#fosters interview

[thefosterspoilers]

The Fosters Springs Forward in Its Landmark 100th Episode

The Fosters concluded its fifth and final season with a touching graduation ceremony and a four-year time jump, which meant big changes for a few members of the Adams-Foster family.

On the Stef (Teri Polo) and Lena (Sherri Saum) front, their trip to a relationship retreat helped Stef break down the anxiety she's been experiencing over the course of the season. She was able to confront the damaging insecurities she developed as a teenager with her disapproving parents and begin the hard road to loving herself for exactly who she is. That breakthrough helped her and Lena bridge the gap in their relationship and once again return to wedded bliss.

Brandon (David Lambert) didn't have nearly as good of a time. It turned out that Grace (Meg DeLacy) didn't respond to the gene therapy and she made the decision to stop getting treatment for her leukemia. There wasn't a magical new cure or turnaround either. She died the night before Brandon and Callie's (Maia Mitchell) graduation, leaving Brandon in shambles the morning of his big day. Luckily, Callie was able to convince him to show up for their big day and they made it just in time to graduate with the rest of their class. They received their diplomas and we found out that Brandon made it into the Musician's Institute and Callie was able to score a last minute spot in the University of California San Diego's five-year law program.

Brandon and Callie's graduation wasn't the only one fans got to see at the end of the two-hour 100th episode event. The show skipped forward to Jesus (Noah Centineo) and Mariana's (Cierra Ramirez) graduation. Jesus was also able to graduate with the rest of his class and continued on to San Diego Community College. Mariana was accepted to MIT with Emma (Amanda Leighton). The show then skipped forward another three years to Jude's (Hayden Byerly) graduation. The youngest member of the Adams-Foster family will be spending his college days at UCLA.

The series could have ended there, with everyone in their chosen fields, but the season finale is actually a set up for The Fosters three-night series finale event airing this summer on Freeform. That special event will be the pathway for The Fosters spin-off centered on Callie and Mariana coming to the network later on. TV Guide talked to The Fosters executive producer and co-creator Bradley Bredeweg about the emotional two-hour episode, the time jump revelations and what we can expect as the series comes to an official close.

TVGuide: Did you know that you wanted to time jump or is that something that came about once you knew that this was going to be the semi-end of the series? Bradley Bredeweg: It's something that came about over the last couple of years, especially when we knew we were building towards the end of the show because we had such a tight timeline that kind of kept us a few years behind anyways within our Fosters world. We knew that as we grew up the kids and wanted to see them enter into adulthood that we were going to have to kind of speed things up. So it just came naturally out of the storytelling process within the room.

TVG: We do have these final three episodes that are going to air this summer which will serve as the big conclusion. This time jump is only four years. Callie and Mariana still have one more year of school, at least. Can you say how much time the summer finale will encompass? Bredeweg: The final three episodes are taking us into their young adult lives. There's a slight time jump but it's really the last three episodes focus on a very specific short amount of time for us.

TVG: I found it very interesting that Jude decided to go to UCLA, which is going to make it very convenient for him to maybe pop in on Callie and Mariana when these two are in their own spinoff. Bredeweg: Yes. There's a lot of possibilities for Jude to make his presence known and we're going to want to check in with that wonderful young man. As you probably know, Brandon also lives in Los Angeles pursuing his music career within the business. So they will be around.

TVG: Was there anyone that you wanted to get back for these final two episodes and maybe also for the three-episode finale coming up? Bredeweg: For me, it would be AJ. I would love to have been able to explore where he's at in his life right now. But unfortunately, the actor took a sabbatical in Europe and we're so proud and happy that he got to do it. I was a little bummed that we weren't able to explore that a little bit more. But he had a great foster family and foster father in Mike. We can only assume that his life is continuing to grow and flourish.

TVG: Stef and Lena have broken so many boundaries and gotten so far over the years. Why did that feel like an interesting story to break Stef down to her teenage anxieties at the end of the series? Bredeweg: Because even though we're all continuing to grow and better ourselves and our lives and our relationships, we all still have so much underneath that and so many layers and so many things that happen to us in our lives, especially our younger lives that we haven't always quite dealt with. Peter [Paige], Johanna [Johnson] and I just got to talking about anxiety and how it affects the three of us really. We're in a very high-pressure world and where does that come from? What is the seed of that anxiety? What is the birth of that anxiety? We know Stef to be this force to be reckoned with and this woman that takes on life with so much strength. But, you know, she's vulnerable too sometimes and we wanted to get underneath that and really discover and understand why she may say something like that. We found it to be an interesting time to dive into it.

TVG: She does get to shed her guilt over lying for Mike at the end of this episode. Does she get to stay a cop? Bredeweg: Stef will step into something a little bit different. She won't stay a cop. I will tell you that.

TVG: I was not expecting Grace to die in these final episodes. That was heartbreaking. Why did that feel like the best way to end that story line for Brandon? Bredeweg: There was one of two ways of going about this. Brandon's been through so much this season. He's grown into such a young gentleman and we really talked about how interesting it would be to explore that story on him because no person his age should have to face death like that. But, if anyone can take it on it's Brandon because he was raised by two incredibly strong women.

Now we get to see him apply all that he's learned from his moms to take on life after Grace. Let me tell you, he takes it on head on and then some. I think you'll be able to tell that Brandon is going to build this incredible life for himself. There may be hints of how he moves on and who he moves on with in our finale too. But I don't want to divulge too much on that.

TVG: On Callie's side, it feels like law was the most obviously choice for her. Why do you think it took her so long to figure it out for herself? Bredeweg: Sometimes what's so obviously and right in front of us, we tend to ignore or dodge it a little bit. I think we all have to explore the other possibilities before we really make that one big life decision. Because Callie is who she is and because her journey has been so incredibly present these last five years, particularly. She went from this girl lost within our system with no real hope for a future to this young, powerful woman with the entire world of possibilities in front of her. I think that's a big reason why we wanted to explore the different layers and possibilities on her.

TVG: It's so sad that the show itself is ending, but we do get to stay with these characters. What does aging them up allow you to do and how will exploring them in this new way be different from what we've been seeing on the series? Bredeweg: It's just good to be able to see all of these kids that we knew as kids and through their young adult lives as a family and really setup the platform for them to go out into the world and succeed. Then the spinoff is about these twenty-somethings out in the world fighting for their lives and fighting to build lives for themselves and fighting for what they believe in. We're seeing a lot of that right now. We're seeing the younger generation, especially for example in Florida, doing just that a few weeks ago. We want to explore what it's like to be at a young adult age when you find yourself in a world of chaos and you want so desperately to make it better.

TVG: These final two episodes felt like they could have been the series finale by themselves. What did you guys feel like still needed to be explored/wrapped up before you moved into the spin-off and the summer specials? Bredeweg: You're absolutely right. It does feel like a finale but we also wanted to ... we're not ready to say goodbye to the Foster family. The fans out in the world aren't ready to say goodbye. We really wanted to give everyone a final goodbye to this family and really spend time with them as a unit to see what happens in their lives after the foundation and the structure that we've all experienced these last five years on the show. So we take them outside the house and we enter a different world and we see what this family is like outside those walls of the Fosters' home.

TVG: This is going to be a tough one. What are you most proud of, of everything that you've done on The Fosters so far? Bredeweg: Oh my gosh. Look, we've been so incredibly lucky to be able to work on this show for five years, especially the last two years during the current political fire storm. To be able to tell these kinds of stories that seem to make a difference and seem to inspire our younger generation of viewers I think has been the job and the opportunity of a lifetime. I can't even put into words how grateful I am to have been a part of this.

We all tear up every time we think about how lucky we've been to be able to be a part of this family. I'll say our last night together just a few nights ago as a family on set was one of the most beautiful but probably one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. We wrapped at like 5:30 in the morning and we all just stood there in this big group hug not wanting to let go. We kind of literally didn't. We just stood there for what seemed like forever until the sun came up. I think just being a part of this family and being on this journey with this incredible cast and being able to tell these stories during this time has been quite a beautiful journey for all of us.

The Fosters will return for a three-night series finale event this summer.

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The Cast Of The Fosters Will Appear On Ellen On Monday, February 19th.

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‘The Fosters’ EP Teases More Callie & Aaron Struggles & The Next Step For Jesus

The summer finale of ‘The Fosters’ ended with quite the cliffhanger. HollywoodLife.com talked EXCLUSIVELY with the show’s EP about what’s ahead in season 5B. WARNING: SPOILERS from the finale ahead!

Can you believe we’re already halfway through season 5 of The Fosters? The season 5A finale was everything from heart-pounding to heartbreaking. The final moments of The Fosters summer finale featured Callie, AJ, and Ximena running from ICE officers and seeking solace in a church. Meanwhile, Jesus and Emma got back together at prom after their nasty fight. Brandon learned that Grace has cancer and made sure she had the time of her life at prom.

So, what’s next? Well, Fosters fans, we’ve got you covered. HollywoodLife.com chatted with executive producer Joanna Johnson about Callie and AJ decision, the fate of her relationship with Aaron, Jesus’s recovery, and more. Check out our interview below:

HollywoodLife: What kind of ramifications can we expect from Callie and AJ’s decision to help Ximena. Callie’s involved a lot of people in this situation at this point… Joanna Johnson: I think that Callie is really thinking about the fact that Ximena, as far as she understands, is protected under DACA, so she really feels that Ximena is being unfairly targeted because she spoke out at the protest, which she had every right to do. I think what Callie and a lot of people probably don’t understand is that DACA does not give you a green card, it really just puts you on the lower priority for deportation. I don’t think Callie completely understands that it could possibly be perceived that she was aiding and abetting a fugitive. I think Callie really feels that she was really helping someone, who she believes is as every bit American as she is, get to a place where she could be safe until she could get an attorney or someone to protect her. I think that is absolutely true. For the most part, ICE doesn’t really go after people who help illegal immigrants in a situation like that, but once again, we do have Callie putting herself in a bit of a situation in order to help a friend. Callie’s really been struggling this season, she’s promised her mom that she’s not going to get into trouble, but on the other hand, it doesn’t mean she’s not going to speak out and do what’s right when she feels an injustice is being committed. That’s always going to be Callie’s struggle, her two steps forward, one step back.

HollywoodLife: As Callie rolls out of the parking with AJ, Aaron spots them, so what can you say about their relationship going forward? Are they going to get over this tension in the second half of the season? Joanna Johnson: Well, I think Callie and Aaron are kind of kindred spirits, and the thing that bonds them is that they care about social justice. They care about people and the fact that they’ve had difficult pasts to finding their identity and becoming who they are. That struggle and some of their trust issues bond them, but it also is what separates them at times. They both tend to have trust issues and they both tend to both have a hard time being vulnerable, and maybe they moved a little too fast out of Callie’s relationship with AJ into her relationship with Aaron. I think that Callie is a little fed up with a lot of boys telling her how she feels and who she is, and what Aaron says to her at prom is pretty harsh. So that is definitely a breach of trust there and then he sees her driving away with AJ and assumes that she made her choice, so we know that he’s assuming something that’s not exactly true. Their relationship is definitely going to continue to struggle and grow, but they do have an intimacy and a connection that’s deep and so like any teenagers it’s a push-pull.

HollywoodLife: What can you tease about where Brandon and Grace’s story is going? As we know, Brandon doesn’t give up very easily… Joanna Johnson: With Brandon, we’ve created a character where he seems to find himself with women who are in need in some way and he can be a caretaker. In this situation, how could he not want be there to take care of Grace in any way that he could? But we’re going to learn this season a little bit more historically about why Brandon tends to put himself in this position with women, and it’s sort of going to be based on his history with his mom, Stef. We’re going to learn a little bit more about their relationship, which I think will be interesting to explore. But also, Grace is not somebody who wants someone to take care of them or treat her as a girl in need or weak. That’s going to definitely be a struggle for them. And of course the question is: Is she going to back with her mother or is she going to stay in San Diego? How is that going to impact Brandon with getting his life back on track?

HollywoodLife: In the second half of the season, are we going to take a different direction with Jesus and his recovery? What can we expect from his side? Joanna Johnson: The recovery from a traumatic brain injury takes a long time, and you never completely recover. I think what Jesus is going to be going through is learning the things he needs to learn to cope with as far as emotional responses, and he’s also going to back to school. It’s interesting when you go back into your life and on the outside you look fine and you have sort of an invisible disability that people don’t really see, therefore they don’t really understand some of your behavior. He’s going to be struggling with that, you know, going back to school and that’s also going to affect his relationship with Emma. He already feels like she is a little bit smarter than him, and Emma’s certainly looking to getting into a great college and kind of get on with life. That’ll be an interesting struggle with them.

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‘The Fosters’ Boss Peter Paige on Callie’s Season 5 Shift and the ‘Edgier’ Freeform

During the first four seasons of “The Fosters”, the ABC Family-turned-Freeform drama garnered much praise from organizations like GLAAD and the Television Critics Association for its inclusive take on the modern American family.

When “The Fosters” debuted, matriarchs (Sherri Saum and Teri Polo) were already raising three teenagers when a troubled juvenile in the foster care system crossed their path. They quickly embraced her and her younger brother, blending their family further. Building the show on this ensemble backdrop allowed executive producers Peter Paige and Bradley Bredeweg to explore what was affecting today’s gay couples raising kids — as well as those kids individually. Early on in the show’s run, the focus was on love triangles, friendship falling outs, and the loss of virginity, as well as the adoption process and a legal battle over a he said/she said rape case.

Just a year later, however, the network entered a re-branding phase, looking for edgier content to solidify the attention of the younger demographic. “The Fosters” helped the newly named Freeform make noise, as the show shined a light on deeper topics that included marriage rights, transitioning, and the justice system.

Variety spoke with Paige about the evolution of “The Fosters,” striking the balance of serious issue storytelling, and what’s to come with the new age of Freeform.

Variety: First, let’s look back over the history of “The Fosters.” Were there any stories you wanted to do early in the run that you couldn’t crack, either because you didn’t feel ready just yet or because the network’s messaging at the time didn’t allow for it?

Peter Paige: Back in the day we had the Jude [Hayden Byerly] and Connor [Gavin MacIntosh] kiss coming in season one. [It was going to be at] the end of season one, but we said, “Let’s earn this a little bit more. Let’s let them get a little bit older”– those kinds of things. And there are always those considerations, but now there are really no stories that the network isn’t up for. With the regime change at the network and with the kids getting older and having more independence, it certainly opened up new avenues into additional story. [But] what’s been really fun in the new regime is that we’ve been able to be edgier and talk a little more frankly about the reality of the teen experience. We were always doing that to some degree, but it opened it up enough to [allow] us to get into the nitty gritty of what it is to be a teenager at this moment in time.

V: Prostitution is an example of what it’s like to be a very specific kind of teenager. How did you come to the decision to bring the show into that dark world?

PP: We’re trying to look really frankly at stuff that’s really happening in the world, and [executive producer] Joanna Johnson went to a seminar from the police department on human trafficking, and she came back and was devastated, and we all started talking about what she had learned. We ended up bringing a couple of women who work in the human trafficking department in Los Angeles into the room, and as soon as we started hearing those stories we knew it was something we wanted to explore. So, we came at it from several different ways and constructed this long game where both Callie [Maia Mitchell] and Stef [Polo] were connected to that world in different ways.

V: The fifth season premiere picks up in the moments after the fourth season ends, with Callie thinking she’s about to go to jail and posing as another girl from the group home Girls United to meet with a pimp — basically sacrificing herself for that girl. It follows in her usual pattern of doing good for others despite the consequences to herself, but how far can you take that, and what do you think it will take for something within her to shift and start valuing herself?

PP: It is a challenge. We can’t just constantly find Callie in worse and worse and worse situations, but it is in her nature that when there is someone in need, other than her, she will come to their aid or defense– even to her own detriment. And the question of this season for Callie is “What if you stopped that? What if you applied that kind of thinking to yourself instead? Who would you be?”

 Stef and Lena [Saum] have been telling her that since the pilot. [She’s] not disposable. But it’s a combination of undervaluing her own life [and] her own well-being and a very strong, very powerful sense of justice. That’s a dangerous remedy. So to some degree it’s a shift that Callie has to make in herself.

V: Is there another character who can help her with that, or is that something she has to figure out on her own?

PP: Stef and Lena [Saum] have been telling her that since the pilot. [She’s] not disposable. But it’s a combination of undervaluing her own life [and] her own well-being and a very strong, very powerful sense of justice. That’s a dangerous remedy. So to some degree it’s a shift that Callie has to make in herself.

V: Speaking of Stef and Lena, where will this season find them?

PP: Stef, as we know from the end of the finale, is in crisis mode trying to save Callie [when we pick back up with her in the season premiere], and Lena is in a fight at the school [to keep the school from turning Charter] that’s as much affecting her life as it is the kids. But they’re [also] engaged in their continuing struggle, which is to nurture their relationship, to parent these five very different kids, and to find their own fulfillment in life. They have challenges coming on every front, and this season we slap another challenge on the moms when Lena’s family comes back to town. Life is big and messy and hard, and getting older is hard, and having parents who are getting older is hard, and it’s all in there.

V: Having kids who are fighting is hard, too, which brings up Brandon [David Lambert] and Jesus [Noah Centineo]. Last seen, Jesus thought his brother was the father of his girlfriend’s baby. How soon will that come to a head, and what are the ramifications going forward?

PP: They reach a pressure point in the premiere, and it’s going to be a great big problem. The tricky thing is, they kind of engage everyone in the family, to some degree, and nobody’s really right or wrong. Jesus is justifiably upset on not being clued into something huge that does impact his life, and Brandon was really trying to do the right thing, but Jesus has a TBI [traumatic brain injury], so his coping skills are diminished. As you’ll see in the premiere, that creates a very challenging circumstance for the brothers and for the family.

V: How do you strike the balance between those heavier stories and more everyday teenage — or even family — issues to tackle, and what is your plan for the tone this season?

PP: The amazing thing about television is it’s never perfect and you’re always learning. It’s like, “OK, next week we’ve got to remember X!” And then you remember X but you forgot Y. But of course that’s the thing about this mess called life, especially in a family like this — this giant, constructed, messy, full of love family — all of the colors of the rainbow are there. There are people having good days [and] there people having bad days. When one kid is winning the spelling bee, another is getting in a van with a pimp. There’s always a way for us to layer in some other lighter, kinder, gentler stuff. And the foundation of the show is the unconditional love, so there’s always hope somewhere in our stories, no matter how bleak they get. The end of the premiere posits a very pointed question about Callie in particular but a little bit sets the stage for a return to family and the more pedestrian questions about what it is to be a teenager and to grow up, as well.

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The Fosters Cast Talks Noah Centineo Portraying Jesus's TBI {03-20-2017}

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‘The Fosters’ EP Unpacks That Heart-Stopping Finale And Dishes On Season 5

Can you breathe? Because we can’t. That terrifying season 4 finale cliffhanger of The Fosters has us reaching for a paper bag.

Callie (Maia Mitchell) took Christina’s place and is now stuck calling Diamond’s pimp Russell “Daddy” and counting the seconds until he gets as violent with her as he has with some of his other ladies. All the while, the lifeline Callie threw herself — getting her cop mom Stef to track her phone — went out the window (literally) when she placed it into Russell’s bag and he proceeded to hand the bag off to someone else. Meanwhile, Jesus now knows about Emma’s abortion… and that both Brandon and Mariana were keeping it a secret.

It’s a lot to digest. Thankfully, while one hand holds that paper bag, the other was able to dial executive producer Peter Paige to get some answers about what’s to come in season 5.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Callie’s in quite the pickle! Is there anything you can you tease about how she’ll get out of it?

PETER PAIGE: Look, she’s in an impossible situation, but it’s not the first time she’s faced one of those. She’s a bright and empowered young woman and anything can happen.

EW: Is Diamond going to pick a side? Because I feel like the best way for Callie to get out of this mess would be for Diamond to turn and protect her.

PP: I will say this: Diamond’s allegiances are still in question.

EW: Will she be back for season 5? For how long?

PP: She is in season 5, but I’m not telling you [how long].

EW: Is there a world in which Callie can be in a steady situation and not putting her nose in all kinds of drama?

PP: The situation that Callie gets herself in in the finale becomes a real watershed moment for her and is really life-changing and forces her to look at her life in a way that she just has never quite done. That sets up her journey for all of season 5.

EW: How is Jude going to react to what Callie’s done?

PP: At a certain point, you’ve gotta stop going to the hardware store looking for milk. He knows who his sister is. And he’s got his own fish to fry, quite frankly. By the end of the premiere, Jude has his own fish to fry.

EW: Which kind of fish? More drugs? Sex?

PP: Neither of those things, so I will leave you to wonder. But he does, in fact, put himself engaged in a difficult pursuit. … There’s also some Jude-Noah stuff, the continued development of their relationship.

EW: Talk about the choices made around the Jesus-Emma abortion story.

PP: It was very important to us to do a story where a young woman gets an abortion and feels fine about it and knows it was the right choice for her. The ensuing drama around it is not around that question, it’s around who gets told and when. It’s around the commodification of information and how much it means to us to be included in big decisions. It’s really been about that for us and continues to be. And in the finale, it’s all hitting the fan, but it’s still even in Jesus’ fury; he’s not mad at what Emma did, he’s mad that he wasn’t told.

EW: Do you think there was even a way for her to consult him in the first place?

PP: I don’t. He had a meltdown because there was pepperoni on his pizza. I don’t mean to make light of it — he has a traumatic brain injury, which I think Noah [Centineo] is doing such an extraordinary job of portraying. He was literally not in his right head, and it takes time. And sometimes you never fully get your impulse control back. I just don’t think it was something she could add to his wheelbarrow. It was already pretty heavy and pretty full. I very much understand why she did what she did. And I understand why he’s upset that it happened. That’s the thing about life sometimes: It doesn’t matter how well-intentioned everyone is, people still get hurt sometimes.

EW: Are there going to be further repercussions for Mariana and her Twitter handle?

PP: The dust from that has certainly not settled yet, for sure.

EW: Other than his role in the Jesus storyline, Brandon didn’t have much to do in these last few episodes. It feels a little like he’s on reset mode, so what can we expect from him next season?

PP: I think he is on reset. Last season in the finale, Brandon had the moment of crisis, the moment of looking at his choices and having to decide what kind of person he intends to be, and this season has been that a little for him. He’s been a little retreated, he’s been a little bit pulled into his shell trying to figure out how to navigate the choices he’s made. That feels very true and very real, and season 5 is sort of about him poking his neck out of his shell again.

EW: Is that going to involve figuring out his school situation or the music therapist love interest who was introduced this season?

PP: Both those conversations are very present.

EW: Will the kids ever allow the grownups to leave the Anchor Beach board meeting?

PP: They’re not going to do so particularly willingly.

EW: So no time jump?

PP: Every one of those stories are in a moment of utter and complete crisis, so we are literally coming back three seconds after the finale ends.

EW: Nick’s dad is involved in that school story — are we going to see him return to the show?

PP: At some point we might.

EW: There was no AJ in the finale. Is he still going to be around much in season 5?

PP: We’ll see AJ again. Now that he’s not in a romantic relationship with Callie, we will see less of him for sure, but he’s still present in our world and there’s still stuff to be resolved and questions that we find quite interesting for him.

EW: What’s the state of Callie and Aaron?

PP: Moving ahead, there’s some exploration of, what are Callie and Aaron doing? What are they sniffing around? What is that going to turn into?

EW: Final thoughts on what to expect next season?

PP: Season 5 is a little bit of a reset to our family, our home, and the sort of simpler and brighter and happier times that our family really needs.

The Fosters season 5 kicks off on July 11 at 8 p.m. on Freeform.

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The Fosters Mega Buzz: What Effect Has the Brain Injury Had on Jesus?

Jesus (Noah Centineo) has made it through brain surgery and woken up from his medically induced coma on The Fosters, but there's still the lingering question of how his traumatic brain injury (TBI) will affect him going forward.

The most obvious effects are physical ones -- he has to relearn how to walk and speak, for example -- but that's just the tip of the iceberg.

You see, his cognitive abilities are still intact. "He formulates thought very well," Centineo explains. "It's getting it from his brain to his mouth, using two different parts of his body. It's sending signals and that's where the problem lies for Jesus."

That disconnect can be frustrating for a person with a TBI and their caregivers. When Jesus lashes out, the Adams-Foster family will be faced with their toughest test yet.

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