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Sherri Saum on “The Fosters” Season 3B and Stef’s sexy new haircut

On The Fosters, Sherri Saum plays Lena Adams Foster, one-half of the best two-mom family in the history of television; the lesbian Tami Taylor we have all been dreaming of. When we spoke with Sherri last week, she confirmed that she’s just as dreamy off-screen as she is on.

photo by Freeform/Craig Sjodin

We asked her about what’s coming up for the Adams Foster family in Season 3B, and she was gracious enough to answer our questions about Monte, meddling mothers-in-law, Stef’s new haircut, and whether our favorite moms can steal a few minutes to themselves.

Sherri Saum: Luuucy!

AfterEllen: Hi, how are you?

SS: I’m good, how are you?

AE: I’m great. Thanks for taking the time to talk to me.

SS: Of course, my pleasure.

AE: So, everything ended so well in 3A, can we assume that everything is just smooth sailing at the Adams Foster house?

SS: Um, everything pretty much goes straight to hell as per The Fosters. [laughs] Yeah, we like to have our wins here and there, but we just have so much going on that it’s about to get real.

AE: There was a lot set up in the 3A finale. Can you tell us a little about what we can expect right off the bat in 3B?

SS: Well, Jesús comes back to town and as much as we’d like to think all is well that’s really not the case, so that’s going to open another can of worms. Stef’s health issues is a biggie and then, of course, Stef’s mom coming to town right in the midst of all of this will add a healthy dose of tension to the house that we probably don’t need. But Stef’s going through this stuff, so it’s always good to circle the wagons and have your family there. She’s going to need us for sure.

Freeform/Tony Rivetti

AE: And how does Lena feel about having Sharon around?

SS: She’s plotting her early demise, putting some things in her dinner. It’s hard because obviously her mom thinks she knows what’s best, and Lena thinks she knows what’s best for Stef. She knows she knows what’s best for Stef and how do you kind of navigate those waters while trying to keep Stef stress-free and calm? It’s going to be a tightrope walk.

AE: Stress-free is not something I would use to describe that house.

SS: [laughs] I think you’re right about that. We try, but we fail.

AE: You talked about Sharon causing trouble. Are we going to get to see Dana this season?

SS: I don’t have any information about that in the pipeline, but the show is about family and we can’t really tell all of our stories honestly without bringing those people back in. [Lorraine Toussaint] is really busy but I hope she comes back. And my brother and my father, I hope they’ll be back again.

AE: What about Miss Monte? I have to admit that as much as I want her to stay as far away from Lena and Stef and making mischief I love her character.

SS: Awwww. We do too! Oh my god, we love her all the way around. We love her character and [Annika Marks] in real life. She’s amazing.

It’s not just one of those things you get over. It’s [not] just “Oh, I kissed some girl in a bar one night.” It was more than a kiss-it was an emotional betrayal. She shared a lot of personal stuff that she should have been sharing with her woman and she shared it with this colleague, and now they have to work together every day.

I think Stef’s being incredibly generous to allow that to be. But it was good in a way. It was a huge wake-up call about what’s important. I think Lena’s going to mind her P’s and Q’s going forward.

I don’t know about Monte. I can’t speak for Monte.

AE: Are Stef and Lena going any time alone or is it just full circus all the time?

SS: Well, I think we are trying to just keep that real as well. We’re going to fight for those moments. We’re going to steal them when we can. But if the season premiere is any indication it’s going to be a lot to navigate while trying to get some action on the side. But we’re going to try.

AE: At this point, I think even just a cup of coffee seems like asking too much.

SS: [laughs] That’s like a freaking vacation in Paris [at this point].

Photo by Steven Lawton/FilmMagic

AE: There are these really great dynamics between each of the moms and some of the individual kids. There’s been some great Lena and Jude moments and Stef and Callie. We’ve seen some crossover in the past seasons with Lena and Brandon having some heartfelt and hilarious scenes. Are we going to see more of that mixing up the moms and the kids?

SS: I hope so. On a personal note, I have put that in the writers’ ear. Sometimes we approach a scene and Lena’s sitting down while Stef and Callie are having a conversation and I’m like wait a minute-Lena would be right there. Lena’s a mom, too. I think that they’ve heard me on that, and I think that we’re going to try to mix that up for a lot of reasons. I want to have those relationships and have their journey as well, and that’s good to mix up the dynamics.

AE: Someone wanted me to ask you how you feel about Stef’s new haircut,

SS: I freaking love it! I can’t keep my hands off that stinkin’ woman. I just think it’s the sexiest thing in the world. I mean her freaking architecture of her face is just so stellar and amazing-ugh.And then now with this haircut just frames it so [in]geniously. I can’t. I can’t. Don’t get me started-startedmy husband’s right here.

AE: The Fosters for me and for a lot of other people is sort of the first time we’ve our families and the reality of our lives on the screen. Can you think of a show that for you felt like home?

SS: They were few and far between for me growing up. I kind of related to One Day At A Time. I was really young, but I remember watching that show with a single mom and she’s trying to make it work, and that was my household. I didn’t have anything as far as diversity in that show to cling to but I definitely related to living in a household with a single mom and it just felt like home because so many of the struggles on the show were comparable to my life. But, like I said, it was slim pickings. We didn’t really have anything.

I’m so proud to have this show that so many kids can go “Oh, they get it! They get me! They get us! We exist, we’re happening! We’re okay!” I’m so, so proud.

AE: Thank you so much for taking the time to speak to us. We love you and love the show and wish it the most success.

SS: Let’s have a beer sometime!

AE: I would love that. I’m buying.

SS: Yay! That’s awesome. Definitely then.

The Fosters returns Monday at 8pm EST on Freeform. Will you be tuning in?

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