Megan Gallagher is something of an adaptation whisperer. The writer and executive producer whose credits include the BBC miniseriesWolf, based on the Jack Caffery novels by Mo Hayder, and the upcoming ITV drama The Blame, adapted from Charlotte Langley’s novel, delivered Peacock’s most watched original series to date — 46 million hours viewed in its first three weeks — withAll Her Fault. The adaptation of Andrea Mara’s best-selling novel stars Sarah Snook as Marissa, a mother in distress when her son, Milo (Duke McCloud), goes missing and secrets about everyone in her inner circle — particularly her husband, Peter (Jake Lacy) — begin to unfold, raising doubt about their culpability. But more than a thriller, the Emmy-nominated limited series created a dialogue about parenthood — specifically the unspoken feeling of being a single mother, even in a partnered relationship — which Gallagher was all too eager to explore.
Sarah Snook initially said there was no way she could do this series, and then you told her you could shoot in Australia and she said yes. What was it about her and this role that wouldn’t let you take no for an answer?
For the majority of the series, Marissa is in DEFCON 5 trauma. A mother’s worst nightmare: child missing, at any moment you could get the call that he’s dead; it doesn’t get any worse than that. Because of that, we knew that there was going to be a lot of crying. And you need such an incredible actress for a role like that because if you don’t, you can lose a character in the crying. The crying can become the dominant thing, and the acting is the crying as opposed to being able to convey a personality underneath all of that, being able to find the nuance of who this character is outside of the crying. The way that we cry, the way that we emote, the way that we break down, it’s not universal. So I wanted an actress who could handle all that, not just somebody who would be a good crier but somebody who’s really sophisticated, and she so thoroughly and ridiculously fit that bill.
