Summary

Mark Duplass and Imogen Faith Reid discuss their instant bond filming Good American Family.

Reid discusses the emotional and physical challenges of playing Natalia Grace.

Duplass praises Reid’s debut performance and discusses why the role of Michael Barnett felt like a perfect fit for him.

If you haven’t heard of the Natalia Grace case, buckle up because you’re in for a bumpy, twisty ride. While the Max documentary highlights all of the shocking facts of the case in detail, the general idea is as follows: an Indiana couple named Kristine and Michael Barnett adopt a little girl with dwarfism from Ukraine. Though she seems like the perfect addition to their family at first, certain behaviors Natalia exhibits make the Barnetts suspicious she may not be telling the truth about her age and have sinister motives. It’s a tricky thing to put onscreen, but showrunners Katie Robbins and Sarah Sutherland handle it with respect, showing various perspectives about what went down without shying away from addressing the child abuse and cruelty that occurred.
The actors take on their roles with an equal amount of care and nuance. Emmy-nominated for his role in The Morning Show (and known for his multitude of excellent indie projects like Creep and Penelope), Mark Duplass takes on the part of Michael, a well-meaning but flawed father who often bends to his wife’s will — even when that means doing unspeakable harm. Still, he does offer the occasional amount of comedic relief and levity, especially during his early interactions with Natalia, played by Imogen Faith Reid in her first TV role. Don’t let the fact this is her debut fool you — Reid is an absolute powerhouse, playing a complicated role with confidence and authenticity. She shines in every scene she’s in, though the ones she shares with Duplass are standouts.
Collider got the chance to speak with Duplass and Reid about developing their incredible chemistry. The two also revealed what they learned from one another throughout filming, how they tackled their layered characters, and more.
Mark Duplass and Imogen Faith Reid Break Down Their Father-Daughter Chemistry in ‘Good American Family’

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COLLIDER: First of all, congratulations on this show — you both are so, so good in it. It’s obviously a very dark show, but there are some moments of levity, especially between you two. Can you talk about building that father-daughter chemistry? Because I really enjoyed watching you two interact.
IMOGEN FAITH REID: You know what, it was like, when I met Mark, we just had chemistry from the get-go I felt.
MARK DUPLASS: Yeah, I didn’t feel that way so much.
REID: Yeah, so anyway — back to what I was saying. [Laughs] Yeah, Mark is just such an amazing human. He is so easygoing, and I flow with stuff like that. I remember our scene when I say, “Are you guys bringing me back?” and stuff, the chemistry was so amazing, and I’ve never done such a vulnerable scene with anyone before. I never cried with anyone before, but I trusted Mark with those emotions, and I think that is so important to do. I wouldn’t have done this with anyone else if I had to change it.
DUPLASS: I remember that scene, and we knew each other a little, and I remember thinking, “Oh, she’s incredible. She’s a bright light. She’s so excited to be here. I need to mooch off of that energy as a 25-year-old lightly grumpy veteran of the industry.” I was like, “That’s great.” And then, we did that scene together, and I remember I took her outside, and I was just like, “You are a fucking pro.” Like, you don’t realize this is her first speaking role, okay? We have speaking not in your native dialect — because if you haven’t noticed [in British accent], she’s very British.
REID: Very British.
DUPLASS: [British accent] Lots of PG Tips. [Regular speaking voice] Then we have all the movement she has to work out to make it work for her version of Natalia. Then we have an eight-episode arc playing slightly different versions of this character, depending on whose perspective. All of this in her first gig. It’s not nothing.
No, it’s everything. You gave me everything.
Mark Duplass and Imogen Faith Reid Dig Into Their Complex ‘Good American Family’ Characters

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That leads really well into my next question because it is a very tricky role. You have to believably play all of these ages, all of these motivations, so I’m curious how you sort of built those layers of her while keeping her still cohesive and consistent because you managed to do that, too, while finding all these facets.
REID: Thank you. You know, as an actor, it was so fun to play the different perspectives. I mean, the first four are obviously from the Barnetts, and it was so fun to play Natalia.
DUPLASS: Bad girl.
REID: Bad girl. She was so fun. I remember being like, “I love this.”
DUPLASS: [Laughs] She got a tattoo on her back that says “villain era.”
REID: Yeah, “villain era.” And then, you know, when we go into Natalia’s POV, that was just so heartbreaking. I just wanted to do it justice. And seeing the dynamics change between characters was so tough, but it’s such an honor to play Natalia, really.
She’s such a complex character, and I feel like Michael really is, too. He’s obviously a perpetrator, but he is a victim in his own ways as well, and I feel like the moments in that first episode where he talks about his father and what kind of man he was really sort of illuminated him and how he reacts to certain things. I’m curious how that piece of information informed the character for you.
DUPLASS: This sort of “version” of Michael Barnett, as I like to describe him, was really a great match for me. When Sarah and Katie, the showrunners, brought me this, I was like, “Oh, this is something I can understand as someone with mental health issues.” I’ve been open about it in my own life — I’ve dealt with them for years. This is someone who is trying to get things right for his own children and trying to raise up a generation so that they can do better than he did, and there’s a real sweetness and vulnerability of that. And when you combine that with a hero complex, some unchecked ego, and an intense desire to please everyone around you, it’s a recipe for a fucking disaster, and that’s what really hooked me.
You mentioned Natalia is obviously a very emotionally complex character, but this role is very physical in a lot of ways, too — you’re thrashing around a lot.
REID: Yes!
I’m curious how you sort of got yourself to go there and your approach to those pieces of this character. It really stood out to me, how much you were moving around and fighting.
DUPLASS: [Laughs] This is just a big audition for her Marvel movie, okay? It’s one eight-hour audition.
REID: [Punches air] Where’s the cameras? [Laughs] It was so much fun. I mean diving into this role, I wanted to use every ounce of my body. I just wanted to dive into it and the physicality of it. First of all, I had a movement coach because my form of dwarfism is different from Natalia’s. I have proportional dwarfism, which is very different, so I had to really engage in that movement and make the movement very genuine for me and not like I’m pretending or betraying to do something that’s not me, otherwise, it just won’t look real. I loved the physicality of it. I loved using my whole body. I’ve actually done a lot of the stunts. I was like, “Please, can I do the stunts?” This is my first role, so I was just like a puppy at Christmas. I just wanted to do everything and learn from everyone.
DUPLASS: You go, Tom Cruise. You do your own stunts.
REID: Marvel?
Marvel, we are pleading to you right now.
Mark Duplass and Imogen Faith Reid Reveal What They Learned From Each Other on ‘Good American Family’

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You mentioned learning a lot on the set, and you also mentioned learning a lot from her, so I’m curious if the two of you could just talk about maybe the biggest thing that you learned from each other.
DUPLASS: I’m gonna start with this. It was really simple for me. I started off making movies in my kitchen for $3 at the Sundance Film Festival, and now I’m on these big sets, and the thing that I should be doing every day is being absolutely grateful for this opportunity. But I’m also a human being who’s got stress with kids and my work life and all those things, so I get grumpy on set. You just do. And being around Imogen and seeing this thing — talk about multiple perspectives — through the wide-eyed glory of, “This is my dream, and I’m here, and I am so excited,” was so inspiring and such a good reminder to me. She’s like walking around with a gratitude journal. It’s a gift.
REID: I was just annoying. [Laughs] Through Mark, what I learned is he is just such an amazing human. There’s no fault in him. He was just so sweet to always lean on and talk to. And what I love about Mark is that he always talks about mental health on social media, and to do those tough scenes with him, it felt like I could give my emotions to him, and he could really take him. And I’ve never had that before. I’ve never done a show like that — I’ve never done a show period — and it was just so amazing. I was really grateful for that.
Well, thank you both so much. It was such a pleasure to talk to you, and I’m so excited for everyone to get to see the amazing work that you do in the show. I hope this is not the last I see of you — far from it. We’re calling Marvel up right after this.
REID: Girl!
We’re gonna make it happen for you.
DUPLASS: [Puts cell phone to ear] Excuse me?
New episodes of Good American Family premiere every Wednesday on Hulu.

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