The TikTok Comment That Let Megan Gallagher Know She Nailed the Representation of Motherhood in ‘All Her Fault’

Megan Gallagher is something of an adaptation whisperer. The writer and executive producer whose credits include the BBC miniseries Wolf , based on the Jack Caffery novels by Mo Hayder, and the upcoming ITV drama The Blame , adapted from Charlotte Langley’s novel, delivered Peacock’s most watched original series to date — 46 million hours viewed in its first three weeks — with All Her Fault . The adaptation of Andrea Mara’s best-selling novel stars Sarah Snook as Marissa, a mother in distress when her son, Milo (Duke McCloud), goes missing and secrets about everyone in her inner circle — particularly her husband, Peter (Jake Lacy) — begin to unfold, raising doubt about their culpability. But more than a thriller, the Emmy-nominated limited series created a dialogue about parenthood — specifically the unspoken feeling of being a single mother, even in a partnered relationship — which Gallagher was all too eager to explore. Related Stories TV 'Paradise' Executive Producer Explains Why Julianne Nicholson's Character Had to Go Down with the Bunker in Season 2 TV 'Heated Rivalry,' 'Hacks' Top GALECA Dorian TV Awards Winners List

Sarah Snook initially said there was no way she could do this series, and then you told her you could shoot in Australia and she said yes. What was it about her and this role that wouldn’t let you take no for an answer?

For the majority of the series, Marissa is in DEFCON 5 trauma. A mother’s worst nightmare: child missing, at any moment you could get the call that he’s dead; it doesn’t get any worse than that. Because of that, we knew that there was going to be a lot of crying. And you need such an incredible actress for a role like that because if you don’t, you can lose a character in the crying. The crying can become the dominant thing, and the acting is the crying as opposed to being able to convey a personality underneath all of that, being able to find the nuance of who this character is outside of the crying. The way that we cry, the way that we emote, the way that we break down, it’s not universal. So I wanted an actress who could handle all that, not just somebody who would be a good crier but somebody who’s really sophisticated, and she so thoroughly and ridiculously fit that bill.

How did you pull off moving the setting of the book from Dublin to Chicago and shooting in Australia?

So I’m American, but I live in Norway. My producers are in London. The broadcaster’s in L.A. We shot it in Melbourne, and it’s set in Chicago, where I’ve never been. So it’s a testament to how everybody’s global. Andrea’s books — and I’m working on another [adaptation] of hers now — on one end, they’re really interesting because who doesn’t like looking at Ireland, but the stories themselves are, for the most part, quite universal and can translate anywhere. So there was nothing culturally about the story that she told that couldn’t easily be translated to America. In terms of setting it in Chicago, once we knew we were doing it in America, what mattered to us is that the show felt accessible and relatable to all Americans. That’s why we didn’t want New York or L.A. or Miami.