This week, Jennifer Lopez sat down with Entertainment Tonight to discuss ABC Family's new drama The Fosters. Lopez discussed the themes of the show, and tearfully opened up about her lesbian aunt's recent passing and how their relationship influenced Lopez's decision to join The Fosters as an executive producer. The Fosters, from co-creators Bradley Bredeweg and Peter Paige (Queer as Folk), is about a "multi-ethnic family mix of foster and biological kids being raised by two moms" and will premiere on ABC Family on June 3 at 9/8c. Check out Lopez's interview below.
"I had an aunt who was gay and I lived with her and I loved her. She just passed away from cancer and I thought of her often when I was thinking of taking on this project and the prejudices that she faced. She was so much a part of my life. I mean, she was my mom's sister, she was always there for us and she was a great person," Lopez said. "She didn't have her own family and I often wonder if she wanted it. We never talked about it. She just had her life the way it was and I just thought about it and it was kind of like an homage to her."
"When I read the script I just really felt like although it was a non-traditional family and it had kind of those newer themes to it, it had some really basic themes as well about family and love and what's really important in life," Lopez said of what drew her to getting involved with The Fosters. "You know, that life can be complicated and messy sometimes, and not simple, and it was really, really a true depiction of family in this day and age."
The series, which premieres on ABC Family on Monday, June 3 at 9:00 pm, centers around police officer Stef Foster (Teri Polo) and her partner, school Vice Principal Lena Adams (Sherri Saum), as they raise Stef’s biological son from her previous marriage, Brandon, and the two children they’ve adopted together, Jesus and Mariana. Their already-full household will be disrupted when Lena brings home troubled foster child Callie, and when Stef is partnered at work with her ex-husband (much to Lena’s displeasure).
"You never know where life is going to take you and that's again a theme of this show. This family that you create is sometimes more important than the family you're born into," Lopez explained. "It should say a couple of things. I think it should say that there is no normal anymore. I think it should say that it's okay when everything's not what people think the fairytale should be. And that if you are in this situation that there is nothing wrong with you."
Lopez said she would consider appearing on the show, but only if it was "a cameo that really makes sense." She went on to say, "I think the show is going to need to stand on its own and I think it's good enough. The writing is top notch, this cast is amazing and again, it's ABC Family, 'a new kind of family.' It's smart, it's edgy and it's heartfelt. There's a lot going for it."
Check out pictures of Teri Polo and Sherri Saum on the GLAAD Media Awards Red Carpet in Los Angeles at GLAAD's Facebook and watch The Fosters trailer below.