a pain in the ass. Honestly, I have two names. You have to prove both people.”
The trio shared their regrets about changing their names. (Barry King/Getty Images)
Matthew explained that the name change had difficulty.
“Now I’m just stuck under two different names and can’t travel internationally,” he said. “For a while, the government recognized me as Matt Lawrence because I paid taxes from when I was a toddler up to 18 years old.
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“But really, my name is Matthew William Mignona,” added Matthew. “So when I grew up and used my real name on my passport, there was absolutely no correlation. I didn’t exist.”
Joey, Matthew and Andrew played brothers in the sitcom “Brotherly Love.” (Albert Ortega)
Joey began his career in 1981 when he appeared in a Cracker Jack commercial at the age of five. He made a breakthrough when he appeared on the hit NBC sitcom Gimme a Break! From 1983 to 1987. When Joey became a teenage idol in the 90s and played Joey Russo, the older brother of Blossom Russo (Mayim Biikik), On the hit NBC series “Blossom.”
Matthew was three years old when he began acting after being cast in the hit melodrama “Dynasty.” In the 90s, he appeared in many television shows and films, including playing Robin Williams’ son Chris in 1993’s “Mrs. Dowkfire” as Jack Hunter in “Boy Meets World.”
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Andrew also entered the entertainment industry at the age of three, performing a younger version of his brother Joey in “Blossom.” He later announced the protagonist of TJ Detweiler in the 90s animation sitcom “Recess,” in the 2001 feature film “Recess: School’s Out” and two video-to-video films.
Joey, Matthew and Andrew starred together as the Roman brothers in the comedy “brotherhood” for two seasons, from 1995 to 1997.
The trio is currently holding a “Brotherly Love Podcast,” released in 2023.