The Fosters Winter Premiere Preview: Maia Mitchell – ‘Callie Is Kind Of Lost’

Maia Mitchell’s Callie Jacob left home as “The Fosters” ended the first half of its Season 1 run on ABC Family last year. When things resume with the show’s winter premiere on January 13, Callie’s exit – and the reasons for it – are affecting everyone.

“In the next episodes you’re gonna see the whole family dealing with that. Obviously, Brandon and Jude are the only ones who really know why she ran away – which is because she kissed Brandon — and so they’re kind of dealing with that,” Maia told AccessHollywood.com’s Laura Saltman during a recent visit to the show’s set. “And then, Callie and Wyatt are on this adventure together. The [moms] have just been married, so it’s kind of [the] honeymoon from hell. There’s a lot going on.”

The Callie runaway storyline actually paves the way for the introduction of Rosie O’Donell, who joined the series in a guest arc, playing Rita Hendricks, a woman who works in the foster care system.

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“Callie is kind of lost. She’s super lost and somehow — I can’t tell you how — but she ends up in this group home, which is basically for juvenile girls. A lot of foster kids go there as well, and so basically, Rosie O’Donnell is running this place and so you meet Rosie O’Donnell, who is kind of my mentor,” Maia explained. “She teaches me a lot about myself and makes me kind of face some things in my past that I haven’t quite faced yet.”

The group home will also usher in a new cast of characters who Callie will encounter.

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“We meet all these other girls who have gone through really similar situations, who are also dealing with some really, really full on issues, which I think a lot of people are gonna be able to relate to,” Maia said.

“These girls are really edgy and we found some amazing actresses,” she added.

As for what it was like to work with Broadway, movie and TV veteran Rosie, Maia said she had fun.

“She’s so cool. She definitely represents what our show is about, of course, and yeah, she just brought this kind of fresh energy to the set,” Maia said. “I basically got to work with like a whole new cast of people.”

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“The Fosters” returns with its winter premiere on Monday, January 13 at 9/8c on ABC Family.

— Jolie Lash