SPOILER ALERT! This post contains details from the finale of Hulu‘s Good American Family.
There isn’t necessarily closure to be found in finale of Hulu’s Good American Family.
With Michael Barnett (Mark Duplass) acquitted on child abuse charges, Natalia Grace is left with few paths for retribution, especially since the court still considers her a legal adult. In the final moments of the limited series, Imogen Faith Reid’s Natalia still tries to appeal to her former adoptive father in hopes that he might one day understand the pain he caused her via his complicity.
By that point, it’s easy to understand why Natalia is so distrustful of others. She seems to be pushing everyone away, even those who tried to help her. But, what might come across as Natalia isolating herself is actually her, finally, taking control of her own life after so many years of others making decisions for her, Reid says.
“I think there’s just that fight there from Natalia that she just wants to be seen and heard, and I think that’s really relatable,” Reid tells Deadline.
In the interview below, Reid spoke with Deadline about finding understanding of Natalia Grace and how she reflects on the finale.
DEADLINE: How did you come to understand Natalia and everything that she went through once you landed this role?
IMOGEN FAITH REID: A lot of it was key in the research. I didn’t actually really know the story before the show. It’s not really covered over here. So a lot of it was research that I’d done online, and I found the story really captivating and compelling. It was one of those stories where you just are so deep into it. It made me just want to start and get right into filming. With Natalia, because she’s a little person like I am, I do understand the daily struggles a little person goes through. While filming, I grew more and more passionately for my character. So it was just so amazing to play.
DEADLINE: How did you approach the shift in perspective that we get about halfway through the series to make both accounts of Natalia’s experience feel authentic?
REID: A lot of it was the help of my amazing acting coach that I worked with. I wouldn’t have been able to play Natalia so well if it wasn’t for him. At first, we see Natalia, and she’s very conniving. She is manipulating. She’s always one step ahead. So as an actor, you have to be on the ball to know what you are doing. That was really fun to play, as somebody who had never acted before or taken on a role before. So I really enjoyed that aspect. But obviously, as we flip over to Natalia’s perspective, I really enjoyed playing with that as well as we got to see a more authentic version of Natalia and something that is more truthful. I think the show does a really good job of making the audience hate and then love a character, and it’s really hard to pull that off. I’m so happy that I was a part of such amazing show to be able to do that. It was such an amazing role to dig my teeth into.
DEADLINE: How did you work with Mark and Ellen to understand what Natalia’s relationship to each of them would look like, especially as the series progresses?
REID: I think I really love the dynamic between Natalia and Mark, especially through the earlier episodes, because they have such a beautiful child-like bond. I think Natalia sees Michael, who is broken, and almost wants to fix him and wants to make him feel seen. I really loved the bond, and it was pretty similar with Mark and I as well. We got very close in filming, so on and off camera was pretty much the same. So it was nice to do those scenes with someone that we actually got along. We were silly like that on and off camera, and we had a really great working relationship. With Ellen, especially doing the more challenging scenes, I felt so comfortable with her from the get go. As actors, first we talk through a scene, what we’re comfortable with, what we’re not comfortable with, and I felt so safe under Ellen’s wing. She would guide me through the scene, guide me through what we’re doing, and after, there could be a lot of hugs.
DEADLINE: What did you make of the final conversation between Natalia and Michael? How do you think Natalia feels walking away from that?
REID: So that scene is a pretty bittersweet moment, because Natalia does get that conversation with Michael, and she is able to get what she’s always been looking for. But ultimately, I think the bond is broken. So, she is able to get what she wants, but she knows nothing can really salvage that now. What’s done is done, but she got the closure, I suppose, that she wanted. I think that was important for her. And obviously, I think that scene is a really beautiful scene, actually, because you can see Natalia really trying to get to Michael, because he is so avoidant that he had any part of Natalia’s awful childhood. It’s Natalia trying to make him understand that he was an adult in the situation, and he had as much responsibility as as Kristine had…I think Natalia was able to hold our own in that scene as an adult, and able to stand opposite Kristine and to know that she is a woman now. She’s able to hold herself, which is really, really amazing. I felt like I wanted to create Natalia with such empowerment, especially during the last episode.
DEADLINE: I was so heartbroken for her at the end, especially seeing her also push away Cynthia. It seemed like she was at this point where she was so rightfully distrustful of everyone. What did you make of that interaction with Cynthia?
REID: I think that is heartbreaking. I think Natalia is trying to find herself now as a woman. She’s trying to navigate this world, and she has had a life full of abandonment and just things happening again and again and again and again to her, and I think ultimately, she’s just afraid of Cynthia doing the same. And unfortunately, I think she just pushed Cynthia away. But also, I did understand Natalia. She is trying to prove Cynthia now she is an adult, she can make these decisions now. She wants to do this, but unfortunately, the court case didn’t go her way. So because she was upset, she then held defense against Cynthia, and Cynthia was only trying to be there to comfort her. But of course, Natalia was just obviously upset about the case. I think there’s just that fight there from Natalia that she just wants to be seen and heard, and I think that’s really relatable.
DEADLINE: What was the most challenging aspect of this role, for you?
REID: I think there were definitely challenging moments throughout filming, especially in Episode 5, because that was my episode, [and] there was a lot of hours on set every day. You kind of are living and breathing that character every single day. I think there were so many challenging scenes as well. But, I have to commend everybody on set, because everybody was so supportive and so welcoming. We could have these emotions, these raw emotions, and people could just just be so supportive and be there for you. I was really grateful to be a part of a show that tells these unique stories in such an amazing way.
DEADLINE: Episode 5 did really require you to tap into the child that Natalia was at that time. It’s such a departure from the episodes prior, where she really does come across as manipulative and you wonder if she might be an adult. How did you prepare for Episode 5?
REID: I kind of loved doing the episode, because I think seeing Natalia so young, and seeing that playful side of her, especially when she’s on the bus with her friend, or when she’s singing to herself, she’s talking to herself, those moments are really important to show that she is a child. I really loved playing with those playful moments. I think those moments are really important because, in such a heavy episode, we needed those moments of light. We got to see the authenticity of it, and just what she went through, and how heartbreaking it is. As an audience member, it is a bit of a mindset [shift], because we’ve gone from hating Natalia to, is she the good person in the story? I think as an audience member, you’re always second guessing.
DEADLINE: What do you hope audiences take away from the finale?
REID: I hope that the audience takes away not to really judge others and to be always open minded. I think the way we left it, it was very bittersweet, but we left it with Natalia feeling so much support around her and the love that she’s always wanted and the validation. I think I just want audiences to feel relieved that Natalia feels that love, that support around her. I think it’s just a story where it teaches you not to judge others. We all have different paths in life.
