Matthew Lawrence, 45, and his brothers Joey, 48, and Andrew, 37 made an appearance at 90s con on Friday in Hartford, Connecticut.
They opened up about getting started in showbiz including the fact that Lawerence isn’t their real last name.
The brothers also wish they could change it back as its caused issues with passports and taxes.
‘It was my middle name,’ Joey, whose full legal name is Joseph Lawrence Mignogna, explained during a panel moderated by People.
‘So I was named after our dad, and our grandfather on our dad’s side.’ Joey said, explaining that when he got his start in the early ’80s, he was told, ‘No one can pronounce Mignogna. That’s not a name people will say.’
‘Today, things like that are celebrated,’ he said. ‘In the 80s, it was like, ‘We’re going to need to water this down. There are silent Gs.”‘
Matthew Lawrence , 45, and his brothers Joey, 48, and Andrew, 37 made an appearance at 90s con on Friday in Hartford, Connecticut
Joey’s parents made the decision to use his middle name for his last name.
When Matthew and Andrew followed him into the acting business, it ‘just made sense’ for them to use Lawrence as well.
There was a benefit to that for the young stars, Matthew explained.
‘There was an insulation factor,’ he said. ‘Some people might check in old school ways, but it would be very, very hard to find us. That was a great thing.’
However, he said, ‘Now I’m just stuck with two different names and I can’t travel internationally.’
All of the brothers agreed that they wish they could go back to their real name.
‘It would have made it easier,’ Andrew said. ‘It’s really a pain in the butt, honestly, like having two names. You have to prove you’re both people.’
Matthew added, ‘Even for a while there the government only recognized me as Matt Lawrence because I paid taxes from the time I was a toddler to 18 as Matt Lawrence.’
They opened up about getting started in showbiz including the fact that Lawerence isn’t their real last name. Seen here in 1986
The brothers also wish they could change it back as its caused issues with passports and taxes
‘It was my middle name,’ Joey, whose full legal name is Joseph Lawrence Mignogna, explained during a panel moderated by People. Seen here in 1996
‘So I was named after our dad, and our grandfather on our dad’s side.’ Joey said, explaining that when he got his start in the early ’80s, he was told, ‘No one can pronounce Mignogna. That’s not a name people will say.’ Seen here in 1984
‘But really my name is Matthew William Mignogna,’ he explained. ‘So when I grew up and used my real name on my passport, there was absolutely no correlation. I didn’t exist.’
Joey was the first to enter the acting business with his role in the 1990s TV show Blossom, which ran for five seasons starting in 1009.
Matthew earned praise for his role in 1993’s Mrs. Doubtfire and his role as Jack Hunter on Boy Meets World.
Andrew broke through with his role on in the sitcom Brotherly Love, which ran from 1995 to 1997 and also starred his brothers.
Last summer, Matthew opened up about the brief time he was on the celebrity dating app Raya after his divorce from Dancing With the Stars’ Cheryl Burke.
‘I was [on it and] you know the only person who can verify it is Rumer Willis because we’ve chatted on there,’ he told his brothers on their podcast Brotherly Love on August 23.
And the daughter of Demi Moore and Bruce Willis didn’t appreciate his Game of Thrones reptilian-themed bio.
‘She was on there for a moment too when she was single. I’m not kidding you — and she laughed at my “father of dragons” bio.’
‘Today, things like that are celebrated,’ he said. Seen here in 1986
‘In the 80s, it was like, ‘We’re going to need to water this down. There are silent Gs.”‘ Seen here in 1986
He added, ‘This is 100 percent true. I was on Raya for literally three weeks. I was doing it as a joke,’ Matthew 44, explained.
‘I happened to know somebody because you have to be invited, you can’t just sign up.’
He continued, ‘The only person I ran into on there was Rumer, and she was laughing at the fact that I was “father of dragons.” It was funny.’
His brothers didn’t believe him for a second and Andy picked up his phone to text Rumer.
However, Rumer, 36, didn’t respond by the time the episode was over, leaving his brothers wondering if the interaction really happened
