Sarah Snook says All Her Fault was her way of facing new-mother fears: ‘It’s the worst thing possible’

Australian actor returns with tense new drama that tests limits of love and loss

Sarah Snook plays a mother whose son is kidnapped in the series All Her Fault. Photo: Peacock

Becoming a parent changes everything. Overnight, a person who didn’t exist the day before becomes the most important thing in your world. And with that devotion comes a thousand fears you never knew you were capable of having.

One of those plays out in the opening scene of All Her Fault, a new series now streaming on OSN+ and starring Australian actress Sarah Snook. A mother arrives at a house to pick up her young son from a play date, but the woman at the door has never heard of him.

She calls the other mother to see what the mix-up is, but the line has been disconnected. Through a series of errant text messages, she’s been fooled – and someone has taken her son.

“It’s the worst thing that could possibly happen,” Snook tells The National. It’s a fear Snook has felt herself. In May 2023, just as her acclaimed run as Shiv Roy on Succession was ending, Snook gave birth to a baby girl.

She shared the news right after the final episode aired, writing on social media: “I just watched the final episode of the final season of something that has changed my life. And now, my life has changed again.”

Sarah Snook, center, and Michael Pena, star in the new OSN+ series All Her Fault. Photo: Peacock

But, rather than step away from the art form she loves, she dove headfirst into two of the most difficult projects of her career. First, playing 26 roles in a one-woman version of The Picture of Dorian Gray, for which she won the Laurence Olivier Award and the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play. And next, a role that required her to face her deepest anxieties head-on.

“With my work, the question I always ask myself is: ‘What’s going to challenge me most at this moment?’” she says. “And with this job, it was about becoming a mum. This was my way of dealing with that situation and finding a way to handle it in a mentally healthy way – to make it emotionally sustainable.”

For Snook, All Her Fault wasn’t about compounding her fears – it was about control. “I’m pretty good at leaving work at work,” she says. “I use the car ride on the way home to drop it all, get home, give everyone a big cuddle, and leave that intensity behind.”

Snook drew from her real-life motherhood in order to play the role. Photo: Peacock

It’s a routine she’s come to rely on. Since becoming a mother, her work has only become more intense – but she’s learnt to treat that intensity as something to step into and then step away from.

The past few years have seen her move from ensemble to solo performer, from the chaos of Succession to the precision of Dorian Gray and the raw emotion of All Her Fault. Each demanded something different – composure, stamina, surrender – teaching her to find truth in the work and turn its pain into strength at home.

“The new motherhood that I’ve found really informed my work here,” she says. “I was able to find things I wasn’t expecting, or a depth I maybe wouldn’t have found before becoming a parent.”

Succession co-star Brian Cox, left, attended the premiere of All Her Fault along with Sarah Snook. AFP

But Snook wasn’t there just as a form of self-therapy – it was also about good storytelling. “How do we deal with the fallout? Where do we go from here?” she says. “There are so many different shades and nuances and feelings.

“It’s like the seven stages of grief in a way, but you’re stuck – we don’t want to grieve his disappearance, because we want to keep hope for finding him. We don’t want to think about the fact that he’s gone and the way that he’s gone, and why and how, what’s happening to him in this moment.”

What she liked most, she says, is how the story keeps expanding. “I like that this show deals with that, and then it takes a real turn and starts to really look outside,” she says. “What are the other puzzle pieces? Who are the other characters that contributed to this circumstance?”

That same focus, she says, has her thinking more about what comes next. “I’d love to do some directing in the future,” she says. “It's back to what I'm always asking myself – what’s going to make me grow?”

After more than a decade of transformation – from an Australian theatre actor to an Emmy-winning global star – Snook seems quietly certain about who she is. Succession made her famous. Motherhood, and the work that’s followed, have made her whole.

All Her Fault is now available on OSN+ across the Middle East