SWITCHED AT BIRTH: Stars of ABC Family’s New Series Talk a New Kind of Family

At a recent press junket held by Disney, NiceGirlsTV had the opportunity to participate in a roundtable interview with talent from the upcoming slate of returning and new television shows at ABC, ABC Family and Disney. Among the guests that day were cast members from the new ABC Family series Switched at Birth.

On Monday, June 6 the new show Switched at Birth will debut at 9/8c on ABC Family. The series tells the story of two teenage girls who discover they were accidentally switched as newborns in the hospital. One girl grew up in a wealthy family with two parents and a brother while the other girl, who lost her hearing at an early age due to meningitis, grew up with a single mother in a working class neighborhood. Things come to a dramatic head when both families meet and struggle to learn how to live together for the sake of the girls.

Katie Leclerc and Constance Marie

Actresses Constance Marie, Lea Thompson, Vanessa Marano and Katie Leclerc took part in the press junket, sharing what they could about their new show, starting with an explanation about the mothers and daughters at the core of the series. Constance Katie  play mother and daughter Regina and Daphne Vasquez while Lea and Vanessa play mother and daughter Kathryn and Bay Kennish. Unfortunately, Daphne and Bay were switched at birth and the truth is discovered by both families when the girls turn 15 as part of an experiment in Bay’s science class that shows her blood type doesn’t match her parents.

Lea Thompson and Vanessa Marano

While the issue of similarities, or the lack thereof, between the mothers and daughters (the daughters look nothing like their mothers) was discussed it seems, at least for the Kennish family, they attribute Bay’s light complexion and jet black hair to a distant Italian relative. The differences, though, between the mothers and daughters is examined straight off in the first episode. For the Vasquez family, the issue of Daphne’s deafness far exceeded any lingering concerns over resemblances.

All four ladies agreed that the show is anchored in familial relationships, especially when both families are brought together – the Vasquez family moves into the guest house owned by the Kennish family – in an attempt to avoid the legal drama of their dilemma, allowing the parents an opportunity to get to know their biological child. Of course, this creates problems because of differences between the two families in terms of ethnicity, child-rearing styles, and money (among other societal norms).

Given the fact Katie’s character Daphne is deaf, sign language plays a tremendously important role in the show with not only the cast but also much of the crew learning how to sign. For Constance, she had to portray a woman who has been signing for 15 years so she had to go through a “boot camp” (of sorts) to get a crash course in signing. Katie learned sign language in high school while Lea and Vanessa are in the process of learning since their characters are introduced to signing as the episodes begin to roll out. An interesting piece of information was shared by Constance and Katie who noted that, “English is the most common language, then Spanish, then sign language”.

The ladies were not able to provide teasers, but Lea did share that for her character Kathryn, she may have the hardest time adjusting to the situation simply because she has led a charmed life. “I play sort of the perfectly ordered wife of a wealthy man with 2.5 kids. She has the perfect life and then this happens.” Constance and Lea both shared that the mothers do not agree on child-rearing and many other issues as they are very different women who don’t see eye-to-eye on much of anything. For the daughters, Vanessa shared that Bay is “trying to find herself because she grew up believing she had two parents and a brother and now she learns that her biological father is out of the picture”.

The issue of the accidental switch at the hospital will also play a part in the show as the Kennish family is suing the hospital. They want to know why the switch happened, but the hospital is not taking responsibility for the switch.

Marlee Matlin

Additionally, actress Marlee Matlin will have a recurring role in the show as not only the best friend of Regina Vasquez (Constance Marie) but also the school guidance counselor and substitute basketball coach. Through an interpreter, Marlee shared that “now my kids can finally watch something that I am in.” She also thinks the show is “a great chance to show off deaf culture.” While she has only done 3 episodes, she hopes that her character will appear in more episodes throughout the course of the show.

The rest of the cast includes D.W. Moffat (Friday Night Lights), Lucas Grabeel (High School Musical) and newcomer Sean Berdy.

Make sure to watch Switched at Birth when it debuts on ABC Family on June 6 at 9/8c. You can also go here to learn more about the show.

Photo Credits: Tiffany Vogt