Diana Kruger touched on “mum guilt” as she reflected on her role in Paramount Plus thriller, Little Disasters.
The German actress, 48, stars as mother-of-three Jess in the psychological series, based on the book of the same name by Sarah Vaughan.
Speaking to GB News and other press during a Q&A on the show, Kruger reflected on her own experiences of being made to feel guilt as a mother.
Little Disasters begins with Jess rushing her baby daughter Betsey to A&E with an unexplained head injury, leaving friend and doctor Liz (Jo Joyner) in a nightmare dilemma.
Police and social services quickly become involved, with Jess and Liz’s friends Mel (Emily Taaffe) and Charlotte (Shelley Conn) also embroiled in the drama.
A synopsis for the show reads: “Each of the women harbours judgments about each other, but these ultimately become judgments about themselves, all secretly whispering the same insidious question: Am I a bad mother?
“In a desperate search for the truth, everyone comes to question what really happened to Betsey, and what Jess’ family is truly hiding.”
“I loved the script from the get go, not just Jess, but really all the women and men in this felt very realistic, very well established,” Kruger commented.
She continued: “I had empathy for all of them, Jess in particular, you know, I felt like she was so hard on herself.
“I really could feel her anguish or embarrassment about having these thoughts in her head, trying to make it all work, trying to be this perfect mum, and being a mum myself, of course, some of that I recognise in myself.
“I just, I felt for her, and I think she was a really good person who’s struggling and too embarrassed to ask for help.
“I mean, we all face pressures, men and women, for various reasons, but I think for mothers, there’s an immense want to do well, right? I think we want the best for our children.
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“I feel that most women, I think, would agree, that I think those pressures, to be honest, in my opinion, are the strongest and then we have the tendency to judge others.
“But I know that for my own life, no one can go through that time without the support of other women and friendships and they do lift each other up or tear each other down, so I thought that was very realistic in the show.”
Joyner also drew on her own experiences for the role, adding: “Liz spends her life thinking Jess is getting it all right and that actually, I suppose, with some women that can feel a bit resentful,” she reflected.
The actress continued: “I mean, we did have a mother at my school who, when their kids were little, I would call ‘mother of the year,’ to my kids, who would then go, ‘stop it, mum, she’s lovely.’
“And I’d go, ‘She is lovely, I know, she gets it all right.’ But actually the same mother is the one that I relied on to tell me it was sports day, or, you know, Book Day, or the things that I was always missing because I was working.
“And I think they have that dynamic with Jess and Liz, where they really support each other and hold each other up, but equally, somehow it makes them feel less at times as well.
“And that’s really magnified when they’re in the Provence, because Liz’s parenting style is maybe a little bit more relaxed.”
