Ellen Pompeo takes a break from “Grey’s Anatomy” to offer a new spin on a fascinating true story with Hulu’s “Good American Family,” streaming Wednesday.
“Family” chronicles the complicated adoption saga of tiny, handicapped Ukrainian orphan Natalia Grace by Indiana couple Kristine (Pompeo) and Michael (Mark Duplass) Barnett.
The story has already been told in tabloids, on talk shows and a documentary.
As Pompeo, 55, explained in a virtual press conference, “A key piece for me making ‘Good American Family’ started with Katie Robbins” – the series’ creator, showrunner, writer and producer – “and the writing, because that had to be thoughtful. And intense. And gripping.
“It really has to be a combo and it’s a very difficult balance to strike and they did it beautifully. So I trusted them.
“The second thing was, I met Immy” – England’s Imogen Faith Reid who plays Natalia Grace, the adoptee with dwarfism. “Once I had those two pieces I knew we could pull it off.”
“Family” begins with a declaration that the story is being told from multiple viewpoints.
“We had an extraordinary research team that went so deep,” Robbins explained. “We had Facebook messages, depositions, doctors’ accounts. We had adoption records. We had so much to work with.
“The experience was so peculiar because you’d read one article and say, ‘This must be the truth.’ Then you’d read another, ‘No, this must be the truth.’ That’s always the case with any story but particularly with this one: Your understanding was constantly shifting.
“So what we really tried to lean into is that you really have to pay attention to who’s telling the story to deal with the elusive nature of the truth.”
Kristine’s narration, Pompeo said, “is so effective because of this over-arching idea of how two of us can watch something and we both come away with completely different ideas about what we just saw.
“We see that in the world right now. As an actor that’s what’s so compelling: The Kristine we created, that’s her version of the story. But how many other versions are there?”
Married with three children, Pompeo found playing Kristine changed her.
“I’m more aware now how much damage you can do to your child, by either your action or inaction. Playing this character has made me more mindful of that.
“I’m a pretty resilient person; I’ve been on a TV show for 21 seasons. I come from Boston, a real tough town. Resilience is one of my strengths.
“This world is made up of so many different types of human beings and if we can reflect what the world really looks like, we’re doing our job.
“To make people’s hearts open and feel towards one another warmness or empathy? The world could use more of that”
“Good American Family” streams on Hulu March 19