As Warner Brothers Studio looms overhead, grandly if not majestically, I feel instantly uglier. After careening through an unlabeled and seemingly infinite parking complex, I nip to the rendez-vous designated by ABC Family. Golf carts pass. Two Broke Girls staff peddle by on personalized bicycles. Another young reporter comes along and lurks next to me, angrily stabbing messages into her iphone. After 10 minutes we give up waiting for an escort and set off in search for The Fosters set. Passing by the Shameless trailers, I notice a brunette with wet hair exchange high-fives with a little boy practicing skateboard tricks. “I bet she could look super hot,” I observe, then recognize the damp girl as Emmy Rossum. Finally we arrive on The Fosters set and barrage Teri Polo, David Lambert, and Cierra Ramirez with all our pressing questions.
Spoiler Alert: Some details and early episode storylines are about to be revealed. Read at your own risk!
Teri Polo bounds into our windowless interrogation room with conspicuous glee. The blonde comedienne grabs a chair and scoots over to sit by the rabble/journalists, taking time to greet each one of us (to be there are only three) with genuine warmth.
Teri Polo
L for lesbian
AfterEllen.com: You were shot, but you’re alive and recovering. How is Stef doing? Is she ready to go back to work? Teri Polo: I think she’s fine with it, it’s more Lena that has an issue. I think she’s more freaked out as a parent, as I think I would be as a parent… You’ve got children that you’re responsible for, and you’re in a line of work thats dangerous. I think my character is more concerned about that than she is about herself. She’s also concerned with how her wife, Lena, is going to react, and that’s why she hides it from Lena that she might be going back. Even though she’s divorced from Mike, she still cares about him very much. She’s crunchy on the outside but mushy on the inside. She’s concerned about Mike’s career; she lies, she puts her own career on the line to save him. So there’s a lot of trepidation and confusion, but I think she’s very secure in her commitment to supporting the family and doing her job.
AE: Was there ever any talk of your character actually dying? TP: Not that I know of!
AE: How do you think your character and Lena’s character has changed and how do you think it will continue to change? TP: You know, I don’t think it has changed. In the beginning, there was a lot of talk from people saying, “Oh this is going to be a typical lesbian on TV where the ex-husband comes back and they have chemistry and get back together,” but I was adamantly against it. I even spoke to the producers and the writers and said, “This is a very strong, committed relationship. There are no other mitigating factors, there’s no question.” I love that you got to see how they met and fell in love, it was so lovely for me as an actor to have that history and backstory. As cliche as it might be to say, “Their relationship has gotten stronger,” their relationship is incredibly committed. Like any couple, Stef and Lena have their ups and downs. But there’s never any doubt in their mind, or in the audience’s mind.
AE: How’s it been working with Rosie O’Donnell? TP: Great. Rosie is utterly down to earth and lovely. Rosie loves her children more than you could possibly imagine. You would see Rosie-well actually you would HEAR Rosie talking on the phone with her children, shouting, “Mama loves you!” All Rosie talks about is her children. Rosie is who she is; what you see is what you get. Working with Rosie was really exciting.
AE: I actually write for a lesbian outlet called AfterEllen.com. What sort of feedback have you gotten from lesbians about how you portray a lesbian character on The Fosters? TP: Amazing! All of our writers or producers are gay, lesbian, product of the foster system, adopted, The Fosters is really a compilation of their stories.AE: And you have a lesbian in your writer’s room. TP: Joanna Johnson! Joanna’s married, and has been out for about 10 years. She once said that Stef’s father was her father. My character’s relationship with her dad is a portrayal of Joanna’s relationship with her father: heartbreak, issues, conversations, and all. Wait… What was the question?
AE: How do you feel the response from lesbians has been? TP: Remarkable! You know AfterEllen-AE: That’s me! TP: That’s you?
AE: That’s me!
Teri reaches over to high five me, then apparently changes her mind and sweeps me into a giddy hug. The PR maven and other reporters titter politely. Frankly, I’m touched; celebrities usually assume an attitude of polite boredom when answering questions at a PR junket. Terri and I jump up and down, holding hands and giggling for approximately 60 seconds.
TP: I read AfterEllen every week!
AE: You do not! TP: I do! Sherri even just texted me a quote from one of AfterEllen’s pieces!
Teri whips out her cell and shows me the text from Sherri. Sure enough, it’s a quote from one of Lucy Hallowell‘s recaps! I even snapped a pic for proof.
AE: Do you think your work on The Fosters is making an impact? If so, who on and how so? TP: Yes! I’ve had teenage girls come up to me crying and scream like I was a Beatle. Then there’s little brothers, who are 9, 10, 11, would pipe up to say “We watch it too!” Then there’s been 47-year-old women in grocery stores saying “What a great show,” and grandparents telling me that they watch my show with their grandchildren! But the epitome actually came from my own daughter, just a few weeks ago. Over the weekend, I’d picked up a handbag for Sherri at a swag event. As I left for work on Monday, my young daughter came running out the door in her footie pajamas calling, “Mommy, Mommy, you forgot the purse for your wife!” And I thought: six years old, and we have done our job. We have affected one child who is going to branch out tolerance to her children and her friends. This is now! And on the way to work I cried because we’ve let her know “this is love.” No matter gender, size, shape, color, love is love.
When my daughter first saw The Fosters pilot, she started giggling and said “You’re kissing a girl. You can’t kiss a girl!” And I responded, “Sure I can, she’s my wife! A man can kiss a man, a woman can kiss a woman, it makes no difference.” My daughter thought about that for a moment, exclaimed “OH!” and understood and accepted that concept perfectly.
AE: Religious extremists are always moaning “how are we going to explain gay people to our children?” Now they know! Easy. TP: Yes! With both The Fosters and my daughter, I feel like I’m helping raise generations of tolerant, good people. And I’m so honored. I’m so happy to come to work each day. If I played a cop who just ran around shooting aliens all day, I would kill myself. I would not be an actress anymore. I would want to quit, because I have a really hard time taking myself seriously to begin with, so the fact that I’m coming to work and portraying reality, reaching, and meaning something in this world… It’s worth it. It’s totally worth it..
AE: Both you and Sherri are straight women portraying a gay couple. What’s that experience like? TP: Sherri and I have stupid chemistry! We adore each other. We finish each other’s sentences and text constantly. She’s married, I’m the black widow: Two children from two different men and single again at 44.
AE: Well then now’s the time to experiment with lesbianism! [NOTE: JOKE. WE LAUGHED. JUST A JOKE.]
AE: Mike’s getting a love interest this season. How does Stef feel about her ex-husband’s new romance? TP: That’s funny, because everyone’s first reaction is [Terri murmurs/gestures a jealous “Oh no she didn’t” snapping routine that cannot be sufficiently translated to the written word] but I don’t give a shit! Stef doesn’t care about Mike anymore, so she doesn’t react with jealousy. Stef is only concerned with whether or not Mike’s new lover is a good influence on her son. Let me tell you, I know all about that with my exes and their… interesting choices in partners.
AE: What else can you tell me about Mike’s story as Season 2 opens? TP: It’s a good story, because it goes back to Mike’s alcoholism, which was introduced last season. Alcoholism touches a great deal of our lives, whether we personally know it or not. It’s a very poignant storyline. There’s some drama that goes down between Mike, Mike’s girlfriend, and Brandon in regards to Mike’s alcoholism.
AE: Will Mike’s new girlfriend take time away from Stef and Brandon? TP: What I like about Mike, as a character, is he’s always going to be. He’s not going to be Stef’s love interest, or a threat to Stef’s marriage, but he has his own storyline and place in the Fosters’ lives.
AE: Speaking of Brandon, we’ve heard he’s going to get angsty. How is Stef dealing with that? TP: I don’t know because we’re just now starting to get into that. I literally, can honestly answer that with an “I don’t know,” because Stef doesn’t know what’s going on. I can tell you that if it was me, he’d be chained to his kennel for the next 40 years. I love Brandon’s “angsty” storyline because it’s real. When you’re young and temptations are dangled in front of you, it’s easy to be seduced. Brandon wants to be good, but he doesn’t want to be a goody two shoes anymore.
AE: Final question that I’m asking everyone today: What’s the weirdest thing Rosie O’Donnell ever did or said in front of you? TP: That’s a question for Maia, who worked with Rosie a great deal. I only worked a couple days with Rosie. Our paths crossed, but shooting was so hectic and crazy that I never saw anything weird. Just the wonderful times when I overheard her on the phone with her children. I did more weird things in front of Rosie than Rosie did in front of me!
The next Fosters star to roll in is David Lambert aka Brandon Foster, an affable looking young man with flawless manners.
AE: Describe Brandon’s mind-set in the season premier of The Fosters. David Lambert: He’s definitely left super-confused about it all because last time he saw Callie technically was the kiss. I think what’s interesting is he ends up going down a road that you wouldn’t maybe expect from him at this point. He’s sort of been set up as this golden boy, he always knows what he wants, what he needs, and how to get it, so instead of being so set i think you’re going to see him not know what to do for the first time, and not know how to handle his teen. It’s fun for me to play this character that’s sort of evolving and having to go through some stuff for the first time.
AE: Will Brandon and Callie take their blossoming romance to the next level? DL: I think there will always be a mix with Brandon and Callie, because it always seems like they know what they should do but it always works out that they either cave or something happens and then they end up back in this whole romantic kind of thing. Things definitely need to change now though because Callie and Jude essentially are going to get adopted so the dynamic between them two especially will have to change. I myself actually don’t know where it will end up going. I know there will be ups and downs as always, but who knows? They might end up becoming best friends by the end of it. I really don’t know. They obviously have some special connection and I don’t think that’s going to go away.AE: Do you think Brandon and Callie should end up together? DL: I don’t actually know if they should! If I had to decide I definitely think a family is more important than a girlfriend or a boyfriend, especially at their age. They’re in high school. I don’t know. It’s a very interesting situation that the writers have put these characters in! I don’t know what would be best for them, no. It seems like a very toxic, dangerous, fine line that they’re walking here.
AE: I heard that Brandon is taking a different and somewhat darker path this season. What do you think of him shedding his good boy image? DL: I think he’s not perfect, he’s not this golden boy kid. I don’t think he ever really was, I just think he was very comfortable for a long time doing the things he was doing, but he always had stuff he was dealing with. He has an alcoholic dad. He has a very unique situation for a household that I’m sure he felt a lot of judgement and maybe not spoken judgement but unsaid things at school from other kids. Everyone’s aware of his home situation. But he’s callous to the point of where I think he’s aware of what’s important and what’s not. He is a mature kid but he’s still going to be a kid, and I think that’s what you’re going to see. He is 16, so you’re going to see him be 16 and make mistakes and be impulsive and be reckless and be disappointed and angsty and all that stuff that you definitely feel in high school. So it’s fun for me to play that, this “You don’t understand my life” He’s being drastic. He’s being a teenager. He’s speaking his mind more, and he is convinced that he is right. He’s convinced that what he’s going after-which is essentially Callie-that they are meant to be together and should be together.AE: How is Brandon’s relationship with his father, Mike, doing this season? DL: That’s actually one of my favorite relationships on the show, personally. I think that’s a situation a lot of people have to deal with, alcoholism, so I feel very honored to help portray that on the show. I think Mike and Brandon, their relationship isn’t ending or anything like that, I think it’s just evolving. Mike’s getting better. He’s finally slowing down and taking a breath and realizing the impact he’s leaving. Will he stay like that? Will he stay clean? I don’t know. But as of right now he’s in a better spot. Brandon is definitely right there with him and there might be new elements introduced in Mike’s life as well which could be interesting, it will be interesting to see how they affect Brandon.
AE: What can your tell me about Mike’s new love interest? DL: Mike could be branching out. Could be mixing and mingling a little bit. It’ll be interesting to see how that all goes over with Brandon.
AE: How’s Brandon’s relationship with Marianna? DL: They are a family, so we can’t hate each other. We grew up together. It’s siblings-you’re mad at them for a while but things happen and everything got resolved so why are we mad? The twins have so much going on individually anyway. Everyone’s just living their life and doing their own thing. You’ll see some inter-weaving, maybe Brandon will have a talk with Jesus after a while and they’ll update each other, but besides that they’re in a great place. Everyone’s just dealing with stuff right now.
AE: Did your character interact with Rosie O’Donnell? DL: Not so much Brandon, not directly, but she was with us for a couple of episodes so I got to meet her and got to know her. i think most of us did just through the table reads and everything else. She was awesome. She was really cool. She was a big fan of the show, which was surreal because here’s a name that I have lived most of my life hearing and then she comes to me saying I love your show. Definitely one of if not the coolest guest stars was her. It was very exciting.
AE: What was your weirdest or just most memorable moment with Rosie? DL: I feel like Maia’s going to have so many more stories to tell you about Rosie. I got very little time with her. I had a few good chats with her. She is exactly Rosie, I will say that. She will just tell you what she is thinking and have a little smirk at the end of it and be very sarcastic. It’s all her comments, it’s the whole experience of talking to her that I will always remember I guess.
AE: Who would you like to see guest star on The Fosters? DL: It would be cool to have Aaron Paul show up randomly! They surprise me with who they’re able to get. We’ll see who shows up next. Also there’s some rumor about a JoBro-I have no idea though. I have no clue usually until they’re on set next to me and I’m like Oh, cool!David gets called back to set, and after a lengthy wait we’re joined by Cierra Ramirez aka Mariana Foster.
AE: Will Mariana’s birth mom remain in the picture this season? CR: That storyline isn’t going to be left behind, but after everything that happened with her mom in the hospital she’s completely done with Anna and everything that has to do with her. I’m sure it will come back to haunt her.
AE: So Marinna will realizes there are very real consequences to her actions. CR: Yes, exactly. I feel like that’s what a lot of this season is about, with Callie running away, we’re going to deal with the repercussions from that.
AE: How has Mariana changed? CR: The one thing I love about Mariana is the fact that she’s 15, she’s going to make mistakes, she’s dealing with all that stuff, wanting to know who her biological mom is, and that got her into some trouble, but she really does honestly have a good heart and that’s one thing I’ve always loved about her. Even though she was doing these things that seemed very selfish, underneath all that you saw that she had very good intentions and she has a heart. She can do some mean things and say some nasty stuff, but she is very sweet.
AE: At one point, Mariana seemed to feel very self-conscious about her two gay moms. What’s your character’s thought process when she gets uncomfortable? CR: I think for as long as she remembered these have been her moms, and she was completely OK with that. I think it was more that she wanted a very traditional Quinceanera and everyone was asking her who’s going to dance with you and that’s when the embarrassment came into play. You see after that episode that she realizes, “You are the most important thing to me and I’m sorry I didn’t dance with you.” That’s what I love about her: she has a heart. She’s learning. She’s making mistakes. I don’t think she was ever embarrassed. She embraces it. This is who she is. It took that Quincenera to get her to notice that, to realize that.
AE: How’s Mariana’s love life? CR: She’s never had a boyfriend before, so she doesn’t know how to get boys’ attention. She decides to volunteer for a school play all because of a cute boy, so we’re going to see how that plays out! She rekindles with a friend with the play, so you’ll have to see how that turns out because it’s going to get her into some trouble I think. Her past is definitely going to be brought up. Her brother took the blame for [the pills] but she might have to end up taking it. There will be answers.
AE: How does she feel now about Lexi and Jesus? CR: She’s all for it-now. I think it was more the idea that they were doing it behind her back. She just doesn’t like being out of the loop. That’s kind of an ideal situation, [her brother dating] her best friend. You already approve of the girlfriend! She definitely approves of Jexi.
AE: How does Lexi moving affect things? CR: She finds out about her trip back and that’s definitely going to be hard, the long distance thing, they’re going to have to be doing a lot of Skype sessions and stuff like that. I guess she has a lot of hope for them and she wants them staying together. I don’t want to give too much away.
AE: Did you get a chance to work with Rosie O’Donnell? CR: I did have a couple of scenes with her. She’s so awesome. So amazing. It was such a good experience. All of that storyline is going to be so awesome. I’m really excited for those scenes-it’s completely different. It’s like its own pilot, almost.
AE: Is Mariana’s sexuality portrayed differently than the boys? CR: With Lexi talking about losing her virginity with Jesus, that’s definitely a little bit of pressure, and with these new boys coming into play and they’re a little bit older, and she’s trying to get their attention, that’s definitely going to become an issue. She’s young and she’s learning and she’s going to have to experience what that means and how much she’s ready for.
AE: What else is happening in Mariana’s life? CR: The dynamic is definitely thrown off when Callie runs away. She’s built up this relationship and this bond with Callie-at first they started out rivals, she was intimidated by this new girl who came into her house-but you see their relationship form and then she runs away and Mariana’s left thinking what did we do? She becomes really close with Jude this season, and I love that.AE: How is your character handling the shooting? Are her moms still mad about it? CR: She’s really scared that they’re not going to want her anymore [after the shooting]. She’s still left with this guilt throughout the season but she’s reminded that she’s loved and that’s the most important thing.
The Fosters winter premiere is tonight, January 13, at 9 EST/8 CT p.m. on ABC Family. Who else is super excited?
