"The Fosters" Celebrate Christmas
December 8 at 8:00PM

The Fosters Christmas Episode

The Fosters Christmas Episode

The Fosters Christmas Episode

The Fosters Christmas Episode

The Fosters Christmas Episode

The Fosters Season 2 Premiere

The Fosters Season 2 Premiere

The Fosters Season 2 Premiere

The Fosters Season 2 Premiere

The Fosters Season 2 Premiere

Images Provided by: ABC Family

"The Fosters" Celebrate Christmas
December 8 at 8:00PM

The Fosters Christmas Episode

The Fosters Christmas Episode

The Fosters Christmas Episode

The Fosters Christmas Episode

The Fosters Christmas Episode

The Fosters Season 2 Premiere

The Fosters Season 2 Premiere

The Fosters Season 2 Premiere

The Fosters Season 2 Premiere

The Fosters Season 2 Premiere

Images Provided by: ABC Family

Join "The Fosters" For A Very Special Christmas !

The Fosters Christmas Episode

Hayden Byerly Gives us Some Insight Into the Christmas Episode and What's Next in Season 2!

ABC Family is famous for its “25 Days of Christmas” programming. Fans look forward to December all year long so they can tune in to 25 days of great Christmas movies and specials. This year, ABC Family’s one-hour dramas decided to dive into the holiday spirit with special Christmas-themed episodes. On December 8, “Switched at Birth” and “The Fosters” will make Christmas Merrier and Bright, followed by “Pretty Little Liars” and “Chasing Life” on December 9th.

We recently spoke with Hayden Byerly who plays the conflicted “Jude” on the ground-breaking series “The Fosters.” Hayden talked to us about what we can expect from the special Christmas episode, how he plans to spend the Holidays and what’s still ahead for “Jude” in the rest of Season 2, which premieres January 19, 2015 at 8:00PM (note new time!).

See a sneak peak here:

“The first time I heard about ‘The Fosters’ was the first time I [auditioned] for the character of ‘Jude,’” Hayden recalls about landing the role that would change his life. “It was October of 2012. My first thoughts on ‘Jude’ and the show were that I thought that whether or not I was portraying ‘Jude’ on the show, it would take off. I thought it was such a cool idea and not a lot of shows have shown the topics that they discussed. It was so cool and so important. Somewhere inside of me, I definitely knew that it would be a big show.”

After the audition, Hayden really hoped that he would get the part. “This would be so cool to do,” he remembers thinking. “I thought it would be such a privilege to play a character that was a foster kid. He had so many different struggles. He was finally adopted by a family. It was such a very smart, incredible part. I still do.”

Did he predict the overwhelming impact the show would have on its audience? “I kind of started to feel that after the first episode aired. So many people were so supportive and excited about the idea of a show like this. After the first episode aired, it was kind of one of those things where we all thought that this show would take off. I mean the writing is so incredible, and the story is so special that I think that everyone on the show at that point in time was like, 'This show is going to be a huge thing.' We're so lucky and so blessed to be a part of that.”

So how would he describe the character that he brings to life on the small screen? “I would describe ‘Jude’ as a somewhat quiet, very mature, collected young man. He's smart and he loves his sister more than anything.”

Playing “Jude” is kind of a group effort from the writers, producers and Hayden of course. “They would kind of let me know a little bit about Jude piece by piece. I would just kind of fill in that blank by myself, in my mind, about what that would be until they came along and either said that was correct or incorrect. They gave me an outlook on who ‘Jude’ is as a person, not just as a character. I just really kind of let them show me who ‘Jude’ was. I also figured that out on my own and they filled in some areas. They always asked me things, if I thought that ‘Jude’ would do this if I thought ‘Jude’ would be portrayed this way and if he would be this type of character. I thought that was cool because I got to kind of explore with them who ‘Jude’ was and kind of figure it out.”

So what can he tell us about the very special Christmas episode of “The Fosters?” “The Christmas episode,” Hayden begins, “in the very beginning, it picks up resuming with where we left off with Brandon and Callie making out, so that's kind of cool. Then it's Brandon remembering what it was like for the first Christmas with the Fosters and Callie and Jude. It kind of jumps back to Christmas time where it's all the Fosters and it's right after Jude was adopted and Callie was not. It's a very touching, fun episode. It's very cool and I am super excited for everyone and myself to see it.”

“I did have a favorite scene from this episode,” he divulges. “There's kind of a ‘Foster Family dinner.’ It's like a Christmas dinner that everyone has and that's probably my favorite scene from this episode. I can't go in to details as to why but once you see the episode, you'll know.”

Get another sneak peak of the Christmas episode here:

As for real life, Hayden will spend the holidays much like Jude does, with plenty of loving, family fun! “I am originally from Colorado. My family and I will all go back home to Colorado for our Christmas. We'll all sit down, you know My Mom, my brother, my grandparents, my Dad, and have a traditional family Christmas meal. We'll play board games. We're super competitive. It's always girls versus guys. And we're always kicking the crud out of girls. We all love each other very much, so they holidays are always a very fun time!”

When all the holiday craziness dies down, it will be time to look ahead to the new year and lucky for “The Fosters” fans, that means new episodes to watch over and over again! “Some insight on what we will see from Jude in season two,” Hayden offers, “is he's going through some struggles with whether or not Callie wants to... well, she does want to go after her birth father. He's going through some struggles with that, as well as Callie and whether or not Robert will sign the papers and allow the Fosters to adopt Callie. He's going through a lot of those struggles with her. We also find out what happened in the tent with Jude and Connor so you get to see a lot more of their friendship and what went on and what really happened and how it affected their friendship.”

When he’s not on camera, Hayden takes the honor of playing “Jude” very seriously and donates a lot of time to charities that help people who find themselves in very real “Jude-like” situations. “I am a huge supporter of anti-bulling campaigns and stuff like that. I'm also very supportive of a lot of Foster campaigns and a lot of stuff to raise awareness for Foster kids. Also about the LGBT youth, I'm a huge supporter of those types of events that raise awareness and basically tell kids that it's okay to express who you are and show that you are different and unique and that's perfectly fine. I'm a huge supporter of all those types of charities and different organizations.”

Be sure to watch “The Fosters” on ABC Family, December 8 at 8:00PM to see what Christmas magic comes their way.

Follow Hayden on Twitter: https://twitter.com/HaydenByerly

For more on "The Fosters" visit: http://abcfamily.go.com/shows/the-fosters