For Ellen Pompeo and Mark Duplass, trust was central to 'Good American Family'

Although she’s 1 of the astir recognizable faces connected television, Ellen Pompeo felt arsenic if the squad down “Good American Family” took a accidental connected her.

For astir 2 decades, Pompeo starred successful “Grey’s Anatomy” arsenic the show’s namesake quality Meredith Grey. But successful 2022, Pompeo announced that she would beryllium scaling backmost her appearances connected the amusement to enactment connected a caller task that would go her archetypal large relation extracurricular of the long-running aesculapian drama.

Pompeo said she felt unit to beryllium she could subdivision retired from the quality she had go synonymous with and that, similar her, the creatives of “Good American Family” took a risk.

“It took tremendous courageousness and bravery connected each their parts and taking a accidental connected me. It’s a existent chance,” she said. “I haven’t done thing successful 20 years — I could person effed this up majorly.”

That accidental has travel successful the signifier of Hulu’s constricted bid premiering Wednesday that’s based connected the real-life communicative of the Barnett household and Natalia Grace, a Ukrainian miss with a uncommon signifier of dwarfism. The Indiana family’s adoption of Natalia, consequent abandonment of her and the charges that followed made headlines crossed the crossed country, aboriginal becoming the taxable of the three-season Investigation Discovery docuseries “The Curious Case of Natalia Grace” and present “Good American Family.”

Mark Duplass and Ellen Pompeo arsenic Michael and Kristine Barnett successful Hulu’s “Good American Family.”

(Ser Baffo / Disney)

In the series, Pompeo stars alongside Mark Duplass, playing Kristine and Michael Barnett, the mates who adopted Natalia, played by Imogen Faith Reid. “Good American Family” is told from antithetic points of presumption to exemplify the conflicting accounts of what happened betwixt members of the family.

For Pompeo, stepping into her archetypal post-”Grey’s” relation was daunting, particularly erstwhile it was a quality arsenic analyzable arsenic this one.

“I didn’t cognize if I could bash it,” she said. “I’ve done the aforesaid happening for 20 years. I didn’t cognize if I could bash thing else. Why would anybody judge that I could?”

But Duplass, who said she expressed those worries to him erstwhile they archetypal met up to sermon the task implicit a sushi dinner, helped enactment her caput astatine ease. He recalled her asking, “Am I going to beryllium capable to bash this?”

“I’m like, ‘Of people you’re gonna beryllium capable to f— bash this, but I emotion that you deliberation you mightiness not, due to the fact that that makes maine consciousness safe,” Duplass said.

Mark Duplass said Ellen Pompeo shared her doubts astir taking connected a caller role: “I’m like, ‘Of people you’re gonna beryllium capable to f— bash this, but I emotion that you deliberation you mightiness not, due to the fact that that makes maine consciousness safe.”

(Jennifer McCord / For The Times)

The jitters implicit their roles were understandable considering the complexity of the communicative of the Barnetts and the girl they adopted. Kristine was convinced that Natalia was an big posing arsenic a child, and she alleged that Natalia tried to termination members of the household and has called her a “sociopath.” The Barnetts had her property legally changed to 22, reflecting their presumption that she was an adult, and they near her to unrecorded unsocial successful an flat successful 2013 earlier moving to Canada with their 3 biologic children. Natalia denies the Barnetts’ allegations and has said successful interviews that she was the 1 being abused. DNA tests taken by Natalia successful 2023 constituent to her commencement twelvemonth being astir 2003, making her astir 10 years aged erstwhile she was abandoned.

The parents were charged with neglect of a babelike successful 2019, and some pleaded not guilty. Michael was acquitted of the charges successful 2022, and the charges against Kristine were dropped successful 2023. She maintains her innocence, but Michael has said successful respective interviews for the documentary that Kristine was a “monster,” abusing some him and Natalia. (Michael filed for divorcement from Kristine successful 2014.)

Co-showrunners Katie Robbins and Sarah Sutherland said they ne'er doubted Pompeo could present a beardown show portion besides providing meaningful contributions successful her relation arsenic an enforcement producer.

“We ne'er had to interest astir whether oregon not she could bash it due to the fact that she was disquieted astir it,” said Robbins, who created the series. “And that meant that each time she came, having thought astir it, having done her homework, moving truly hard to marque definite that she could play this part, and she did and was specified a fantastic originative collaborator.”

Pompeo and Duplass some admitted they were hesitant to instrumentality connected dramatized roles of Kristine and Michael, 2 radical often vilified by the media. It smelled similar “trouble, trouble, trouble,” Pompeo said. She disquieted the amusement could beryllium exploitative — a fearfulness Duplass shared. Both actors are parents too: Pompeo has 2 daughters and a lad with her husband, grounds shaper and writer Chris Ivery; and Duplass has 2 daughters with woman Katie Aselton, an histrion and filmmaker.

“I truly powerfully believe, don’t enactment thing retired conscionable due to the fact that you tin rip it from the headlines and marque a buck. And I wasn’t saying I was judging it, but I’m conscionable wary of those things,” Duplass said. “So I was conscionable honestly asking myself, ‘Why are we making the show? What’s this about?’”

Natalia Grace is played by Imogen Faith Reid, left, a 27-year-old actor.

(Ser Baffo / Disney)

Both actors credited aboriginal conversations with Robbins and Sutherland successful helping them determine to marque the leap, arsenic good arsenic gathering Reid. Her crook arsenic Natalia successful the bid marks the 27-year-old’s archetypal large acting relation (she’s besides a devoted instrumentality of “Grey’s Anatomy,” according to Duplass and Pompeo).

Robbins, who created the series, was insistent that the amusement would not beryllium conscionable different rehashing of the communicative that’s been told done documentaries, podcasts and different media. With “Good American Family,” Robbins wanted to airs larger questions astir bias, loyalty and what she calls “the elusive quality of truth.”

To research those themes, the 8 episodes of the bid are divided betwixt Kristine, Michael and Natalia’s perspectives. Robbins said she and her colleagues hoped this operation would “give audiences an accidental to grapple with their ain biases.”

Duplass said helium felt casting him and Pompeo lent itself to that speech astir questioning who we spot and who we don’t, since the 2 of them person agelong played dependable, well-liked characters.

Ellen Pompeo connected taking connected a caller role: “I truly needed to spot if I could [do it] and if I would bask it, if I thought it was fun.” (Jennifer McCord/For The Times)

Mark Duplass: “There’s a reservoir of spot built up for Ellen and myself due to the fact that of the years we’ve spent connected screen, subconsciously convincing radical that erstwhile we speak, we’re the dependable of reason.” (Jennifer McCord/For The Times)

“There’s a reservoir of spot built up for Ellen and myself due to the fact that of the years we’ve spent onscreen, subconsciously convincing radical that erstwhile we speak, we’re the dependable of reason,” helium said. “We’re benignant of banking connected the past of america being the halfway of morality, and past that halfway starts to crumble.”

For Pompeo, her enactment connected “Grey’s” gave her “the acquisition of knowing however to beryllium contiguous successful an instant,” aft having enactment successful her “10,000 hours and past some,” she said. That acquisition proved rather utile erstwhile tackling the pugnacious taxable matter, each portion managing her anxiousness astir what she called having to “start from scratch” with a caller relation for the archetypal clip successful respective years.

“I truly needed to spot if I could [do it] and if I would bask it, if I thought it was fun,” she said. “It was a large trial for me. It was a large experiment, but 1 that was necessary.”

The co-stars — Pompeo said they had instant chemistry — person talked astir collaborating again successful the future.

“We truly enjoyed moving unneurotic and being together, and it’s decidedly thing that I would similar to do,” said Duplass earlier Pompeo joked that she’d beryllium appearing successful the upcoming play of “The Morning Show” with him.

Pompeo said she doesn’t cognize what’s adjacent successful this signifier of her career, but with bully humor, she and Duplass agreed: “Let’s anticipation this goes well.”