With season 2B of The Fosters premiering on Monday, we spoke to Hayden Byerly about his character Jude’s evolution, whether he ships Brandon/Callie or Wyatt/Callie, and what exactly happened with Jude and Connor in the tent…
Read our interview with Hayden Byerly below!
First, congratulations on the renewal of the show for season 3!
Thank you so much!
What did you do when you found out?
I definitely celebrated, that’s for sure. It’s exciting to hear that such a great show has been renewed for a third season.
We have a lot of people asking us to ask you about this: What’s on the horizon for Connor and Jude, and will we finally find out more about what happened in the tent?
We will finally find out what happened in the tent! I know that’s a question I’ve been asking [the writers] many times. It is a very good and very interesting topic, and they kind of do what The Fosters does: They take you for a spin, you think you have it figured out and then they take it in a different direction. [The question of what happened] is answered and it’s a wonderful storyline that Jude and Connor have coming up in the second half of the season. It’s really gonna be a big thing. It’s – I’ve got to choose my words carefully so I don’t get in trouble – it’s going to be a great season for a lot of people who love seeing Jude and Connor, their friendship, those two together and the evolution of Jude and Connor and them getting into trouble together. It’s going to be a great season for fans who like to see that.
Jude has always been a good kid who always follows the rules, but we saw a different side to him with the shoplifting in the Christmas episode. When you read the script, were you surprised Jude would do that, or did you always have a feeling that if anything could make him break the rules, it would be Callie?
I always had a suspicion that if he was to ever do something very bad, it would be for his sister or his family or someone that he loves. I was definitely surprised to hear that Jude would steal, but it was also kind of exciting to read, for Jude to kind of get out there and act out and do some things he shouldn’t have done – it was kind of interesting to see because he’s always been that good, sweet kid who’s very innocent.
Jude was upset when he overheard Lena talking about her half-brother in the Christmas episode and saying “half is not full,” which he of course related back to Callie. We haven’t seen that much of how he feels about Callie’s half-sister, Sophia, yet – is that theme explored more in the second half of the season?
In the second half of the season, we definitely explore how Jude feels about Sophia since she is Callie’s half-sister and he is Callie’s half-brother. It’s not a huge topic but it definitely gets brought up again.
The big question for the upcoming episodes is “Should Callie choose the Fosters or the Quinns?” What does Jude want for her? What do you want for her?
Well, I definitely think that Jude wants Callie to be happy, but of course he wants his sister to live with him and to be with him. I think that if Callie decided – or if it was decided for her – that she was to live with the Quinns, Jude would be very accepting of that and he would understand and still love her as much as he does, and they would still be brother and sister and they would still see each other all the time and they would still have that wonderful bond they have now. Me, personally? I think that she should go with the Fosters, of course.
If you could write the script and choose for Callie to be single, with Brandon, with Wyatt, or with someone else, what would you choose and why?
That’s a very good question. I would probably write for Callie to be with Wyatt, and the reason why is because if Callie and Brandon have their relationship, which is a very wanted relationship by a lot of fans, she wouldn’t really be able to be a part of the family. I definitely think that for her to be with Wyatt would be a little bit better for her, and being adopted by a family, being with Jude, and being with the Fosters would definitely help her situation.
We saw Callie interacting with her biological father, Robert, in 2A, and there will obviously be more of that in 2B. Does 2B also deal with Jude’s relationship with his biological father, Donald?
We don’t see much more of Donald, and we don’t really see Jude and him become connected in any way, at least not now – but there may be plans for the future for him to make an appearance.
Jude’s been bounced around a lot of schools, so historically he’s had trouble making friends, but then he moved to Anchor Beach and met Connor. Do we see more of him assimilating to Anchor Beach in 2B?
Anchor Beach is very special to Jude because it’s the first school he’s actually been to for a long duration of time, and we do see him at Anchor Beach a lot. He’s either at school, at home, or out doing something with the Fosters. Jude is very attached to Anchor Beach. There’s not a whole lot about him and his schoolwork in the second half of the season. I’m not quite sure how many people would be interested in seeing an episode of him doing algebra, but you never know!
Are you done shooting 2B? When will you start working on season 3?
We finished shooting 2B a little before Christmas. They approximate that we’ll begin season 3 in April.
Speaking of plans for the future, did you make any New Year’s resolutions?
No, I don’t usually make New Year’s resolutions. I usually make goals throughout the year. I think if I was to make a resolution for this year, it would probably be to work more, which sounds like an odd thing to say but I definitely love what I do and it’s something I deeply enjoy. Spending more time with my younger brother and doing more things with him would be on [the list] too.
Is it weird to play the younger brother on the show when you’re the older brother in real life?
It’s interesting to play the younger brother role, but I don’t feel like it’s too different. My brother and I are about a year and a half apart. Jude and I are fairly different people, and my brother and I are very different too.
The preview for 2B is very dramatic and it looks like there’ll be a lot going on – is anyone going to be happy?!
You will see people being happy! It’s gonna be more toward the middle of the season, but there’s ups and downs along the way. There is a lot of – maybe not sadness, but it’s not happiness, you’re right – but there are some moments in there when there’s something good that happens and a couple of whole family scenes where they’re all together and they’re all happy. There are a couple of episodes that are more upbeat.
What element of 2B are you most excited for in terms of how the fans are likely to react?
I can’t give you even a little spoiler about what I’m most excited for because I would be hunted down! The episode is called “18,” but I think it’ll be the eighth week. That episode, I would say, would be by far my favorite for the reaction of the fans. Once everyone watches the episode, they’ll know exactly what I’m talking about, but it will be very big. And it’s later in the season, so you have to wait for it, but it’s worth the wait.
In terms of the season 2B premiere on Monday, what should we expect from that? Anything we should look out for?
Back to more Jude and Connor stuff, because that’s something I know a lot about: In the upcoming episode, something hurts their friendship – something kind of damages their friendship a little bit. It’s kind of a bump in the road and hopefully they’ll be able to look past it, but you never know – some people hold grudges. The whole episode is very good. Every episode is so crazy; there’s so much going on and so much happening, and it blows your mind. Every character’s got this and that, and I can’t even keep up with it at times!
Season 2B of The Fosters premieres Monday, Jan. 19, at 8/7c on ABC Family. Check out the official preview below and keep up with Hayden Byerly on Twitter) and Instagram!
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