When Ellen Pompeo received the script for her new series ‘Good American Family’, she wasn’t sure if she wanted to take on the role. Based on a true story, the miniseries follows a couple from Indiana who adopts a Ukrainian girl with a rare form of dwarfism. Over time, their new parents begin to suspect that she is not a girl but an adult woman pretending to be a child, and they worry that their lives may be in danger. “I thought accepting this series was going to be a great challenge,” Pompeo declares in our virtual interview. However, Kristine Barnett is exactly the type of role that Pompeo had been looking for to change things up after playing Dr. Meredith Grey on television for 21 seasons. “As actors, we want to portray a wide range of emotions and characters. I didn’t want a role like Meredith because I already play her in another series.”
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‘Good American Family’ focuses on the Barnett family, who adopted the Ukrainian orphan girl Natalia Grace Barnett. The parents are portrayed by Ellen Pompeo and Mark Duplass, and the debutante British actress Imogen Faith Red plays Natalia Grace. Told from multiple perspectives, the miniseries, which premiered on Disney+ on March 19, unfolds over eight episodes. In real life, the Barnetts claimed that Natalia was violent, had mental health issues, was planning to murder the entire family, and was scamming them by pretending to be a minor. The case became a media sensation in the United States in 2014, as well as one of the country’s strangest criminal cases. Natalia and the Barnetts remained in the public eye during the ongoing legal battles that ensued after legally changing Natalia’s age and leaving her in a rented apartment while the rest of the family moved out of the country.
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“In order to explore different perspectives, prejudices, and trauma, we wanted Ellen Pompeo’s character to narrate the series in voice-over, while at the same time we see it from multiple perspectives until ending with sensationalist press and the courts,” explains Sarah Sutherland, co-creator of the series and daughter of actor Kiefer Sutherland. Announced in the summer of 2022, Pompeo was forced to reduce her participation in ‘Grey’s Anatomy,’ where she is also an executive producer. However, she continued to work as a weekly voice narrator on Grey. After finishing filming ‘Good American Family,’ she increased her participation in the 21st season of ‘Grey’s Anatomy’. “I think I am a person with quite a bit of endurance; I have been on a television series for 21 seasons and I think it’s something I may have inherited from Boston. I am a true Bostonian and resilience is one of my strengths,” Pompeo continues. “It’s fantastic to make the leap to this series after so many years playing Meredith and although I also have to narrate off-screen, the characters couldn’t be more different.” As a producer and narrator, Ellen admits the effectiveness of telling the same story from different points of view. “What makes voice-over effective is the general idea that you and I can see something and each have a completely different idea of what we have seen. That is happening constantly in the world today. We all see the same thing, yet we have very different opinions about what we saw or what it is. Hopefully, we can agree on seeing the same thing, but it’s not always the case. As an actor, portraying these characters and telling a story like this is very convincing because it speaks to the human condition. You and I can see exactly the same thing and get two completely different versions of what we just saw. So, the voice-over reflects Kristine’s version as the story shows a few others that also exist. It is a key piece in the story,” explains the actress.
“Sometimes we take on too many responsibilities and sometimes we make bad decisions, but I believe that, deep down, mothers have the best intentions, and that’s where I started.”
— Ellen Pompeo, actress
Actor Mark Duplass, Jennifer Aniston’s co-star in ‘The Morning Show’ and the only actress who could take Pompeo’s title as the queen of television, takes on the lead role alongside Ellen. “She doesn’t say it, but for me it has been exciting to shoot this series because I knew how important it was for her after so many years on ‘Grey’s Anatomy’. I wanted to feel the stress, tension, nerves, what it means to have the first job after so long because it’s scary what people think, but I have been amazed by her leadership role in performance and production. She has been able to convey confidence and, at the same time, control her vulnerability, nerves, and fear; it’s very difficult. I admire her for giving me a master class on how to be number one on set,” said Duplass.
At 55 years old, the highest-paid TV actress in the industry admitted to intensely preparing herself to play Kristine Barnett. “At first, the character didn’t seem like it was for me. Then, I started reading books about motherhood, police reports from her trials, interviews with her, and I understood that I needed to connect the physical aspect of my character with her emotions if I wanted to portray her properly. As an actress, I like to prepare myself to achieve a truthful performance no matter how uncomfortable it may feel at times." In reality, she didn’t just have to research, the actress acknowledges that she used her experience as a mother to shape Barnett. “The starting point to create this character was a mother’s love. Every mother has the intention to love her children and do everything possible to provide them with the love, support, and help they need. Sometimes we take on too much responsibility and sometimes we make bad decisions, but I believe that, deep down, mothers have the best intentions, and that’s where I started from. Every mother loves her children, but many can make mistakes.”
The star, who shares with her husband Chris Ivery their children Stella Luna, 15, Sienna May, 10, and Eli Christopher, 8, acknowledges that Kristine’s journey ended up changing and shaping her. “I think I’m very interested in how it changed and shaped me. I think now I am more aware of the harm that can be caused to a child, either by action or inaction, and how reactive one is as a parent. A large part of parenting is based on ego, because we see ourselves reflected in our children. We want to be authentic, but we don’t know how to respond when we don’t get the reaction we expect or desire from our children. This character made me more aware of that."
Queen of television and streaming platforms
Pompeo revealed in a recent presentation for Walt Disney advertisers that ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ is Disney’s most-watched series worldwide. To date, Shonda Rhimes’ flagship series has accumulated 3200 million hours of streaming on Disney+, Hulu, and Star+ services worldwide. Additionally, it has been available on Netflix since 2009. Grey is an excellent example of what has long been the secret ingredient to Netflix’s success. While new original series and movies tend to attract viewers, audiences looking for shows to keep them company gravitate towards titles like ‘Grey’s Anatomy’, ‘Friends’, or ‘Sex and the City’.
‘Grey’s Anatomy’ has 430 episodes, making it a gold mine for series marathons. Pompeo, who founded the production company Calamity Jane, reflected on how her years working on ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ with creator Shonda Rhimes have influenced the projects she has undertaken. “Obviously, I have a fantastic legacy working with Shonda. She changed the television landscape for the better. She changed female characters on television forever. So, I have learned from the best.” She also stated that she is motivated to tell inclusive stories about all kinds of human beings. “What I’m most proud of in ‘Good American Family’ are two things that I consider fundamental. First, for many of us in Hollywood, inclusion is essential. Telling inclusive stories and making sure people feel seen and heard was our goal. It is something we have achieved in front of and behind the camera. The world is made up of many different types of human beings and as artists and content creators, if we can reflect what the world is like, we will be doing a good job. Second, I wanted to open people’s hearts, make them feel and maybe make them wonder why I feel this way, why I think this way, why I am judging people. Artists can make viewers feel warmer and more empathetic towards each other. The world needs more empathy and that is what I am most proud of with this series.”
Who is Natalia Grace Barnett?
Natalia Grace Barnett is a Ukrainian orphan who was adopted by the Indiana couple, Kristine Elizabeth Barnett and Michael Barnett, in 2010. The Barnetts believed that Natalia was between 6 and 7 years old when they welcomed her.
Natalia was diagnosed with congenital spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia, a rare genetic disorder that affects the bones and spine, causing short stature and other anomalies. The Barnetts claimed, shortly after bringing her home, that Natalia did not have the age stated on her birth certificate, as she supposedly had pubic hair, menstruation, and a mental illness. The couple not only argued that Natalia’s genetic disorder made her look much younger, but also that she was deceiving and endangering them due to her violent tendencies.
Doctors, DNA tests, geneticists, and a Ukrainian woman claiming to be Natalia’s biological mother were consulted to try to determine her true age and challenge Natalia’s age in court.
In 2012, a Marion County judge altered Natalia’s Ukrainian birth certificate to indicate that she was 22 years old instead of 11, the age previously believed, despite medical reports confirming that Natalia was indeed a child and the lack of solid evidence proving otherwise. Subsequently, the Barnetts enrolled Natalia in public assistance, leaving her alone in an apartment in Lafayette, Indiana, in July 2013. The couple and their other children moved to Canada, where their eldest son planned to attend university. Natalia was evicted from the apartment a year later, and the couple was charged with neglect of a dependent person.
Watch the series trailer: