Saying goodbye. Maia Mitchell announced in March 2022 that she would no longer play the role of Callie Adams Foster in Good Trouble. However, it seems she might be returning for a guest-starring role.
Freeform announced in January 2023 that the actress would come back for the season 5 premiere, set to air on Thursday, March 16.
Keep reading for more details on her departure from the show.
Is Maia Mitchell Leaving ‘Good Trouble’?
The actress originated the role of troubled teen Callie in 2013 when The Fosters premiered and when the show ended in 2018, brought the character to Freeform’s spinoff series.
“I know there will be a lot of questions, and after sticking by me for so many years, you deserve transparency,” the Australian star shared via Instagram after her final episode aired in March 2022. “Ten years ago, I auditioned for a little pilot called The Fosters. I was 19 with no clue of the luck I had stumbled upon. Years later, I was able to continue my journey as Callie when we formed the Good Trouble family. Two shows, 156 episodes, and a chosen family for life. Lucky me.”
Maia went on to say that she has “suppressed an undeniable gravitational pull to return home to Australia to be closer to my nearest and dearest.” She added, “Thus came the need to create the space to split my time between both countries.”
The Teen Beach Movie star explained that it was “time to start a new chapter and bid farewell to Good Trouble.”
She thanked the show’s team, cast and crew for all their hard work over the years, and assumed the title as “Good Trouble‘s newest biggest fan.”
How Maia’s Character Callie Adams Foster Leaves ‘Good Trouble’?
Callie’s story ended with the character landing her dream job as a lawyer at the ACLU in Washington, D.C. The episode featured The Fosters cameos from Teri Polo, Sherri Saum and Hayden Byerly as Callie told her sister and roommate Mariana (Cierra Ramirez) that she was gearing up for a move across the country.
“I’m so proud to have sent Callie off on her new adventure with such purpose and agency,” Maia added. “To the fans who have embraced me as Callie for so many years, thank you. Words can’t express how beyond grateful I am for your consistent and unbreakable loyalty. Fact: We have the best fandom in television. You will always hold a special place in my heart, and I know our paths will cross again in the future.”
Why Did Maia Mitchell Leave ‘Good Trouble’?
As for the “tough” decision to leave the show, Maia explained to Entertainment Weekly that she gave it a lot of thought.
“It’s really bittersweet. It’s honestly pretty sad. I sat with it for a really long time and tried to talk myself out of it,” she shared. “But with the pandemic — everyone met so many challenges during the past couple of years and for me, it was just being away from my family. I’m so close with my family and I have spent most of my time in America being quite homesick. I have found community and family with The Fosters and Good Trouble and that’s kept me going. But just not being able to get to family at the moment and having to spend so much time away from them even while we shut down for a really long time and I wasn’t able to get home, they weren’t able to come to me.”
The actress added, “Everything in me knew it was time to come home.”
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