When “The Fosters” star Sherri Saum stepped back on the “Good Trouble” set for the spin-off series’ final season, it felt like she never left.
“It’s family — you go back to right where you left off,” Saum told TheWrap. “It fits like a glove. All of our personalities fit into this crazy puzzle, and we hit the ground running every time.”
Saum, who has played foster mother extraordinaire Lena for over a decade on “The Fosters” and its subsequent spin-off, is set to reprise her role one last time before “Good Trouble” ends alongside Theresa Polo’s Stef. As the mothers return to Los Angeles, they step in to support their daughters as Mariana (Cierra Ramirez) reels from Evan’s traumatic shooting and Callie (Maia Mitchell) prepares to tie the knot with on-again-off-again boyfriend Jamie (Beau Mirchoff) amid a tense familial relationship.
“It’s about being there for our girls in times of crisis and not telling them what to do — recognizing, now more than ever, that they really are young women in charge of their destinies,” Saum said of her upcoming cameo. “I think they already know the answers, but it’s always reassuring to bounce off people you trust and that’s always been our role. Lena and Stef have to really learn to let go because there’s so much we could say, and really just be there to guide their own instincts.”
After numerous cameos throughout “Good Trouble’s” five-season run, Saum returned to set this time not only as an actor, but also for her directorial debut — fulfilling a piece of advice “The Fosters” pilot director Timothy Busfield had given her over a decade ago.
“Before wrapping on the pilot, he came over to me and he said, ‘Do not leave this show without your DGA card,’” Saum recalled. “And I remember looking at him [thinking] he was joking … I didn’t really take it all in yet.”
It wasn’t until Saum began spending time around the video monitors alongside producers and directors — what many in the industry call “The Village” — that she felt the desire to helm a set.
“I started getting that bug of [having] a vision of how you want something to go and [seeing] it executed,” she said. “The directors giving a note to an actor, and changing the entire energy or vibe or direction of a scene became very intriguing to me.”
After begging some of favorite directors, including former “The Fosters” directors Lee Rose and Norman Buckley, to shadow them, “Good Trouble” Joanna Johnson came threw with an opportunity, leaving Saum “dumbfounded.””I couldn’t eat for a week,” Saum recalled. “I was just bouncing off the walls!”
Saum directed this season’s 12th episode, which dives deeper into the Coterie residents’ personal and professional conflicts as Malika (Zuri Adele) resolves to resign from her policy job and Alice (Sherry Cola) prepares to helm her first writers’ room. Nerves also run high for Dennis (Josh Pence) as he opens his restaurant and Davia (Emma Hunton) attempts to support him the best she can.
As Saum tackled directing the show’s sprawling ensemble, she tried not to get overwhelmed by the task at hand, instead absorbing each storyline as it came as she leaned on the cast’s knowledge of their characters’ motivations and backstory.
“It was an advantage for me, because I am so close to all of these actors, so I have a style of communicating with each different one,” Saum said, noting that she felt she had “an edge” based on her relationship with the cast. “You follow their lead. You’re just there to provide scaffolding to make sure that the writers’ vision is is being translated.”
After working with her on-screen daughter for over 10 years, Saum was tasked with directing Ramirez through a breakthrough moment as Mariana digs deep to determine the next step for herself following the shooting, whether that is returning to either Bulk Beauty or Speckulate alongside Evan.
“I put my feet up and I was just popping bonbons as the scene rolled because Cierra is the consummate professional,” Saum joked about helming Ramirez’s takes. “Not only does she always know her own lines, everybody else’s lines and where her camera is exactly when the motion needs to be there, but she can turn it on at will.”
Saum described directing Ramirez as one of the easiest parts of her directing experience, saying “there’s nothing you cannot throw her that she will instantly digest and interpret.”
“I just have so much affection for her, so much love for her,” Saum said. “She was so happy for me, and that’s one of the things about the entire ‘Fosters’ and ‘Good Trouble’ experience is just the way we cheer each other on and the way we root for each other.”
“Good Trouble” premieres Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET and streams the next day on Hulu.
