If you are a true-crime viewer, you always know that the initial crime is never the only crime.”
These words from Dakota Fanning aptly sum up the true-crime genre, or for that matter, any act of criminality even in real life. This is specifically true in the case of her recent episodic drama All Her Fault. The Peacock series, streaming on JioHotstar in India, kicks off with the unexplained kidnapping of Milo, the son of a wealthy family in Chicago, but as a frantic search for the five-year-old unravels Milo’s family, things equally ugly — secrets, conspiracy, twisted mind games, manipulation, gaslighting and even murder — spill out, reiterating Fanning’s spot-on observation that one crime holds within its core the perpetration of many others.
Fanning — a celebrated child star, who at 31 is now seen in roles of import on screens big and small — was speaking virtually to a select group of journalists around the world (including t2) about her latest project which has found a large number of takers not only for its twisty, thrilling plot (sometimes bordering on pulp), but also for spotlighting conversations around the pressures faced by working mothers and the indelible strength of true female friendships, brought to the fore by emotionally grounded performances from Succession star Sarah Snook and Fanning herself.
In All Her Fault, based on the eponymous 2021 bestseller by Andrea Mara, Snook plays Marissa Irvine, a young mother whose world comes crashing down within the first five minutes when she discovers that her toddler isn’t at the house he was supposed to be on a playdate with a school friend. Initially believing that she has landed up at the wrong address in a hurry, Marissa has a breakdown when she realises that Milo is nowhere to be found, with every reveal thereafter pointing to the fact that he has been taken. But though the family is wealthy — Marissa is a wealth manager, her husband Peter (Jack Lacy, in the most Jack Lacy role possible) is a commodities trader), this is not a simple kidnapping for ransom. Pretty soon, the Irvines discover that the one who has taken their son is not only integrally connected to their present — this is the handiwork of fellow school parent Jenny Kaminski’s (Fanning) son’s nanny — but also to their own past.
Female first
While All Her Fault firmly places Sarah Snook at the front and centre, Fanning’s Jenny — whose role is a lot more complicated than it seems on the surface — is the one who anchors a large part of the narrative, also carving out her own “coming-of-age” story along the way. Fanning, during this interaction, revealed that while the mystery element of the plot was definitely a pull, it was the female-first dynamic that Jenny and Marissa share that was the clinching factor for her.
“The scene of Jenny and Marissa meeting for the first time and then chilling in the restroom even as a party is raging outside, was the first scene we filmed... it was the first day for both of us on set. When I read the script, I wanted to know where their relationship was going. I knew that I was going to be so disappointed if it was going to go the way of a problem — like the trope of these women being at each other’s throats and a sinister vibe to their relationship eventually coming to pass,” smiled Dakota, her trademark blonde hair looking striking against her largely black #OOTD.
But to her relief, directors Kate Dennis and Minkie Spiro — taking inspiration from the source material, of course — didn’t fall prey to cliche. “I was really happy that Marissa and Jenny’s relationship becomes more and more of a support to each other and, ultimately, a very genuine friendship. I felt like that was the more unexpected route for these two characters to go, especially in a scenario where we see a lot of stories that pit women against one another. But I got to see a genuine friendship between the two in the way that I know my female friendships to be,” she continued.
Circling back to that scene in which Marissa and Jenny meet for the first time, spontaneously striking up a conversation when they discover that they have landed up in the exact same dress, Fanning said that it struck an instant chord with her and shaped the way All Her Fault would unfold, not only as an edge-of-the-seat drama but also as a study of female bonding.
“When you see someone in the same dress, especially at a gathering, chances are you will ignore them and perhaps even get angry. But these two women flip the dynamic and that is so refreshing. They bond over it and laugh at it and be like: ‘Oh my God, this is the silliest, funniest thing.’ When Jenny compliments Marissa that the dress looks better on her, Marissa immediately says: ‘No, we both look great!’ That automatically sets up the dynamic of how this show is going to portray women and friendships and that there is room for both people in the same dress, metaphorically and literally,” smiled Dakota.
A positive people-pleaser
As mentioned earlier, Jenny’s role in the murky proceedings of the series is far more than just a supporting act. Guilt-ridden because it is her nanny on the run with the Irvines’s son, she faces flak from deeply insensitive third parties and a high-strung media machinery, but finds an unlikely ally in the grief-stricken Marissa.
“Jenny can be described as a people-pleaser. That sometimes has a negative connotation to it, suggesting you are not authentic or genuine and are just trying to please everyone. But I feel that Jenny is actually the true meaning of a people-pleaser — which is that you are trying to be the right version of yourself to everyone,” says Dakota.
The art of balance
The variety of female characters on the show, and the time spent — even within the framework of what is a thriller — on spotlighting what makes them who they are (and, more importantly, who they want to be) — is a strength that has stood All Her Fault in good stead. Fanning points out how much she connected to Jenny, despite not being a mother herself yet. “I am not married and I don’t have children yet, but I felt connected to Jenny through the fact that I want those things. At some point, I will be a working mother and will have to strike a balance between various aspects of my life and career,” she said. “My best friend has two daughters under the age of six, who are my god-daughters. I see what she goes through... of just trying to be everything to everyone and keeping it all together. I took inspiration from her and from my mom and also realised the pressures that I put on my mother to be everything to me all the time... I am guilty even on the other side.”
The often unsaid but constantly unrealistic demand that women have to keep it all together, no matter what kind of emotional and mental state they are in, is also a large part of the conversation of All Her Fault.
“All Her Fault is a realistic portrayal of what it can feel like to be a woman nowadays. It captures that feeling that you are never getting it right despite doing your best. The effort of trying to be a good person, a good friend, a good person at work, a good mom, a good wife, a good person at the school... you are being judged from all avenues all the time. As she goes along, Jenny finds a bigger voice for herself — she actually finds who she is and what pleases her,” added Dakota.
What Jenny also grapples with is a husband (Richie, played by Thomas Cocquerel) who is not only dismissive of her career as a publisher but also escapes from sharing responsibilities as a parent. That leads to friction between the two, with Fanning saying that All Her Fault’s portrayal of the imbalance that creeps into the man-woman equation, especially in marriage, has resonated with a large section of the female audience.
She recalls a particularly telling scene in the series where Jenny comes home after a long, hard day at work to see her husband making a sandwich, all the while complaining how tough it has been to babysit their son and how “extremely exhausted” he is. “He never seems to regard that she has had a very rough day at work. He makes the sandwich, all the while complaining about how tough he has it, and just walks away, leaving her to clean the sandwich makings,” says Dakota about that moment that will instantly strike a chord with many women (and maybe some men too).
Not a hit-piece
Despite this tricky, and often ugly, dynamic called marriage — Marissa and Peter are having it far worse as she discovers bit by bit that he has too many secrets buried deep within — Fanning insists that All Her Fault is not a hit-piece on its male characters, and by extension, to the men in the world in general. “It just brings to light the fact that often men just don’t see it, and sometimes it is even the fault of the woman who cleans up the mess — literally and figuratively — before the man even has a chance to see it. Richie is not a bad guy. It is just that he doesn’t see what’s happening around him and Jenny is also at fault for making it all go away,” is how Fanning summed it up.
She also partly blames the gender roles and the conditioning we have all grown up with, for the same. “I know great men who are great dads and great husbands, but they don’t even know the name of their kid’s teacher. In a partnership between a man and a woman, it somehow naturally falls on the woman to do all that.”