Child Star Christine Lakin Recounts How She Got ‘Step by Step’ Role: ‘Find the Kid From That Tape’

Christine Lakin is remembering the fateful decision that led her to join the cast of  Step by Step.

Speaking on the Tuesday, Dec. 2 episode of the Hey Dude… The 90s Called! podcast, Lakin, 46, recalled how she was a child actress in Atlanta who had a knack for certain skills.

“My show pony tricks were, I have almost a photographic memory for dialogue and then being able to cry on cue,” Lakin said.

In 1990, she and her mom took a trip to Los Angeles to meet with a manager and record a demo tape to send it to auditions. As luck would have it, an executive producer named Robert Boyett happened to be walking by as she was filming her tape.

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.  

“So I did this monologue from [1984 film] Irreconcilable Differences. It’s the one where Drew Barrymore’s on the stand, and she’s divorcing her parents,” Lakin explained. “And so they taped it, and so we got it on tape and all that. Anyway, unbeknownst to me, I’m doing this monologue and in the control booth — cause we did it on a set as, like, someone let us do it as a favor and we came in and was all set up and we just like shot it — Bob Boyett was walking by.”

Lakin continued: “And sees me, this kid, doing this monologue, and he’s like, ‘Who’s this kid?’ And someone’s like, ‘Oh, we’re doing a favor for someone. It’s just like a demo tape.’ And he’s like, ‘Oh, alright.'”

“So we go home, they start casting Step by Step, couple months later. They get Suzanne [Somers] and Patrick [Duffy], of course, then they start rounding out the cast… And they get to the character of Al, and they have an actress, but it doesn’t work out for various reasons. And so now they’re like up against it and they’re looking all over town. It’s the last role to be cast. And Bob Boyett says, ‘Let’s find the kid from that tape.’ ”

Lakin was 12 when she was ultimately cast on the show as Alicia “Al” Lambert. Patrick Duffy and Suzanne Somers starred as the two parents, who blended their families, Brady Bunch-style.

Lakin ultimately left child stardom for life behind the camera, working as a choreographer for shows like True Blood, Westworld, and The Goldbergs before she took a turn to directing.