© Paramount Pictures Instant Familyis a personal story for director Sean Anders. The 2018 family comedy — now streaming onNetflix— starsMark WahlbergandRose Byrneas Pete and Ellie Wagner, respectively, a couple who set their eyes on expanding their family through the foster care system. Pete and Ellie eventually end up with a full house when they adopt three siblings: a rebellious teen girl, Lizzy (Isabela Merced), and her younger brother and sister, Juan (Gustavo Escobar) and Lita (Julianna Gamiz). Anders, who co-wrote the screenplay with John Morris, previously helmed other hit comedies likeHot Tub Time MachineandDaddy's Home.For this project, the director leaned more sincere than screwball, focusing on a familiar subject. Instant Familywas inspired by Anders and his wife, Beth, who in real life chose to adopt and foster three siblings. As Anders explained in a September 2018behind-the-scenes interview, the movie documents the difficulties in the adoption process, but "it also shows what's funny about those hard parts, and then it takes you through to when you become more of a family." "Hopefully it will demystify all of that, and you'll just realize they're just family," he added. Here's everything to know about the real-life events that inspiredInstant Family. Vera Anderson/WireImage Yes,Instant Familyis based on Anders and his wife, Beth, who started their journey to become adoptive parents at 41 and 35, respectively, perThe Patriot Ledger. "I made this stupid joke one day where I said, 'I feel like I'm going to be one of those old dads. What if we adopt a 5-year-old? It'll be like we had started five years ago?' " Anders toldTodayin December 2018. "That joke made my wife look into foster care and adoption." In a behind-the-scenes interview, he elaborated, "Once we decided to move forward it was scary and overwhelming, but we were really open to whatever came our way." Anders and Beth went on to experience highs and lows through the process, something the former wanted to share with the masses, including finding the humor in it. "I felt like so much of what we went through was funny," Anders shared. "So I thought, couldn't we make a comedy that shows how this really works? ... It's rare to have that honesty in things today." He continued, "When I started talking about making it into a movie, I wanted it to be as much of our story as possible, but I also sat down with a bunch of other families, particularly those who had adopted teenage girls." At the end ofInstant Family, several photos of the Anders and other foster families are shown while the movie's credits roll. Hopper Stone/Paramount/Kobal/Shutterstock Instant Familyfocuses on the steps to becoming a foster parent and the turbulent transition period when children are brought into a new home. In a November 2024 interview withWussymagazine, Anders admitted that the movie is a "very realistic" representation of the adoption process from his own experience. "We had a little bit of everybody in our adoption classes and in our support groups," the director recalled. "It's one of the things that you realize right away, that everyone was so different from one another, but everyone had this one major thing in common — that they wanted to love these kids and be there for these kids." "Just trying to make it work and create their own families," he added. © Hopper Stone - Paramount Pictures In 2012, the Anderses fostered three siblings — Johnny, Cha-Cha and Josh — per theNew York Post. The following year, the couple officially adopted them, the outlet reported. "The first few months were really rough," Anderstold TIMEin February 2018. "When you get three at once you don't have time to get your sea legs. It was kind of like babysitting someone else's kids, but forever." He and Beth didn't adopt a teen girl in real life, but they matched with one during the foster process. She ultimately decided to refuse placement, and a social worker subsequently told Anders that three other kids were available if they were interested. "Those are now my kids and they were six, three, and eighteen months at the time. But that other girl, I never forgot her, and she was the genesis of the Lizzy character," he recalled in a November 2018 interview withRogerEbert.com. Anders continued, "When we made the movie, I really wanted one of the kids to be a teenager, so that is where it started. And then I sat down with a bunch of other adoptive families and teenagers who had grown up in care and been adopted to research the Lizzy part of the story." Despite having a movie based on their story, Anders and Beth's kids lead private lives today. Eric Charbonneau/Getty In the final moments ofInstant Family, actressJoan Cusackportrays a woman who has a touching scene with the Wagners. Speaking toCinemaBlendin November 2018, Anders explained how they "always had this idea for this neighbor character who winds up having this emotional outpouring, and this big sort of family confrontation that happened in her yard randomly and she doesn't even know these people." As for who was cast as the neighbor, Mrs. Howard, the movie's casting director suggested Cusack. "We got her just for the one day and she came in and did that cameo, and people go bananas when they see her in the movie," Anders revealed. © Paramount Pictures/Entertainment Pictures Instant Familyis currently available to stream onNetflixandParamount+. Read the original article onPeople
