All Her Fault creator and showrunner Megan Gallagher has opened up about how the limited series uses its troubled marriages to examine the expectations placed on women and mothers. According to Deadline, during an All Her Fault x Women in Entertainment FYC screening, Gallagher recalled one response to the series that particularly stayed with her: “Those are two of the worst husbands I’ve ever seen on television, and neither one of them was having an affair.”
The thriller centers on Marissa Irvine, played by Sarah Snook (Succession, The Beautiful Lie), and Jenny Kaminski, played by Dakota Fanning (The Alienist, Ripley). The two women are brought together following the disappearance of Marissa’s son, Milo.
Gallagher said infidelity would have been an easy way to make audiences dislike the husbands. Instead, she wanted their relationships to highlight less obvious ways women can be failed by their partners.
That is particularly important for Jenny’s marriage to Richie, played by Thomas Cocquerel (The Gilded Age, Kidnapping Mr. Heineken). Gallagher described Jenny as a natural people pleaser whose empathy could initially make her appear passive.
However, the creator said the character has a “very steely core,” which eventually emerges when she reaches her breaking point with Richie. Gallagher described that development as Jenny finally “finding that moment of no.”
Deadline notes Marissa faces different form of guilt throughout the series. She repeatedly blames herself for Milo’s disappearance. At the same time, Peter, played by Jake Lacy (The White Lotus, A Friend of the Family), allows her to carry that responsibility despite knowing more about what happened.
Gallagher said she deliberately made Marissa an accomplished career woman rather than portraying her as a traditionally affectionate mother. Her goal was to show that Marissa’s independence and professional identity do not make her any less devoted to her child.
“She’s got a real edge to her, in a good way, in a way that I find relatable,” Gallagher said. “She’s a really strong lady.”
For Gallagher, the larger issue is not simply how society assigns blame to mothers, but how easily women can begin assigning that same blame to themselves. “It’s another thing when women internalize this guilt, and we take it on ourselves,” she said. “To me, that’s the most heartbreaking part.”