Megan Gallagher is something of an adaptation whisperer. The writer and executive producer whose credits include the BBC miniseriesWolf, 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 — withAll 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.
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. Those cities have such distinct personalities, whereas Chicago was very Middle America and more universally understandable. How did we pull it off though? A hell of a lot of postproduction.
In the book, the investigator on Milo’s case is a woman. How did Michael Peña end up as Detective Alcaras in the series?
The detective is a very small character in the book named McConville. So that character — Andrea wouldn’t mind me saying this — that’s entirely me. It felt like in a show that was quite critical, obviously, of men, that having some positive male energy in there was not just the right thing to do in terms of ticking boxes, but the fair thing to do. I have a son who’s quite disabled, and my husband’s an incredible father and really runs the show. I wanted to touch upon that from a very personal place. And it just felt like in a show that’s so critical of men and of men not being involved on the home front, why not show a man who is — despite the fact that he’s got one of the more complicated home fronts you could possibly have. Alcaras still takes his son to school. He still knows the names of the other kids. He still knows the teachers. He still packs his son’s lunch. He still does pickups. That all came from my heart and soul.
The big conversation that was had on social media about the series was the representation of the realities of parenting, particularly motherhood. Is there any aspect of that response that surprised you?
I knew that the theme would resonate with women. I’m the neurotic, worried writer. I think, “Oh, it’s going to be terrible, it’s never going to come together, it’s not going to work.” That’s me. But I was quietly confident about that theme because every woman I know in my age bracket who is working and raising kids is just breaking down in their car crying, and they don’t understand how it’s supposed to all get done. And we’ve seen little bits and pieces of it on TV, but we haven’t really seen it front and center. I knew this isn’t just me and my friends. This is everyone. So why the fuck isn’t it on television? So I knew it would resonate. I did not know it would resonate as much as it did. I don’t know if I could say I’m surprised. I’m just really pleased. And every little, tiny breadcrumb-y feminist thing that I put in there — even the most subtle stuff — is all over TikTok. It was dissected endlessly. The nicest response that I saw was a comment on TikTok that said, “These are two of the worst husbands I’ve ever seen on television and neither one of them was having an affair.” We’ve seen affairs a hundred million times, and that’s not always the most hurtful thing you could do.
The series’ ending is satisfying on so many levels, but I’m curious, were there any alternate endings you considered that were particularly intriguing?
No. The way that it plays out in the series is unique to the series. The sequence of events, like [Milo’s abductor Carrie, played by Sophia Lillis] being at the house — Carrie never shows up at the house in the book or any of that kind of stuff. However, the broad strokes of Peter switching the babies early on, which is why Carrie did what she did, and Marissa killing Peter is 100 percent in the book. And I completely give credit to Andrea Mara. So many thrillers start out great and then the ending is just kind of [blah], whereas this was a whopper of an ending. So no one considered anything else ever, because you don’t mess with something [that good]. It’s like the opening. The opening of the series is the opening of the book. And no one ever considered anything else because there is no better way to open. There is no better way to close.
You also have Such a Nice Girl coming, which is another adaptation from Andrea Mara. Anything you can foreshadow about this new project?
Such a Nice Girl is a really fun read and it’s a great examination of female friendship that crosses two generations. There are two characters who are late 40s, early 50s. And the story is about a crime that appears to have taken place between their two daughters who are also best friends. It’s twisty-turny. It takes place over just a day, so it’s really, really tight. But just like with her other stories, there’s something to say about female friendship and the power of it that’s just really, really satisfying. We’re diving into it right now and it’s really fun.
This story first appeared in an August stand-alone issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.
