Diksha Sundriyal
Starring Mark Wahlberg and Rose Byrne, ‘Instant Family’ follows the story of Pete and Ellie Wagner, who start considering adoption after his passing remark about the same sparks his wife’s interest. After seriously considering their decision, they get certified as foster parents, and when the time comes, they choose to foster a teenager named Lizzie. They are in for a shock when they are told that she has two younger siblings, Juan and Lita, who are a part of the package.
However, instead of shying away from it, they embrace the challenge, which sometimes is more than they can handle. As they try to give the children a loving and stable home, they face all sorts of hurdles while trying to connect with them. All the good and the bad things they go through as a family are realistic portrayals of fostering and adoption because they reflect the real experience of the director, Sean Anders, and his family.
Sean Anders and His Wife’s Adoption Journey Started With a Joke
‘Instant Family’ is a fictional rendering of the real experience of Sean Anders and his wife, Beth, who went through a similar journey when they chose to adopt three siblings. In the film, Pete jokes about how they are already too old and wonders if they should get a 5-year-old kid to catch up on their journey as parents. In 2012, something similar happened for Sean and Beth, who were 41 and 35 then. They had been considering having children for a while, but as time passed, they started to wonder how old they would be when their biological children would grow up. Sean made the same joke that Pete does in the film, and much like Ellie, Beth took it seriously.
After a lot of research and looking through local agencies, they eventually found one through which they enrolled in a program that got them their foster care license. While looking for kids to foster, they found a teenage girl and her siblings, but much like Lizzie in the film, the girl held on to hope that her birth mother would come back to claim them and did not want to be placed with any family. Following this, Sean and Beth got the opportunity to foster another set of three siblings, who were six years, three years, and eighteen months old at the time and were separated from their mother due to her drug problem.
Like Pete and Ellie, Sean and Beth experienced many ups and downs in their journey to get the children to feel at home and win their love. “The next months were really difficult, and it wasn’t just about the behavior of the kids. We just weren’t used to the mess, the schedules, having to think on our feet and making all kinds of mistakes,” the writer-director said. Some days got so bad that they started to reconsider their plans of adoption and agreed to let the birth mother take the children if she came back for them. But then, about six months later, the couple realized they did not want a quiet house anymore. They wanted the excitement and the chaos that came with the kids, which is when it became clear to them that they would not give up on their children.
Sean Anders and His Family Prefer Their Privacy Today
Sean Anders lives in Los Angeles, California, with his wife, Beth, and their three children, Johnny, Charlene, and Josh, who are 19, 15, and 14 years old now. The couple officially adopted the siblings in 2013. While Sean made a movie about their adoption journey, this is the extent to which the family has chosen to remain in the public limelight. The Anders family prefers their privacy and stays away from public scrutiny. Still, the couple continues to advocate for adoption through different platforms. When Sean decided to make a movie about their journey, he discussed it with his wife and children to ensure they were all comfortable with the idea. After some initial reservations, they gave him the green light and were happy with how the movie turned out and the message it sent to the audience.
While ‘Instant Family’ brought Sean Anders’ personal life into the spotlight, he had already made a name for himself in professional circles as a writer and director. Best known for writing and directing ‘Daddy’s Home’ and ‘Daddy’s Home 2,’ starring Mark Wahlberg and Will Ferrell, he is also known for his work in ‘Horrible Bosses 2,’ ‘Hot Tub Time Machine,’ and ‘We’re the Millers.’ In 2022, he directed Ryan Reynolds and Will Ferrell in Apple TV+’s Christmas movie, ‘Spirited.’ With every new project, he intends to focus on human stories that have heart and humour, and is particularly inspired by John Hughes. His daughter, Charlene, seems to share his love for movies and filmmaking and has already made her film debut with a small role in ‘Spirited.’
Speaking of his family, Sean said that he and Beth are proud of their children and the resilience they have shown over the years. Before the adoption, the couple lived in a house in La Crescenta, which was fit for two people. In 2020, they sold the house and found a different place suitable for their family. The couple has learned to make adjustments in the process of being the parents of three beautiful children, who have filled their lives with love and joy. The family’s bond has strengthened over the years, and the couple encourages and supports their children in all their endeavours.
Read More: Is Instant Family Based on a True Story?
