Additional Coverage:
- In ‘All Her Fault,’ Sarah Snook and Dakota Fanning take on mom guilt and the mental load (latimes.com)
“All Her Fault” Explores Motherhood, Guilt, and Unlikely Friendships
[Chicago, IL] The highly anticipated Peacock drama “All Her Fault,” streaming this Thursday, delves into the harrowing experience of a mother whose child goes missing, forcing a raw exploration of maternal guilt and the powerful bonds of female friendship.
Sarah Snook, known for her role as the formidable Shiv Roy in “Succession,” takes on the lead as Marissa Irvine, a Chicago businesswoman whose world shatters when her young son, Milo, vanishes from what she believed was a playdate. The series, an eight-episode thriller, promises twists and turns while seriously examining the blame women often place on themselves when things go wrong.
Snook, a new mother herself, found her personal experiences unexpectedly helpful in portraying Marissa’s anguish. “It was useful to kind of use my daughter,” she shared in a video call.
“What would it be like to have the situation happen to me? I understand that more in depth now being a parent.”
However, she quickly added that she couldn’t fully imagine her own child in Milo’s place, stating, “It’s too hard, it’s too much.”
The show’s title, “All Her Fault,” serves as a poignant misdirection, as Snook explains. “It cannot be just her fault, that’s just not possible. We explore what the mental load is oftentimes for women to take on in a parenting role.”
This “mental load” is a central theme, as both Marissa and Jenny (Dakota Fanning), the other parent unwittingly caught in the nightmare, grapple with guilt. Marissa didn’t double-check the playdate arrangements, while Jenny, a book marketer, hired the nanny ultimately responsible for the kidnapping.
Creator Megan Gallagher was drawn to Andrea Mara’s novel for its exploration of “maternal guilt and this discrepancy in domestic labor tasks in heterosexual couples.” Gallagher noted, “Every woman I know, who is roughly my age, is dealing with this. Every woman I know drops off their kid at school and sobs in the parking lot before they make it to work.”
For Snook, the role of Marissa offered a stark contrast to Shiv Roy. “I wanted to find a character that was just inherently warm,” she explained.
“Marissa is just a nice, warm, friendly person who has a maternal quality naturally about her and sees someone upset and goes, ‘I got you.'” This innate warmth is evident in Marissa’s initial encounter with Jenny, where a shared moment of awkwardness at a school function, coincidentally wearing the same dress, blossoms into a deeper connection after Milo’s disappearance.
Dakota Fanning, who does not have children, still found a deep well of inspiration for her role as Jenny. “I’ve always wanted to be a mother,” she revealed, adding that she’s been in nurturing roles her entire life, from caring for her younger sister Elle to being a godmother to her best friend’s daughters. She even drew on “the pressure that I put on my own mom as a 31-year-old daughter,” with a laugh.
On screen, Jenny is a dedicated book marketer, unapologetically passionate about her career, a point creator Megan Gallagher emphasizes. “I really like showing that women are unapologetically passionate about their work, and that’s OK for us to love our work,” Gallagher stated. “Nobody is supposed to love their work more than their own children, but it’s OK for our kids to not be enough and for us to need work to be fulfilled.”
Despite their professional ambitions, both Marissa and Jenny are portrayed as deeply devoted mothers. Snook challenges the common media trope that “if they are successful then they must not be maternal.” In fact, Snook believes her own recent career success is directly related to becoming a mother, citing “new perspectives, the deepening of empathy, the strength gained from experience.”
Snook also served as an executive producer on “All Her Fault,” which was filmed in Melbourne, Australia, allowing her to be close to her daughter and stepson. Her husband, actor Dave Lawson, took on significant parenting responsibilities, even bringing their daughter to set for lunch playtime.
Snook fondly recalled, “There were toys on set because I had a fake kid on set. There was a playground on set.
She probably thinks that every set she goes to when she visits mum at work there’s always going to be a little mini playground, and toys to play with and that’s not going to be the case, honey.”
Despite the intense subject matter, Snook described the production as a lighthearted environment, with cast members often joking to counterbalance the sadness of their characters. For Snook, maintaining a clear boundary between her demanding role and home life was crucial.
“When we were doing hard days at work and you’re crying every day, the best thing to do is to go home and give your daughter a cuddle, because all the oxytocin and all that yumminess comes back,” she shared. “It’s not useful if mom comes home and she’s whipping her back or trying to stay in this character.
To drop it is really useful for me so that you can fill your cup again.”
“All Her Fault” promises to be a gripping thriller that resonates with the complex realities of modern motherhood, female relationships, and the often-unseen burdens women carry.