Grey’s Anatomy star Ellen Pompeo heads the cast of new Disney+ drama Good American Family. She tells RTÉ Entertainment’s John Byrne about the true-life horror story.
"Folks just love a good American family."
Ellen Pompeo is inextricably linked to Grey’s Anatomy and her character Meredith Grey, a role she's played for more than 20 years. But she’s no one-trick pony.
That quote above comes from her latest incarnation, as Midwestern USA mother-of-three Kristine Barnett, in an eight-part miniseries based on a real-life story of adoption that goes horribly wrong.
And, yep, it's called Good American Family.
Kristine and her husband Michael, played by Mark Duplass, have three boys, including one who is autistic, and they decide to adopt a girl – played by Imogen Faith Reid, more of whom later – who has a rare form of dwarfism.
Told from multiple points of view, it explores issues of perspective, bias, and trauma. It’s an engrossing if also quite upsetting drama, made even more emotional as it involves real people.
"Good American Family is about a couple who adopted and is having a lot of turmoil in their own family," Ellen Pompeo explains. "There was a lot of marital strife. And some children. There was a lot of fighting in the family.
"They are under the impression that, if they adopt a little girl, then that’s going to fix all of their problems. It’s going to heal their wounds. And so they get an opportunity to adopt a little girl and it doesn’t turn out the way they had expected.
"It’s interesting, because I know some people – I worked with someone on Grey's [Anatomy] specifically – and I know someone else . . . adopting a child is the unknown. Having a child is an unknown.
"You have a biological child. You don’t know who that child will turn out to be."
It also turned that Ellen’s preparation for her own journey into motherhood helped to give her a broader perspective on the story, and her role in Good American Family.
"I read a book in preparation to becoming a mother a few years ago called Far From the Tree," she recalls. "And the man who wrote the book had a son who was schizophrenic.
"He wrote this incredible book and each chapter was devoted to a different set of parents who had a child outside of their expectations."
And they weren’t just any old collection of kids. Infamy was in there too, as Ellen Pompeo explained.
They included: "The parents of Jeffrey Dahmer, the parents of the Columbine shooter Dylan Klebold, parents of a child who was born blind. This book is sort of a fascinating look at being a parent and asks the fascinating question: ‘How ready are you to be a parent?’
"Because you never know what you’re going to get. And I remembered that book when I read this script, and I was talking to the writer about her angle to the show – how she wanted to tell this story from all the different perspectives.
"And I thought about that book and I thought, ‘Oh, this is the same question.’ It’s like, when we decide to become a parent, what are our expectations? Because, like everything – a relationship, a marriage, you never know how it’s going to turn out."
The adopted child, Natalia Grace, is a 7-year-old girl. But as Kristine and Michael begin to raise her alongside their three biological children, mystery and doubts emerge around her age and background, and they slowly start to suspect she may not be who she says she is.
As they defend their family from the daughter they’ve grown to believe is a threat, she fights her own battle to confront her past and what her future holds, in a showdown that ultimately plays out in the tabloids and the courtroom.
Given the emotional scope of the story – there are no winners here – Ellen was understandably reticent about taking on the role of Kristine Barnett in a story that shocked America as it played out through the 2010s and into the 2020s.
"It was a tough decision to make, to be in it," she admits. "I had a lot of conversations with the writer, and what she was trying to achieve here. And the reasons for telling the story – why are we telling the story? Is it exploitive in any way?
"And then, do I want my children to see me this way? Not that my children would watch the series – well, my oldest will – but my younger children, I was concerned about them.
"They don’t have phones or anything like that, but – you know – children see all sorts of things on other kids’ phones. It’s hard to control what they see once they go to school.
"So I was definitely worried about my kids seeing me in this role – but my children have grown up with me being an actor, so they understand. And we have lots of conversations, that my job is kind of strange, and random strangers know my name and want to take pictures with me.
"The whole existence is a little bit odd for them, so they’re used to a little bit of weirdness."
As the story develops, the key characters – Kristine, Michael and Natalia – are shown different lights, from wholesome to selfish and downright aggressive.
Ellen Pompeo freely admits that it was quite a challenge playing different ‘versions’ of Kristine – one sweet, one not so sweet, and another that was quite unpleasant.
"It was. It was," she concedes. "I just had to figure out why she was doing what she was doing. That she believes . . . people who do the wrong thing always believe they’re forced into doing it because someone else is doing something to them. And it leaves them no choice.
"And that a sort of common psychology that I see, lots of people doing bad things and they’re justified because they’ve somehow been wronged. So that was quite an easy hook for me as an actor."
And while both Pompeo and Duplass put in sterling performances as the parents, the standout performer in Good American Family is Imogen Faith Reid as Natalia Grace, the Ukranian adoptee who may not be who she claims to be.
Like her character, the 27-year-old British actor was diagnosed with dwarfism and had stand-in and body double parts prior to landing the Good American Family role. This is her first speaking part and she’s terrific. She just carries it off.
"She does," Ellen Pompeo agrees, "and it’s her first speaking role. She wasn’t speaking in her native dialect. She wasn’t living in her native country. She was not using her typical movements.
"She had to move differently. She had a movement coach, she had a dialect coach, and she did all of this work. And then she was thrown into the mix with all of us actors, who have been doing this for the last 20 years.
"It could be, for some people, an intimidating scenario. And she was just such a pro. And she was so ready every day to take on the challenge. And she was very passionate about telling the story from her point of view.
"And that – to me – was very important. We always talk about representing people, and have people be seen and heard, and be inclusive when we make television.
"And we’re highlighting all of these things. We’re highlighting mental health. We highlight parenting. Just all of these different perspectives. And how we see people, based on what skin we’re living in."
Good American Family is available to stream at Disney+ from Wednesday, April 9.
The first five episodes will be available immediately. The remaining three episodes air weekly with the finale landing on April 30.
