April 24, 2025 • 52 mins
Teresa Palmer is the ultimate working mum. From boldly walking into a talent agent’s office and declaring she’d be a mother first and an actor second, to negotiating flights and breastfeeding breaks into every project—she does it all on her terms.
Now pregnant with her sixth child, Teresa Palmer lives life with her heart on her sleeve—dreamer, doer, and total open book.
You might know her from The Mother Daze podcast, her acting roles, or her bestselling book The Zen Mama Guide to Finding Your Rhythm in Pregnancy, Birth, and Beyond, but in this chat, she’s all heart, humour, and raw honesty.
What you'll hear in this conversation:
- The ten-page letter she wrote to manifest her husband
- Her new role in The Last Anniversary
- The wild ride of raising five kids across two countries
- The village of women who keep her sane
- What motherhood has taught her about identity, creativity, and connection
Teresa is as real as they come. This one’s for anyone trying to do it all—and keep their heart intact while they’re at it.
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CREDITS:
Host: Laura Brodnik
Guest: Teresa Palmer
Executive Producer: Naima Brown
Senior Producer: Grace Rouvray
Audio Producer: Jacob Round
Mamamia acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the Land we have recorded this podcast on, the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation. We pay our respects to their Elders past and present, and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
You're listening to a MoMA Mia podcast. Mamma Maya acknowledges
the traditional owners of land and waters that this podcast
is recorded on. It's nice to fall in love with
a person's way rather than just like the way they look,
or sexual chemistry or whatever. It was just like a
really deep understanding of each other before we even were
(00:31):
in person for the first time.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
Hi, I'm Kate Lanebrook. Welcome to No Filter. Teresa Palmer
is an open book in the most generous, heartfelt way,
whether she's sharing stories on her podcast, The Mother Days
or offering wisdom through her best selling book, The Zen
Mama Guide to Finding Your Rhythm in Pregnancy, Birth and Beyond.
Speaker 1 (01:01):
Teresa has a.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Remarkable way of letting you into her world. And what
a world it is, a whirlwind of creativity, chaos, and love.
Her family a traveling circus. Her words not mine, but
she does. She's got a big family, She's got lots
of projects and deeply personal experiences that she's never been
(01:23):
afraid to share. In this special bonus episode of No Filter,
Teresa sits down with our head of Entertainment, Laura Brodnick,
to talk about her latest role in the Last anniversary,
which is a great show, but the conversation quickly becomes
so much more than that. With her heart firmly on
her sleeve, Teresa opens up about the village of women
(01:45):
who've helped her balance a thriving career with motherhood. She
reflects on the deep female friendships that keep her grounded
and the story of how she met her now husband Mark,
after writing a ten page manifestation letter to the universe,
let's get scribbling. She's a dreamer, a doer, and above all,
(02:10):
someone who leads with heart.
Speaker 1 (02:12):
This is Teresa Palmer.
Speaker 3 (02:15):
Well, Teresa Palmer, Welcome to Mama MEA thank you.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
I have been a big fan OFS for a very
long time.
Speaker 3 (02:22):
Oh look, every softime we see you like our Instagram
post and we do get quite excited because we're a
big fan of yours as well.
Speaker 4 (02:27):
I'm I legit, I am a super fan.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
And I've listened to so many of the podcasts, the
True Crime podcast I've listened to every episode.
Speaker 4 (02:35):
Oh I'm really.
Speaker 3 (02:36):
Caught up ringing in doors. So last time I saw
you you was last night walking the red carp at
the State Theater, up on stage with just a casual
Leanne Moriarty to your right, launching your new series in
a beautiful gown, full hair and makeup, And I wanted
to ask you about the logistics of that because I
know you have four children at home and another on
the way. Yes, when you're doing these big traveling press stays,
(02:58):
what are the logistics of that? Do you get to
go and be in a hotel room by yourself for Oh okay, great,
tell me about.
Speaker 1 (03:04):
So I'm actually expecting our sixth baby because I have
a step son as well, who was there last night.
Oh lovely, Isaac Raicht Isaac exactly. He's about to be
seventeen and he lives in America most of the time.
He's at a very academic high school, so he doesn't
get to venture to Australia that often. But it just
so happened that he flew in the day of the premiere.
(03:26):
So I was like, right, you're coming with me, first
time on the red carpet with him and the boys.
But we just decided we're a bit of a traveling circus.
So when we work away, Mark's working away at the moment,
he's here in Sydney, but we live in Byron Bay,
so we just thought if I'm going to be in Sydney,
Mark's gonna be working in Sydney, Isaac's flying into Sydney.
(03:48):
Let's just take the whole crew. So I had all
the kids. I had to just ring a local nanny
agency right to be with the little girls because I
knew the show wasn't probably appropriate for them.
Speaker 4 (04:02):
They're five and three.
Speaker 3 (04:03):
Yeah, maybe not that first episode, I know.
Speaker 1 (04:05):
I was like even my eight year old when there's
the scene that I make out with when he was
like ooh.
Speaker 4 (04:10):
Oh rosum and I was like, oh, I'm so sorry,
I forgot about that part.
Speaker 1 (04:14):
But we have yeah, we have three rooms, hotel rooms.
Speaker 4 (04:18):
Isaac's about to be seventeen, He's got his own room.
Speaker 1 (04:20):
And then we have to do adjoining rooms, suitcases everywhere.
Kids on one side, well, the boys on one side,
the girls in the bed with Mark and I with
a trundle bed, and it's musical beds, like all night,
everyone's moving into a different bed at some point. My
husband ended up on the single bed last night and
I had three kids in my bed.
Speaker 4 (04:40):
Anyway, that's the way it is.
Speaker 3 (04:42):
Like's not a glamorous lead, and in the best possible way,
I'm bring them all with you.
Speaker 1 (04:46):
No, it's just that's how we figure it out, is
we just make it work. Usually my mom's with us,
so it's easier, but this time around she was back
and Byron, so luckily I rang this nanny agency that
I love and was like, do you have anyone available? Yeah?
Speaker 3 (05:02):
And I wanted to take you back to the beginning
before we're walking these premieres and having these world premieres
of your new show of growing up in Adelaide and
I'm assuming in you know, a smaller town in Australia,
so far removed from Hollywood, in that industry and that
glam life. How do you go from a young girl
living in Adelaide dreaming of that and I'm assuming just
like you know, normal family, no famous relatives in the background,
(05:24):
willing to step in or anything like that, how do
you go from that to this career? What was the
first kind of moment that moved you there? Well?
Speaker 1 (05:32):
So I grew up moving between two homes, actually three homes.
My dad had two houses because my stepmom also has children,
and so her kids would stay in one house and
her and her ex husband would rotate to keep her
sons in that house, so I would rotate with them,
which meant that every second week I was in a
(05:54):
different house with my dad, and then with my mom.
We grew up in housing trust units and so we
traveled a lot. She was on a disability pengine. So
I will say that the dream felt quite far away.
I couldn't see how the dream could be a reality,
but I just kept plodding away at it.
Speaker 4 (06:17):
I just thought, all right, if this.
Speaker 1 (06:19):
Is my dream, And it sort of dawned on me
at eight or nine that I wanted to do this.
Speaker 4 (06:24):
I watched a movie called a Little Princess.
Speaker 3 (06:26):
Oh yes, a classic.
Speaker 1 (06:28):
A classic Alfonso Curan. And back then, I don't know
if you remember, but on the DVDs or the VHS,
there'd always be this little like behind the scenes where
they would do the making off.
Speaker 3 (06:40):
All the little featurettes, the featurettes.
Speaker 1 (06:43):
Yeah, And I saw the featurette and saw this little
girl on set and saw her like having all this
fun and being, you know, on camera and playing with
these other little girls, and.
Speaker 4 (06:54):
I was like, I want to do that. I want
to be an actress.
Speaker 1 (06:57):
And that sort of planted the seed at such a
young age, and I just banged on about it for
so long to everyone who would listen, I'm going to
be an actress.
Speaker 4 (07:04):
Yeah, I'm going to be in Hollywood.
Speaker 1 (07:05):
I'm going to be represented by the same agent as
Nicole Kidman.
Speaker 4 (07:08):
That was like my statement.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
And then eventually I convinced my dad to give me
acting lessons and he said he would do it, and
so he paid for me to have acting lessons at
a local acting agency. When I was sixteen. Wow, and
I just started auditioning for things. And I always say
this to people who want to get into the film industry.
I was yes, and I was like, there is a
(07:32):
student film. I'm not getting paid any money. Cool, I'm
just going to go and have that experience. Like, oh,
there's a tiny little short film, I'm going to go
on star in that. And I did so many of
those experiences. And then I was an extra on a
bigger movie, Wolf Creek, which is one of Australia's.
Speaker 3 (07:49):
Another conic in a different way.
Speaker 4 (07:51):
Yeah, iconic horror films.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
And I was pool party person in the background and
I remember being there watching everyone and watching Nathan Phillips
and this the lead actress. Her name was Kesty Morassy
and she was so brilliant. She was so brave she
had to act drunk. Remember watching her as an extra, thinking, oh,
she's not embarrassed, she's just out there, she's trying things.
(08:16):
She's so big and bold and like, look at her
go so uninhibited.
Speaker 4 (08:20):
And she was really excellent.
Speaker 1 (08:22):
And the first ad at the time would sort of tell.
Speaker 4 (08:25):
The extras what to.
Speaker 1 (08:26):
Do, and I didn't listen, and I thought, in fact,
I want to get in front of the camera, like
I'm going to start splashing lead guy and Nathan Phillips
in the background and try and get on camera. And
so you actually see me kind of in the background,
leave the spot I was meant to be standing in
like way way far back, and I come and I
(08:46):
start interacting with the lead guy and I actually ended
up using it and I'm splashing him. And there have
been some sleuths who have found images of me, like
screenshotted images of me in Wolf Creek as poor party
person number one. And that was it, Like I saw
that I was on that set and I was like,
this is it. This is what I am doing for
(09:07):
the rest of my life. And yeah, and I continued
doing extra work and eventually I did I said yes,
to a student film. The premiered at cann at the
Camp Festival, and that is where it all started. But
if I had not said yes to this little student film,
it would have been a much more difficult journey to
(09:28):
get to where I am, right.
Speaker 3 (09:30):
Because that film had quite a bit of international acclaim
and got a lot of attention. Is that how you
were able to get your agents in America and stuff?
And I've heard you tell a story where you walked
in and said, I really want to do this. I
love acting, but I'm going to be a mom. And
it's really nice. I didn't turn your way because in
some places they'd say, well, if you're not completely committed,
which obviously you were.
Speaker 1 (09:51):
Well it was just it was my truth. And I
think because I was nineteen and I was just bold
and brave, and I just landed in America. I just
got with this incredible manager. His name's David Seltzer. I'm
still with him today, and he really believed in me.
And I really had only done at that point this
little student film, and I had booked what I had
(10:15):
and Churchill Brown from Shanahan, who was in fact Nicole
Kimman's agent. Oh wow, Yes, she really took a punt
on me at such a young age and decided to
sign me at Shanahan, which was the biggest agency in
Australia at the time and the most powerful, exciting one.
And she sort of sent me to la for rehearsals
(10:36):
for this little Australian movie I did, and that's where
I met my manager who had seen me at kenn
and he took me around to all these big agencies.
I decided to sign with the Willie Morris agency and
I signed with Scarlett Johanson's agent at the time. His
name was Scott Lambert. So Scott brings me into this
big boardroom to meet all the part all the partners,
(10:57):
like the biggest, most senior agents at this agency, and
they kind of just hand the mic over to you.
They're just like, here she is talk about yourself to
this boardroom of people. And I was quite nervos nineteen
and I was like, Hi, I just want to let
you all know this is very exciting and all I'm
really proud of this opportunity and I have to just
(11:20):
give your heads up though that my real passion is
motherhood and I'm planning on having six children and it
was like dead silent.
Speaker 4 (11:30):
And they all thought it was a joke. They were
kind of looking at each other.
Speaker 3 (11:32):
Like, oh, she's doing it aha, like.
Speaker 1 (11:34):
Lol, And then my manager's like, no, she's actually serious,
like she's just letting you know she wants to.
Speaker 4 (11:40):
Be a mom as well. And I don't know what
it was.
Speaker 1 (11:42):
I just thought I should announce it at the time,
let them all know. But at least I planted that
seed early on, and so I was never met with
any real disappointment. That's prosative agents, and I'm perpetually pregnant,
like I'm all, I will not stop having babies.
Speaker 4 (11:58):
So for them it's a little bit like, oh, she's
pregnant again.
Speaker 1 (12:02):
Here we go again.
Speaker 3 (12:03):
But you could give them a heads up so they
can't say anything about that.
Speaker 1 (12:05):
I was like, you know who you signed. I mean,
I told you from day But do you know what
a great blessing to be able to do both things?
Speaker 3 (12:14):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (12:14):
Exactly, to live out both dreams and I get to
do this in tandem. I don't have to give up
either of them. And I did think after my first child,
I thought.
Speaker 4 (12:26):
Well, this is it.
Speaker 1 (12:27):
The opportunities will dry up, and that's okay. I'm so
fulfilled in what I'm doing, and even if I get
to go and do one job every couple of years,
I'll still be really grateful for that.
Speaker 4 (12:39):
And I found that I actually had the opposite fact.
Speaker 1 (12:42):
Really, my career really started gaining momentum after I had kids.
Speaker 3 (12:46):
Which so interesting. Do you know if there was a
correlation there Is there something like that you're putting into
your work, or is there something maybe like a depth
of characters you get into when you were talking to directors,
because you do hear these horror stories, not just in
the film industry. I think every woman at the moment
is in that crossroads of like it's career or parenthood.
Speaker 1 (13:04):
Well, I did have that anxiety that, oh, this is it,
and I chose to have kids right at the peak
of my opportunity. So Warm Bodies had just come out,
and it was such a big break for me internationally,
and I was like, now it's haid to have a baby.
Oh I was twenty seven. I think I was really nervous,
(13:29):
But then suddenly all my eggs weren't in one basket.
Speaker 4 (13:34):
I was really fixated.
Speaker 1 (13:37):
And had such like an obsession with this dream I
had wanted my whole life to be a mum and
something that my nana, who's like a was always such
a great mentor for me. She had eight children. She
was like, right before she passed away, she said, I
know that acting is so exciting, and I know that
(13:58):
you are going to reach.
Speaker 4 (13:59):
All of those goals.
Speaker 1 (14:01):
But knowing you and knowing who you are and the
spirit of you, like you your true your truest dream
is to be a mother. And I was like, You're
so right. And once I had that baby, it was
like everything was for him, about him, it was it
was everything to me. And so suddenly the auditions weren't
(14:22):
as scary or I didn't put too much stock in
any of these things, whereas I think pre babies, it
was like, this is all I have, This is the
trajectory of my career. And I got really fixated on
my career path. And then suddenly I was kind of like,
I don't really care as much about that because I'm
(14:43):
in this other season of my life and the opportunities
started coming. And I think maybe the letting go of
the control meant that maybe I was more present in
the auditions or in the.
Speaker 3 (14:55):
Maybe because the nerves weren't there because it wasn't like
life or death exactly. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (15:00):
Absolutely, And then I started booking these bigger and bigger jobs. Yeah,
I was like, oh my god, I can just bring
my baby. I can bring my baby with me and
I can still can cotinue to breastfeed and have that relationship.
And I will say that not everyone has afforded that opportunity.
And I was able to bring my children to work
and given the space to breastfeed on demand and to
(15:24):
be and nurture my child and have my child there,
and I understand what a luxury that is, and I
don't take that for granted. And it's not afforded to
all actors either. I mean, if you're sort of one
of the lead actors or one of the supporting actors,
you have a certain privilege that day players don't get,
and that people who pop in here and there aren't
(15:46):
afforded that same luxury. So I really recognize that too,
and I'm careful when I talk about it because I
want to really highlight that.
Speaker 3 (15:54):
I know that that's a rarity, yes, but also I
think it's good to share different realities. Otherwise we're just
looking at these very glossy pictures of people and thinking
how are they doing that? That's why their life is
different to mine. Is that something that you have written
into a contract or you tell production beforehand, I'm going
to have my kids there, I'm going to need to breastfeed.
I'm assuming that's not on a schedule, so you need
to be flexible with filming. Is that all set up beforehand?
Speaker 1 (16:14):
Not really. You do have meetings with producers and I
always talk about it, and especially in those earlier days,
mean I'm pregnant again, but my youngest is three, so
she hasn't really been nursing on demand for a while,
so things are a little bit different nowadays. But definitely
(16:34):
in my contract, I have way more airfares than the
majority of actors, so I've.
Speaker 3 (16:40):
Got to fly the whole family.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
Fly the whole family, or at least you know, they'll
fly half of them and I fly the other half.
Speaker 4 (16:48):
So there are certain things like that which I.
Speaker 1 (16:49):
Thought it would mean that if they were picking out
of two actors, I would be the less interesting choice,
because it meant I'm more expensive because I have a
big family, and also then the housing situation I need
instead of just a hotel room for myself. I come
with a housing need where like my mom lives with us,
(17:11):
my husband, I've got all these kids, so usually I
need at least a three We can make a three
bedroom work three bedrooms? Who can make work?
Speaker 4 (17:20):
Four bedrooms is ideal?
Speaker 1 (17:22):
But yeah, so I thought all of that would go
against me. And actually it's one of the reasons I'm
so grateful to Bruna pap Andrea. She not only gave me,
she's the producer of this show the last anniversary, and
I know.
Speaker 4 (17:34):
She produced your show, Your Mom and Me.
Speaker 1 (17:36):
Yeah, but she has advocated for me and has been
my biggest supporter, and she keeps hiring me no matter
how many children I have. She keeps hiring me and
encouraging others to do so too, And I'm truly grateful
for that.
Speaker 3 (17:51):
Oh, that's a lovely side of the industry that you
don't hear as much. That's very nice. Yeah, and you're
talking about booking those first big roles those studio movies
Warm Bodies, which I loved, by the way, I wanted
to sort of know what was like in that moment
when you're starting to book these blockbusters and you're starting
to be catapulted this different part of fame. I remember
when those movies were coming out and seeing photos on
(18:12):
magazines and on red carpets. What's that like? To go
from working in a student film to them being on
billboards everywhere.
Speaker 1 (18:19):
It's pretty surreal, I would say, really exciting. Just felt
like a well wind. And in fact, I have quite
a bad memory because so much happened to me in
that period of time. It was travel every week, it
was events, it was press, it was different photoshoots, and
(18:40):
like not sleeping so much, and just this wild, adventurous life.
And because I jam packed so much into that period
of time, I'll often forget about amazing experiences. Someone will
remind me, you remember when we're in Paris and we're
at that event, we went to that fashion show. I
was like, was I there? Did I do that? And
I'll have to go back and google images? Which is
(19:01):
so good about that aspect. You could go back and
google back I was there.
Speaker 3 (19:05):
It's all being cataloged on for you.
Speaker 4 (19:07):
Catalog I was like, oh my god, I was there.
Speaker 1 (19:09):
I do remember that. And so that's that's kind of
this idea of this whirlwind. It just was kind of
happening to me and I had so much energy, and I.
Speaker 4 (19:21):
Just was enthralled.
Speaker 1 (19:24):
It was so unbelievably exciting, and I loved every most
moments of it. Not all of it, of course, I've
had my share of, you know, hardships in the industry
as well, but so much of that I just was
rimming with gratitude. Really, that's always the word I keep
(19:45):
coming back to. It's just it happened. That thing that
I wrote about in my journals from such a young age,
it actually happened. And now reading back, I found all
my journals.
Speaker 3 (19:57):
Just really, have you been rereading them?
Speaker 1 (19:59):
I've been rereading everything, and I have journal done memorily. Yeah,
from the year two thousand until like twenty fifteen. I
have a book for every year, and reading like I'm
going to be doing this. These are the people I'm
going to be working with. This is what my life's
going to look like. And there's a lot in there
(20:20):
where I'll say, if you are reading back on this
right now and you've made it and you've created this
dream life, like sixteen year old me is very proud
of you.
Speaker 3 (20:37):
There is more to my conversation with Teresa Palmer after
this short break. We talk about first loves and then
finding everlasting love. We'll be right back. What was the
most surprising thing that you found in there? Like a
memory that you'd forgotten that came back to you.
Speaker 1 (20:55):
Oh, just so that was a bit of a desperado
and love.
Speaker 3 (21:00):
Was until your first serious relationship, you remember.
Speaker 1 (21:04):
I wish I could go back to that nineteen year
old self where she was like in love with this
boy and he wasn't really messaging her back very much,
and she was like, well, I decided to message him
again tonight and I didn't hear back.
Speaker 3 (21:16):
And I then.
Speaker 4 (21:18):
Cut to like a few days later, like, well.
Speaker 1 (21:20):
I still haven't heard from him, but I thought that
I would just congratulate him on this particular thing. And
I was like, girlfriend, why why are you still pursuing
this person and he's not showing any interest.
Speaker 4 (21:31):
That has been the funniest thing.
Speaker 1 (21:33):
I've actually been reading it out to my teenage son
and I'm.
Speaker 4 (21:37):
Like, learn a lesson here. Yeah, I was like, learn
a lesson.
Speaker 1 (21:42):
So there's just funny little tidbits like that that I'll
read and certain parties I went to when I was younger,
and experiences I had, and just the person I was
back then she's not too dissimilar to who I am now,
but there's just so many things I wish I could
go back and be like, you can let that one go.
Speaker 3 (22:01):
You can just feel so high stakes at that age.
I mean it does sound too but like nineteen, when
you're first love, it all feels like it'll be life
and death, life and death.
Speaker 1 (22:09):
It's so endearing, but it's also like informative for me
because my kids are going to be entering these ages
and I want to remember what it was like to
feel like it was the end of the world with
your best friend wasn't talking to you at school, and
so it's good. It's it's like such a precious thing
to have these journals.
Speaker 3 (22:29):
Oh that's really beautiful. And I'm glad you talked about
your first love there because I want to ask you
now about your your everlasting love. I'm assuming with your
husband Mark and the beautiful relationship you have. Is it
true just before you met him, you wrote a manifestation
list of the person that you were looking for. Did
he fit the bill? It was one of those things
you had to just throw the list down and think, well,
I've got to go with this man. I'm in love
(22:50):
with now.
Speaker 1 (22:51):
Yes, it's totally true, and he fit all ten pages.
Speaker 3 (22:55):
Ten pages, ten pages. My goodness.
Speaker 1 (22:58):
So I had gone through this really painful breakup and
I was actually hanging out with a group of people
who are really like deep in self development work and
spirituality and mobile. The singer Moby happened to be one
of them, and he was really instrumental in my early years.
I listened to his album on repeat all the time.
In fact, I would sleep It was my sleep song
(23:20):
Porcelain for two years, so I would sleep listening to Moby. Anyway,
So I meet him, We start connecting and he's doing
a lot of like meditation stuff at his castle in
beach with.
Speaker 3 (23:33):
Just a casual castle, just.
Speaker 1 (23:34):
A casual castle, and he would do these really cool
things in the dar it was you'd turn off all
the lights and so it was like sensory deprivation, so
you couldn't see anything, you couldn't hear anything. It was
dead silent. It'd be a group of like forty forty
fifty people and there'd be only candle light and then
the candle would go off and people would sit in
(23:55):
meditation for however long the collective group would want to
sit in meditation, and this was all very very new
to me, and I was like, what is this.
Speaker 4 (24:05):
Well, you know, I grab up Catholic.
Speaker 1 (24:07):
I didn't know so much about meditation, but I always
felt so connected to myself after these sessions. And then
I found this idea of the law of attraction and
I started looking into that. And so because I had
had this like awful relationship, I was like, I'm just
going to try this. And I got very very specific
(24:29):
in what I wanted and I called it in as
though I already had it. My man is he has
you know, this color eyes, and he's a cancer and
he loves children and he wants to have a big family,
and he's an animal lover and he's at least a
vegetarian and all these things. And I wrote it very specific,
(24:50):
this is the way he is with my friends and
his artistic and creative and deep thinker.
Speaker 4 (24:54):
And so I wrote this all out.
Speaker 1 (24:56):
And the stuff that I was studying at the time
was like, Okay, now, you can't fixate on this.
Speaker 3 (25:01):
Now.
Speaker 1 (25:01):
You got to sort of put it out to the
universe now and put these pages away somewhere in a draw.
Don't fixate, let it go. And I did, and three
months later I met my husband randomly online through Twitter
on twew.
Speaker 3 (25:19):
You just don't hear those stories from Twitter all the
different social platforms. It's usually where you find a troll.
You got catfish, like, this might be the one Twitter
I love story.
Speaker 1 (25:28):
I know, I know, we always say like the modern
day love story through social media. At the time, I
was like in a really sad place. I was at
the Bowery staying at the Bowery Hotel in New York,
which is like the famous hotel in New York, with
my friend Brooke. But I was so desperately lonely and
sad because of this heartbreak. And I happened to look
(25:49):
at this trailer because I was like, I'll just kick.
Speaker 4 (25:54):
Myself when I'm down, Like, what is.
Speaker 1 (25:56):
Another actress up to that's doing better than me and
her career is.
Speaker 4 (25:59):
Better than mine?
Speaker 1 (26:00):
Like, oh, I know, I'm going to google what Amanda
Seafred's up to. Oh, look, she's got another movie at sundown,
so of course she does amazing.
Speaker 4 (26:07):
Good for her. So I watched the trailer for her.
Speaker 1 (26:10):
Movie and I was like, oh my god, that is
so beautiful, my cooleous movie.
Speaker 4 (26:17):
And I was like, Oh, I'm going to.
Speaker 1 (26:19):
Tweet about this. I was just so moved by this trailer.
So I tweeted about it and I was like, oh,
I'll put the filmmaker's handle in there, and it was
my husband. It was his movie, and I put his
handle in there at like mark and I was like,
everyone should check this out.
Speaker 4 (26:34):
This looks so beautiful. Put it out there.
Speaker 1 (26:36):
And then he started messaging me. He slipped into the
DMS and was like, Oh, I'm an admirer of your
work and I was like, oh, and my friend Brooke,
thank god, she's one of my good friends. Now. She's
so cool and in the know of like who's who
and like the underground art scene and she was like,
don't you know who that is?
Speaker 2 (26:55):
What?
Speaker 4 (26:55):
No, who is this person?
Speaker 1 (26:57):
And she was like, you've got to hear his story.
He was a homeless kid and he made him his
way out of his situation, and he's like been on
Broadway and he's worked with all the greats and he's
like really revered in the indoe in this underground acting
scene and I was like, oh my god.
Speaker 4 (27:13):
Really, she was like, you've got to DM him back.
This is so hot.
Speaker 1 (27:16):
You've got to hook up with this guy like anyway,
So I had my and he's always thankful to Brook
for just being.
Speaker 3 (27:24):
Just stilitating that and getting it all totally.
Speaker 4 (27:27):
And then that's that's kind of how it happened.
Speaker 1 (27:29):
We just wrote letters, love letters to each other for
forty days actually just over email, until we met in flesh,
and we had already fallen in love through our writing
at that point when we go on, I.
Speaker 3 (27:40):
Hope this has been turned into a movie. I know
you guys collaborate a lot, so I feel like that
should be on the list of potential projects. I know
it hope out there.
Speaker 1 (27:48):
Do you know? It's really beautiful and it's nice to
fall in love with a person's way rather than just
like the way they look or sexual chemistry or whatever.
It was just like a really deep understanding of each
other before we even were in person for the first time.
Speaker 3 (28:04):
Well, and has that really set the foundation for when
now you are as parents and working this crazy industry,
because I feel like you've been so open about your
relationship and the ups and downs, and you've talked about
it publicly on your podcast, and you've done interviews and
in your book, and there's I'm a big fan of
your podcast some other days. By the way, I'm not
a mother myself, but I take a lot away from
just hearing all the different stories and everything. But there's
(28:26):
a set of episodes I listened to that have always
stuck in my mind, and it's when you had Mark
on and I just remember listening to that. You know,
sometimes you listened to a podcast while you're grocery shop
and you're walking as like background noise. I started listening
to this one. I just sit on my couch and
just like listen to it and take it in because
it was this really beautiful insight into his life and
into your marriage and into your relationship. And I love
(28:46):
how you touched on his childhood and what he went
through and addiction and parenthood and all of those different topics.
How do you make a decision like that as a
couple to put that story out there so publicly.
Speaker 1 (28:58):
I think Mark has always really been proud of his story,
and he feels like he wants to be of service.
He grew up being of his mom still is the
head of the Poor People's Army in Philadelphia. She lives
in the most violent neighborhood in all of America, and
she dedicates her life to, you know, putting homeless people
(29:21):
into these takeover houses and making sure that they have
roofs over their head. And I think that Mark feels
a real sense of responsibility to affect positive change, and
one of the ways he really believes he can do
that is by sharing his story. So he thought, what
better way to do that than on my platform on
(29:41):
the other days and still to this day, we have,
by the way, interviewed, like you guys, so many celebrities,
like massive celebrities with huge paws and fan base. They
are still our most popular.
Speaker 3 (29:55):
Really because everyone had that really visceral reaction to it.
Speaker 1 (29:59):
We have been stopped on the street for those episodes
more than anything, really more than our movies.
Speaker 3 (30:06):
I would believe it that.
Speaker 1 (30:06):
Actually, it was so profound the way he opened up,
and also we really talked about our marriage and the
ways in which both of our unique conditioning in our
childhoods inform our dynamic and our patterns, and how there
(30:29):
can be a certain level of toxicity in patterns when
they get ignored, and just the observation of a marriage
dynamic is really integral. And thank god, we've both done
so much work in ourselves that when we get into
a fight or when you know, as we described it
(30:50):
on the potty, and he describes it too. You just
did a fringe show where he talked about dark Mark.
Whereas like the thoughts and his conditioning and his trauma,
he has immense trauma from his childhood. When that comes up,
how he internalizes that that is a really big part
of our relationship and the fact that we are able
(31:11):
to when those things come up, stop unpack what's going
on without the judgment. And that's something I work on
all the time, like trying not to judge it or
trying not to label it, or trying not to fix,
fix and nurture, because that's my conditioning is. You know,
(31:32):
I grew up with a mother who has skids to
effective disorder. It was just the two of us. So
my conditioning is nurture fix mother, which is why I
have so many children. Brother, And that is a really
important thing to find within your relationship, like what are
both of our responsibilities and how can we co create
(31:52):
and make sure that we are emotionally regulating one another.
And it's been beautiful to talk about and cathartic, and
we're so imperfect.
Speaker 4 (32:04):
I mean we still have fights.
Speaker 1 (32:06):
All the time. I'm like, ah, I get annoyed and
he gets annoyed at me, and but we've made it work.
We get through it, and we up level each time
we have a conflict, there's an up leveling that happens,
and that's how we see it. So but it's been wobbly.
There have been times where it's like we're not going
(32:26):
to make it, but then we do.
Speaker 3 (32:28):
Is it also nice in a way to have a
bit of control over the narrative because the thing is like,
if you're not putting anything out into the world, media
or tabloids or fans can kind of create their own stories.
And I'm thinking of a moment from the first episode
with Mark where you're talking about these paparazzi photos going
everywhere from a fight you were having and some people
think it was from a movie and some people are
(32:49):
not knowing, And do you want to tell the story
for that, because I'm wondering if people maybe just saw
the photos and wouldn't have known this kind of backstory
that led to the podcast.
Speaker 4 (32:56):
Yeah, Well, it was funny.
Speaker 1 (32:58):
We were shooting a movie, so I was producing a
movie in the early days. I was twelve weeks pregnant
with our baby, our first baby, body, and I was financing.
Speaker 4 (33:13):
His new movie.
Speaker 1 (33:15):
And we had only been together at this point, not
very long, maybe not even a year. Wow, But I.
Speaker 3 (33:21):
Mean, you've got the manifestation list working.
Speaker 1 (33:25):
And what had happened was we were filming the movie
and then I found out that he had picked up
again and that he was deep in a relapse. But
a part of the addictive behavior is to conceal and
to manipulate and lie to preserve the thing that you have,
(33:51):
which is for him. It was this relationship, and there's
sort of a certain level of self sabotage that happened sometimes,
I think with addiction. And I did not at that
point understand addiction at all. I only judged it, and
I was water fight and I was pregnant and I
(34:11):
felt trapped and I was so angry, And the paparazzi
happened to be there that day when I was screaming
at him and crying and just full devastation, just like
I'm going to be a single mother, I'm going to
be raising this.
Speaker 4 (34:28):
But this is not the narrative.
Speaker 1 (34:30):
This is not the story, This is not what I
pictured for us, like I just the it felt way
too overwhelming and they snapped these photos. But luckily because
we happened to be shooting that day and there were
some like cameras around, the Daily Mail was like, Oh,
they're filming, they're practicing for a scene, they're rehearsing, and
(34:53):
I was like, Okay, I'm good that that's just maby
that's the story. But yeah, I've always felt like, if
you can share your own story, then you should, and
if you have the ability to do that, It's important
to me to humanize us and the positions that were
(35:17):
in because I have looked at people in the industry
who are on a pedestal and you just think they
have these perfect lives and everything, and you can't help
but be in a state of comparison, which is why
I'm like, why.
Speaker 3 (35:29):
Isn't my life like that? If I just had that
one thing, I would be happy. I think it's what
we when we look at fame and people living their
dream careers. You always think, if I just had that,
I'd be happy. And as I interview more actresses through
my career or all actors, or you always find there's
always something. There's so many different layers to that success.
Speaker 1 (35:45):
Yeah, and I you know, I feel like I had
an epiphany just recently, Like I was working on this
show mixtape, and I was sitting on this log and
we were about to shoot the scene, and I was
sitting next to my coastar Jim Sturgis, who I had
watched in Across the Universe and I'd seen him in
twenty one, and it's like the wind was blowing, there
(36:07):
were birds, and we were outside on this crew and
I just was like, oh my gosh, I am living
my dream, like right here in this moment. It just
dawned on me and I was emotional. I had like
a little tear running down my face, and I was like,
this is the best, and why as human beings do
(36:28):
we keep moving the meter, we keep pushing the bar forward.
I will be happy when this happens. And then you
get that thing, well, now, I'll be happy when I
get to this point and you keep moving the bar.
And I was like, I don't want to do that anymore.
I want to just look around me and be like,
I'm so happy I have everything. This is I'm so
(36:48):
grateful and it's okay to strive for other things and
have other goals, but sitting in a place of just recognizing,
like I can celebrate where I am right now, that
is a beautiful thing.
Speaker 3 (37:02):
It must be very nice for your kids to grow
up in that environment where you're having that mindfulness and
you're and having these conversations and even thinking they could
go back and listen to your podcast and you know,
one day and see that even that moment where you
realize your parents are real people, Like there's a little
long time where they're just your mum and they exist
just for you and your dad, and then you get
to that moment where you realize they're a person with
a story in histories and faults and all those things.
(37:23):
It must be nice for the idea they could go
back and listen to that one day.
Speaker 1 (37:26):
Yeah, and we talk to them about all this stuff,
like if Mark's ever feeling low or going through a
particular thing where he's missing his dad or he's thinking
about his childhood. He is so open with these children.
He just sits and he's like, you know, Dad's feeling
pretty sad right now, and I want you guys to
(37:47):
know that, Like it's really normal to feel sad and
to cry and to have big feelings and feelings come
and feelings go, and this is what it's about. So
they also don't personalize and think, oh, dad's upset because
because of something I've done or and we are really
we talk to them about stuff all the time and
(38:08):
the way we see the world and like it's just
to see the magic through their eyes away they look
at things and their deep gratitude. I didn't have that
as a kid, you know. I was just like woo woo,
you know. And I think my kids have such a
beautiful awareness and a mindfulness and we're raising really conscious
minded children, which is and spiritually rich kids, which is
(38:32):
wonderful and quite a departure from my experience. I had
a very dogmatic, you know, Catholic upbringing, fear based for me.
And I know that's not everyone's experience, but for me,
it was fear based. I need to be good otherwise
I'll be punished. Yeah, I won't go to heaven.
Speaker 3 (38:49):
Is kind of what they tell you in a Catholic
primary school. I can relate. Yes, Yes, there was still
so much more to unpack with Teresa. So after the break,
she opens up about friendship, both in life and in
the industry, and her decision to share deeply personal moments,
including the experience of pregnancy loss that's coming up next.
(39:16):
So coming from that love that you have with your
family and your children. Something else I've noticed about following
your work for many years is this love that you
have for your friendships, and your female friendships in particular,
because you run your podcast and your book and everything
with Sarah right Olsen, who's an actress, I know that
you're very close. And I love that clip at the
Actor Awards this year of you presenting Phoebe Tonkin. That
(39:38):
was the clip that went everywhere from that show because
the look on your face when you read out her
name as Best Lead Actress and then she jumped up,
and you have this beautiful moment of and she can't
quite believe that that you've presented her with this huge award.
And then just a few weeks later, you were at
the gaday USA and she presented you with a big award.
And so it just isn't important to you to have
(40:00):
these friendships be like a big thread throughout your career
and your life.
Speaker 1 (40:04):
I think the special thing about Phoebe is we've known
each other for so long and I have been her
biggest cheerleader for years and years and years, and I
have and I know she has too. We've both been
waiting for the moment for, you know, just the industry
to sort of catch up and recognize Phoebe is such
(40:26):
an immense talent. Oh yes, and she has such a
well of depth. It is absolutely beautiful on screen and
I've always seen it from the early days, and I
knew she just needed that role to really showcase that,
and then she got the role, and then she went
in and just knocked it out of the park in
(40:48):
every way. So she felt so deserving. And I was
actually at the actors I don't know who has won.
I know I'm presenting that a.
Speaker 3 (40:56):
Well, No, I saw the surprise on your face. I
believe you.
Speaker 1 (40:58):
I was practicing backstage in case she won, because I
had a feeling because as I've seen the show, and
I was like, she's so deserving. So I was practicing
saying her name in a relaxed way. Okay, just like,
and the winner is Phoebe Tonkin. That didn't happen. That
did not come across, and that did not come across.
Speaker 4 (41:18):
I really tried.
Speaker 1 (41:20):
Then it came out and it squeaked out of me,
and I sort.
Speaker 4 (41:24):
Of squealed it like sort of screamed out of me.
Speaker 1 (41:27):
And then afterwards I saw some of the other nominees
who I know in that category, and I was like,
I'm so sorry. I just got so excited. I just didn't.
It just burst out of me and championing her and
her being my biggest cheerleader over the years too. It's
just been such a comfort because you can ride the
(41:49):
waves of Hollywood and there are peaks and they're are valleys,
but we can go through it together. And there's a
whole group of us navigating at Bella heath Coat as
well as another really good friend of mine, and we
share in each other's losses and each other's wins, and
there's no room for jealousy. Is only celebration for each other.
(42:13):
And that has been gorgeous, and I hope that we
can lead by example. There's enough room for everyone. And
we're all different flavors and we all do different things,
and there's room for all of us, and together we
are stronger. And you know, I just worked with Russell
Crowe on Bear Country, and one of my favorite takeaways
from him is he uplifts everyone around him. He offers
(42:38):
opportunities to people all over this movie. We're supporting actors
and bit players and dialect coaches and people who say like,
we we owe all of this to Russell and I
was like, Oh, someone in that position could hold on
to this success themselves, but he is giving and sharing it,
(42:58):
and I was like, I always want to be that way.
I want to just share an uplift and give and
celebrate each other. And that's what our little crew of
Ossie is actors do.
Speaker 3 (43:10):
That's really lovely because you do hear I mean every industry,
but you do hear horror stories from Hollywood of especially
this idea that there's one leading lady or ever. It's
so cutthroat. And yeah, I think it was last year
that Sydney Sweeney gave an interview to Vanity Fair and
she's like, all that stuff you hear about women uplifting
women is not true. And then all these other actresses
came out and said, that's not our experience. And I
think everyone's story is their truth and they have different experiences.
(43:33):
But if you're saying that, you've seen a completely different
side of that in this little group that you've been
able to build and the people that you work with.
I think that's a really positive takeaway.
Speaker 4 (43:42):
Yeah, it feels Australian to me.
Speaker 1 (43:45):
Yeah, I was like, we're just like you know that
Aussie matship things a very real thing. And I love
them and I want the best for them and I
want to see them shine, and I know they feel
the same about me. So it's just a gorgeous it's
a gorgeous thing, and maybe it's a rarity, but it's
(44:07):
definitely our experience. And it's been really beautiful.
Speaker 3 (44:11):
You've talked in the past about pregnancy loss and written
so beautifully about it in your book, and then last
year sharing another story of pregnancy loss with I thought
the way you did it was really interesting to share
this video to Instagram. And I know that you also
did a podcast episode showing the joy of finding that
out and then showing the loss, and I remember just
watching that and being it's not something I've been through,
(44:32):
but I've supported a lot of friends through it, and
so sort of seeing that out in the world, and
I remember clicking down into the comments and just seeing
hundreds of comments from thousands, thousands of comments from women
saying thank you for this, or sharing their own stories,
And what is it like to sort of, I guess,
move through that moment of pain and grief with your family,
(44:53):
but also have it out there in the world and
have people reacting to it.
Speaker 1 (44:58):
I think it's both things. It's like really vulnerable and scary.
Did I make the right choice? Because now also my
pregnancy announcement keeps being linked back to my pregnancy loss,
like the it can't be two separate things.
Speaker 4 (45:10):
It's everything.
Speaker 1 (45:11):
The media is like she's had a loss and now
she's pregnant.
Speaker 4 (45:14):
So there's a part.
Speaker 1 (45:15):
Of me that thinks, oh, goodness, did I make the
right choice?
Speaker 3 (45:18):
But I know that I did, because well, we just
read those comments, and you know.
Speaker 1 (45:22):
Exactly it was the comments, and I read all of them,
and I spent days love hearting every single one and
trying to write back to as many as I could.
But I also acknowledge that I have four beautiful, biological,
healthy children that I was able to get pregnant with
and grow and birth and they're healthy, and that already
(45:47):
can be triggering for some people. And I wanted to
put out there that I also went through a pregnancy loss,
and yes, I have these beautiful, healthy children, and you
have the right to grieve a loss no matter how
many children you have. There are some women who can't
even get pregnant, and they long and long and long
(46:11):
to be a mother. And I feel like all stories
should be valid and all stories should be celebrated and told.
And I just thought, I want to put this out
there because to a lot of people, they just look
at me as like a breeder.
Speaker 4 (46:25):
I just have all these children.
Speaker 1 (46:27):
But also I suffered a loss, and I thought I
was having this baby. I mean, you get pregnant, and
I think I took it for granted because I haven't
had that experience before. I did very early on. I
had a mold of pregnancy back in twenty fifteen, but
I was about six weeks pregnant. And it's for me,
it's the breaking up with the dream that the dream
(46:49):
of who this baby is, when they're going to be born,
what the age GAP's going to be. And so I
wanted to show the high of that and the excitement
with the kids, and then show the dream dissipating and
that feeling of oh is this never going to happen again.
So that was important to me, you know, And we
(47:09):
had pushback on our book.
Speaker 4 (47:11):
We dedicated an entire chapter to pregnancy.
Speaker 3 (47:14):
Yes, yes, and so it's a really beautiful chapter.
Speaker 1 (47:16):
Thank you.
Speaker 3 (47:17):
It really kind of hits you for people who have
been through that and for people who have that, for
people in their lives and want to have a small
idea of how to support them through it.
Speaker 4 (47:25):
Yes, exactly.
Speaker 1 (47:26):
And then my co host went on to have back
to back to back to back losses and she's now
pregnant at forty one. I saw that with her rainbow baby,
who like triple quadruple rainbow baby.
Speaker 4 (47:40):
So that was.
Speaker 1 (47:41):
Really important to dedicate that time to writing that chapter
in our book. This is ze Muma's Guide to finding
your path.
Speaker 4 (47:49):
Who through Pregnancy, birth and beyond.
Speaker 1 (47:51):
Because you know, initially everyone was like, why would you
want to write about loss and a pregnancy and birth book.
Speaker 4 (47:57):
I was like, because it's a part of.
Speaker 1 (47:58):
The journey one and four one and four women go.
Speaker 3 (48:01):
Yeah, exactly. It's really important to have all those different
stories out there, which actually think is a beautiful thread
in your new show, The Last Anniversary, which I loved,
by the way, so have he. Because we see all
these different versions of motherhood, we see relationships between adult
mother and daughters. The first episode, you see a woman
become a mother in sort of in a moment where
the pregnancy comes very early and you see her sort
(48:24):
of struggling to bond with the baby. And then your
character Sophie, which I'm going to say that's one of
the most realistic portrayals I've seen of a woman who's
dating but also aware. Like that moment your character stands
in front of the mirror and goes, you're thirty nine,
just give him another chance, and then you see she's
going through a freezing her eggs process and wanting to
become a mother so badly. Is that something that drew
(48:45):
you to the storyline as those threads of motherhood in
this new series.
Speaker 1 (48:49):
Yes, of course I was really drawn to that. In particular,
I think the postpartum depression the way that's portrayed in
our show is so delicately woven in but very realistic.
Speaker 4 (49:04):
And the kind of.
Speaker 1 (49:05):
Disconnect that the character Grace has after she gives birth,
I think it's such a real loss of identity and
not understanding who she is or why she should love
this baby, but knowing that she's meant to. That's meant
to come naturally to her, and because it doesn't, she
feels like a failure.
Speaker 4 (49:25):
And then you see the evolution.
Speaker 1 (49:27):
Of this character and how it gets worse and gets better,
and it gets worse and it gets better. And that
to me, that sort of swinging pendulum experience with postpartum depression.
I didn't experience it myself what my mom did. So
the way my mom talks about and explains it is
the good days of bad days, the good days a
bad day. So that's so well done in our show.
(49:50):
It feels very real and Claude Scott Mitchell is breathtaking,
incredible breath taking. Her performance is exquisite in this. And
then of course my character who's longing to be a
mother and she's seeing these dynamics of these women with
their children all around her, and it's very confronted. And
then so she sort of entertains the idea of dating
(50:12):
a douchebag who's not.
Speaker 3 (50:14):
Treating her well.
Speaker 1 (50:15):
He's the worst guy you could possibly imagine, but it's
just like you're getting old chance. Yeah, give him a chance.
And I'm sure people can relate to that. And that's
a special thing about our show. It's multi generational. So
it's a family drama, but there are access points to
everyone at all ages, at all seasons of life. There's
(50:36):
someone that you can relate to, and they have this beautiful,
imperfect dance with this their life and their their things
that they struggle with and they're hardships and just being
a woman and what does that mean? And I just
think Leanne Moriarty is a genius. I mean we all know.
Speaker 4 (50:56):
This, We've read her books.
Speaker 1 (50:58):
She's got this beautiful recipe and she knows how to
weave in real stories, meaningful stories. But then at the
heart of it, there's the underpinning. Is this twists, this mystery,
this secret lies, And it's really well done and I
think it's going to captivate audiences.
Speaker 3 (51:18):
I definitely think that as well. Oh Treesa, thank you
so much for again being so open here and in
your life. And I can't wait to see the rest
of the show. It's just incredible. Thank you, Thank you
so much.
Speaker 4 (51:27):
This is wonderful.
Speaker 3 (51:32):
So I was lucky enough to attend the premiere of
the Last Anniversary and it really is such an incredible show.
I have just been loving the new episodes that are
dropping weekly on bind and Theresa Palmer's performance in it
is just incredible. So if you want to know more,
we have put all the links in our show notes.
The executive producer of No Filter is Niama Brown, Senior
(51:53):
producer is Grace Rufray, sound design is Jacob Brown, and
I'm Laura Brodnick. It's been a pleasure to be your
No Filter guest host today. Kate Langroup will be backing
your ears on Monday with another captivating No Filter story.
Speaker 1 (52:05):
Bye. No
You're listening to a MoMA Mia podcast. Mamma Maya acknowledges
the traditional owners of land and waters that this podcast
is recorded on. It's nice to fall in love with
a person's way rather than just like the way they look,
or sexual chemistry or whatever. It was just like a
really deep understanding of each other before we even were
(00:31):
in person for the first time.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
Hi, I'm Kate Lanebrook. Welcome to No Filter. Teresa Palmer
is an open book in the most generous, heartfelt way,
whether she's sharing stories on her podcast, The Mother Days
or offering wisdom through her best selling book, The Zen
Mama Guide to Finding Your Rhythm in Pregnancy, Birth and Beyond.
Speaker 1 (01:01):
Teresa has a.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
Remarkable way of letting you into her world. And what
a world it is, a whirlwind of creativity, chaos, and love.
Her family a traveling circus. Her words not mine, but
she does. She's got a big family, She's got lots
of projects and deeply personal experiences that she's never been
(01:23):
afraid to share. In this special bonus episode of No Filter,
Teresa sits down with our head of Entertainment, Laura Brodnick,
to talk about her latest role in the Last anniversary,
which is a great show, but the conversation quickly becomes
so much more than that. With her heart firmly on
her sleeve, Teresa opens up about the village of women
(01:45):
who've helped her balance a thriving career with motherhood. She
reflects on the deep female friendships that keep her grounded
and the story of how she met her now husband Mark,
after writing a ten page manifestation letter to the universe,
let's get scribbling. She's a dreamer, a doer, and above all,
(02:10):
someone who leads with heart.
Speaker 1 (02:12):
This is Teresa Palmer.
Speaker 3 (02:15):
Well, Teresa Palmer, Welcome to Mama MEA thank you.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
I have been a big fan OFS for a very
long time.
Speaker 3 (02:22):
Oh look, every softime we see you like our Instagram
post and we do get quite excited because we're a
big fan of yours as well.
Speaker 4 (02:27):
I'm I legit, I am a super fan.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
And I've listened to so many of the podcasts, the
True Crime podcast I've listened to every episode.
Speaker 4 (02:35):
Oh I'm really.
Speaker 3 (02:36):
Caught up ringing in doors. So last time I saw
you you was last night walking the red carp at
the State Theater, up on stage with just a casual
Leanne Moriarty to your right, launching your new series in
a beautiful gown, full hair and makeup, And I wanted
to ask you about the logistics of that because I
know you have four children at home and another on
the way. Yes, when you're doing these big traveling press stays,
(02:58):
what are the logistics of that? Do you get to
go and be in a hotel room by yourself for Oh okay, great,
tell me about.
Speaker 1 (03:04):
So I'm actually expecting our sixth baby because I have
a step son as well, who was there last night.
Oh lovely, Isaac Raicht Isaac exactly. He's about to be
seventeen and he lives in America most of the time.
He's at a very academic high school, so he doesn't
get to venture to Australia that often. But it just
so happened that he flew in the day of the premiere.
(03:26):
So I was like, right, you're coming with me, first
time on the red carpet with him and the boys.
But we just decided we're a bit of a traveling circus.
So when we work away, Mark's working away at the moment,
he's here in Sydney, but we live in Byron Bay,
so we just thought if I'm going to be in Sydney,
Mark's gonna be working in Sydney, Isaac's flying into Sydney.
(03:48):
Let's just take the whole crew. So I had all
the kids. I had to just ring a local nanny
agency right to be with the little girls because I
knew the show wasn't probably appropriate for them.
Speaker 4 (04:02):
They're five and three.
Speaker 3 (04:03):
Yeah, maybe not that first episode, I know.
Speaker 1 (04:05):
I was like even my eight year old when there's
the scene that I make out with when he was
like ooh.
Speaker 4 (04:10):
Oh rosum and I was like, oh, I'm so sorry,
I forgot about that part.
Speaker 1 (04:14):
But we have yeah, we have three rooms, hotel rooms.
Speaker 4 (04:18):
Isaac's about to be seventeen, He's got his own room.
Speaker 1 (04:20):
And then we have to do adjoining rooms, suitcases everywhere.
Kids on one side, well, the boys on one side,
the girls in the bed with Mark and I with
a trundle bed, and it's musical beds, like all night,
everyone's moving into a different bed at some point. My
husband ended up on the single bed last night and
I had three kids in my bed.
Speaker 4 (04:40):
Anyway, that's the way it is.
Speaker 3 (04:42):
Like's not a glamorous lead, and in the best possible way,
I'm bring them all with you.
Speaker 1 (04:46):
No, it's just that's how we figure it out, is
we just make it work. Usually my mom's with us,
so it's easier, but this time around she was back
and Byron, so luckily I rang this nanny agency that
I love and was like, do you have anyone available? Yeah?
Speaker 3 (05:02):
And I wanted to take you back to the beginning
before we're walking these premieres and having these world premieres
of your new show of growing up in Adelaide and
I'm assuming in you know, a smaller town in Australia,
so far removed from Hollywood, in that industry and that
glam life. How do you go from a young girl
living in Adelaide dreaming of that and I'm assuming just
like you know, normal family, no famous relatives in the background,
(05:24):
willing to step in or anything like that, how do
you go from that to this career? What was the
first kind of moment that moved you there? Well?
Speaker 1 (05:32):
So I grew up moving between two homes, actually three homes.
My dad had two houses because my stepmom also has children,
and so her kids would stay in one house and
her and her ex husband would rotate to keep her
sons in that house, so I would rotate with them,
which meant that every second week I was in a
(05:54):
different house with my dad, and then with my mom.
We grew up in housing trust units and so we
traveled a lot. She was on a disability pengine. So
I will say that the dream felt quite far away.
I couldn't see how the dream could be a reality,
but I just kept plodding away at it.
Speaker 4 (06:17):
I just thought, all right, if this.
Speaker 1 (06:19):
Is my dream, And it sort of dawned on me
at eight or nine that I wanted to do this.
Speaker 4 (06:24):
I watched a movie called a Little Princess.
Speaker 3 (06:26):
Oh yes, a classic.
Speaker 1 (06:28):
A classic Alfonso Curan. And back then, I don't know
if you remember, but on the DVDs or the VHS,
there'd always be this little like behind the scenes where
they would do the making off.
Speaker 3 (06:40):
All the little featurettes, the featurettes.
Speaker 1 (06:43):
Yeah, And I saw the featurette and saw this little
girl on set and saw her like having all this
fun and being, you know, on camera and playing with
these other little girls, and.
Speaker 4 (06:54):
I was like, I want to do that. I want
to be an actress.
Speaker 1 (06:57):
And that sort of planted the seed at such a
young age, and I just banged on about it for
so long to everyone who would listen, I'm going to
be an actress.
Speaker 4 (07:04):
Yeah, I'm going to be in Hollywood.
Speaker 1 (07:05):
I'm going to be represented by the same agent as
Nicole Kidman.
Speaker 4 (07:08):
That was like my statement.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
And then eventually I convinced my dad to give me
acting lessons and he said he would do it, and
so he paid for me to have acting lessons at
a local acting agency. When I was sixteen. Wow, and
I just started auditioning for things. And I always say
this to people who want to get into the film industry.
I was yes, and I was like, there is a
(07:32):
student film. I'm not getting paid any money. Cool, I'm
just going to go and have that experience. Like, oh,
there's a tiny little short film, I'm going to go
on star in that. And I did so many of
those experiences. And then I was an extra on a
bigger movie, Wolf Creek, which is one of Australia's.
Speaker 3 (07:49):
Another conic in a different way.
Speaker 4 (07:51):
Yeah, iconic horror films.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
And I was pool party person in the background and
I remember being there watching everyone and watching Nathan Phillips
and this the lead actress. Her name was Kesty Morassy
and she was so brilliant. She was so brave she
had to act drunk. Remember watching her as an extra, thinking, oh,
she's not embarrassed, she's just out there, she's trying things.
(08:16):
She's so big and bold and like, look at her
go so uninhibited.
Speaker 4 (08:20):
And she was really excellent.
Speaker 1 (08:22):
And the first ad at the time would sort of tell.
Speaker 4 (08:25):
The extras what to.
Speaker 1 (08:26):
Do, and I didn't listen, and I thought, in fact,
I want to get in front of the camera, like
I'm going to start splashing lead guy and Nathan Phillips
in the background and try and get on camera. And
so you actually see me kind of in the background,
leave the spot I was meant to be standing in
like way way far back, and I come and I
(08:46):
start interacting with the lead guy and I actually ended
up using it and I'm splashing him. And there have
been some sleuths who have found images of me, like
screenshotted images of me in Wolf Creek as poor party
person number one. And that was it, Like I saw
that I was on that set and I was like,
this is it. This is what I am doing for
(09:07):
the rest of my life. And yeah, and I continued
doing extra work and eventually I did I said yes,
to a student film. The premiered at cann at the
Camp Festival, and that is where it all started. But
if I had not said yes to this little student film,
it would have been a much more difficult journey to
(09:28):
get to where I am, right.
Speaker 3 (09:30):
Because that film had quite a bit of international acclaim
and got a lot of attention. Is that how you
were able to get your agents in America and stuff?
And I've heard you tell a story where you walked
in and said, I really want to do this. I
love acting, but I'm going to be a mom. And
it's really nice. I didn't turn your way because in
some places they'd say, well, if you're not completely committed,
which obviously you were.
Speaker 1 (09:51):
Well it was just it was my truth. And I
think because I was nineteen and I was just bold
and brave, and I just landed in America. I just
got with this incredible manager. His name's David Seltzer. I'm
still with him today, and he really believed in me.
And I really had only done at that point this
little student film, and I had booked what I had
(10:15):
and Churchill Brown from Shanahan, who was in fact Nicole
Kimman's agent. Oh wow, Yes, she really took a punt
on me at such a young age and decided to
sign me at Shanahan, which was the biggest agency in
Australia at the time and the most powerful, exciting one.
And she sort of sent me to la for rehearsals
(10:36):
for this little Australian movie I did, and that's where
I met my manager who had seen me at kenn
and he took me around to all these big agencies.
I decided to sign with the Willie Morris agency and
I signed with Scarlett Johanson's agent at the time. His
name was Scott Lambert. So Scott brings me into this
big boardroom to meet all the part all the partners,
(10:57):
like the biggest, most senior agents at this agency, and
they kind of just hand the mic over to you.
They're just like, here she is talk about yourself to
this boardroom of people. And I was quite nervos nineteen
and I was like, Hi, I just want to let
you all know this is very exciting and all I'm
really proud of this opportunity and I have to just
(11:20):
give your heads up though that my real passion is
motherhood and I'm planning on having six children and it
was like dead silent.
Speaker 4 (11:30):
And they all thought it was a joke. They were
kind of looking at each other.
Speaker 3 (11:32):
Like, oh, she's doing it aha, like.
Speaker 1 (11:34):
Lol, And then my manager's like, no, she's actually serious,
like she's just letting you know she wants to.
Speaker 4 (11:40):
Be a mom as well. And I don't know what
it was.
Speaker 1 (11:42):
I just thought I should announce it at the time,
let them all know. But at least I planted that
seed early on, and so I was never met with
any real disappointment. That's prosative agents, and I'm perpetually pregnant,
like I'm all, I will not stop having babies.
Speaker 4 (11:58):
So for them it's a little bit like, oh, she's
pregnant again.
Speaker 1 (12:02):
Here we go again.
Speaker 3 (12:03):
But you could give them a heads up so they
can't say anything about that.
Speaker 1 (12:05):
I was like, you know who you signed. I mean,
I told you from day But do you know what
a great blessing to be able to do both things?
Speaker 3 (12:14):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (12:14):
Exactly, to live out both dreams and I get to
do this in tandem. I don't have to give up
either of them. And I did think after my first child,
I thought.
Speaker 4 (12:26):
Well, this is it.
Speaker 1 (12:27):
The opportunities will dry up, and that's okay. I'm so
fulfilled in what I'm doing, and even if I get
to go and do one job every couple of years,
I'll still be really grateful for that.
Speaker 4 (12:39):
And I found that I actually had the opposite fact.
Speaker 1 (12:42):
Really, my career really started gaining momentum after I had kids.
Speaker 3 (12:46):
Which so interesting. Do you know if there was a
correlation there Is there something like that you're putting into
your work, or is there something maybe like a depth
of characters you get into when you were talking to directors,
because you do hear these horror stories, not just in
the film industry. I think every woman at the moment
is in that crossroads of like it's career or parenthood.
Speaker 1 (13:04):
Well, I did have that anxiety that, oh, this is it,
and I chose to have kids right at the peak
of my opportunity. So Warm Bodies had just come out,
and it was such a big break for me internationally,
and I was like, now it's haid to have a baby.
Oh I was twenty seven. I think I was really nervous,
(13:29):
But then suddenly all my eggs weren't in one basket.
Speaker 4 (13:34):
I was really fixated.
Speaker 1 (13:37):
And had such like an obsession with this dream I
had wanted my whole life to be a mum and
something that my nana, who's like a was always such
a great mentor for me. She had eight children. She
was like, right before she passed away, she said, I
know that acting is so exciting, and I know that
(13:58):
you are going to reach.
Speaker 4 (13:59):
All of those goals.
Speaker 1 (14:01):
But knowing you and knowing who you are and the
spirit of you, like you your true your truest dream
is to be a mother. And I was like, You're
so right. And once I had that baby, it was
like everything was for him, about him, it was it
was everything to me. And so suddenly the auditions weren't
(14:22):
as scary or I didn't put too much stock in
any of these things, whereas I think pre babies, it
was like, this is all I have, This is the
trajectory of my career. And I got really fixated on
my career path. And then suddenly I was kind of like,
I don't really care as much about that because I'm
(14:43):
in this other season of my life and the opportunities
started coming. And I think maybe the letting go of
the control meant that maybe I was more present in
the auditions or in the.
Speaker 3 (14:55):
Maybe because the nerves weren't there because it wasn't like
life or death exactly. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (15:00):
Absolutely, And then I started booking these bigger and bigger jobs. Yeah,
I was like, oh my god, I can just bring
my baby. I can bring my baby with me and
I can still can cotinue to breastfeed and have that relationship.
And I will say that not everyone has afforded that opportunity.
And I was able to bring my children to work
and given the space to breastfeed on demand and to
(15:24):
be and nurture my child and have my child there,
and I understand what a luxury that is, and I
don't take that for granted. And it's not afforded to
all actors either. I mean, if you're sort of one
of the lead actors or one of the supporting actors,
you have a certain privilege that day players don't get,
and that people who pop in here and there aren't
(15:46):
afforded that same luxury. So I really recognize that too,
and I'm careful when I talk about it because I
want to really highlight that.
Speaker 3 (15:54):
I know that that's a rarity, yes, but also I
think it's good to share different realities. Otherwise we're just
looking at these very glossy pictures of people and thinking
how are they doing that? That's why their life is
different to mine. Is that something that you have written
into a contract or you tell production beforehand, I'm going
to have my kids there, I'm going to need to breastfeed.
I'm assuming that's not on a schedule, so you need
to be flexible with filming. Is that all set up beforehand?
Speaker 1 (16:14):
Not really. You do have meetings with producers and I
always talk about it, and especially in those earlier days,
mean I'm pregnant again, but my youngest is three, so
she hasn't really been nursing on demand for a while,
so things are a little bit different nowadays. But definitely
(16:34):
in my contract, I have way more airfares than the
majority of actors, so I've.
Speaker 3 (16:40):
Got to fly the whole family.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
Fly the whole family, or at least you know, they'll
fly half of them and I fly the other half.
Speaker 4 (16:48):
So there are certain things like that which I.
Speaker 1 (16:49):
Thought it would mean that if they were picking out
of two actors, I would be the less interesting choice,
because it meant I'm more expensive because I have a
big family, and also then the housing situation I need
instead of just a hotel room for myself. I come
with a housing need where like my mom lives with us,
(17:11):
my husband, I've got all these kids, so usually I
need at least a three We can make a three
bedroom work three bedrooms? Who can make work?
Speaker 4 (17:20):
Four bedrooms is ideal?
Speaker 1 (17:22):
But yeah, so I thought all of that would go
against me. And actually it's one of the reasons I'm
so grateful to Bruna pap Andrea. She not only gave me,
she's the producer of this show the last anniversary, and
I know.
Speaker 4 (17:34):
She produced your show, Your Mom and Me.
Speaker 1 (17:36):
Yeah, but she has advocated for me and has been
my biggest supporter, and she keeps hiring me no matter
how many children I have. She keeps hiring me and
encouraging others to do so too, And I'm truly grateful
for that.
Speaker 3 (17:51):
Oh, that's a lovely side of the industry that you
don't hear as much. That's very nice. Yeah, and you're
talking about booking those first big roles those studio movies
Warm Bodies, which I loved, by the way, I wanted
to sort of know what was like in that moment
when you're starting to book these blockbusters and you're starting
to be catapulted this different part of fame. I remember
when those movies were coming out and seeing photos on
(18:12):
magazines and on red carpets. What's that like? To go
from working in a student film to them being on
billboards everywhere.
Speaker 1 (18:19):
It's pretty surreal, I would say, really exciting. Just felt
like a well wind. And in fact, I have quite
a bad memory because so much happened to me in
that period of time. It was travel every week, it
was events, it was press, it was different photoshoots, and
(18:40):
like not sleeping so much, and just this wild, adventurous life.
And because I jam packed so much into that period
of time, I'll often forget about amazing experiences. Someone will
remind me, you remember when we're in Paris and we're
at that event, we went to that fashion show. I
was like, was I there? Did I do that? And
I'll have to go back and google images? Which is
(19:01):
so good about that aspect. You could go back and
google back I was there.
Speaker 3 (19:05):
It's all being cataloged on for you.
Speaker 4 (19:07):
Catalog I was like, oh my god, I was there.
Speaker 1 (19:09):
I do remember that. And so that's that's kind of
this idea of this whirlwind. It just was kind of
happening to me and I had so much energy, and I.
Speaker 4 (19:21):
Just was enthralled.
Speaker 1 (19:24):
It was so unbelievably exciting, and I loved every most
moments of it. Not all of it, of course, I've
had my share of, you know, hardships in the industry
as well, but so much of that I just was
rimming with gratitude. Really, that's always the word I keep
(19:45):
coming back to. It's just it happened. That thing that
I wrote about in my journals from such a young age,
it actually happened. And now reading back, I found all
my journals.
Speaker 3 (19:57):
Just really, have you been rereading them?
Speaker 1 (19:59):
I've been rereading everything, and I have journal done memorily. Yeah,
from the year two thousand until like twenty fifteen. I
have a book for every year, and reading like I'm
going to be doing this. These are the people I'm
going to be working with. This is what my life's
going to look like. And there's a lot in there
(20:20):
where I'll say, if you are reading back on this
right now and you've made it and you've created this
dream life, like sixteen year old me is very proud
of you.
Speaker 3 (20:37):
There is more to my conversation with Teresa Palmer after
this short break. We talk about first loves and then
finding everlasting love. We'll be right back. What was the
most surprising thing that you found in there? Like a
memory that you'd forgotten that came back to you.
Speaker 1 (20:55):
Oh, just so that was a bit of a desperado
and love.
Speaker 3 (21:00):
Was until your first serious relationship, you remember.
Speaker 1 (21:04):
I wish I could go back to that nineteen year
old self where she was like in love with this
boy and he wasn't really messaging her back very much,
and she was like, well, I decided to message him
again tonight and I didn't hear back.
Speaker 3 (21:16):
And I then.
Speaker 4 (21:18):
Cut to like a few days later, like, well.
Speaker 1 (21:20):
I still haven't heard from him, but I thought that
I would just congratulate him on this particular thing. And
I was like, girlfriend, why why are you still pursuing
this person and he's not showing any interest.
Speaker 4 (21:31):
That has been the funniest thing.
Speaker 1 (21:33):
I've actually been reading it out to my teenage son
and I'm.
Speaker 4 (21:37):
Like, learn a lesson here. Yeah, I was like, learn
a lesson.
Speaker 1 (21:42):
So there's just funny little tidbits like that that I'll
read and certain parties I went to when I was younger,
and experiences I had, and just the person I was
back then she's not too dissimilar to who I am now,
but there's just so many things I wish I could
go back and be like, you can let that one go.
Speaker 3 (22:01):
You can just feel so high stakes at that age.
I mean it does sound too but like nineteen, when
you're first love, it all feels like it'll be life
and death, life and death.
Speaker 1 (22:09):
It's so endearing, but it's also like informative for me
because my kids are going to be entering these ages
and I want to remember what it was like to
feel like it was the end of the world with
your best friend wasn't talking to you at school, and
so it's good. It's it's like such a precious thing
to have these journals.
Speaker 3 (22:29):
Oh that's really beautiful. And I'm glad you talked about
your first love there because I want to ask you
now about your your everlasting love. I'm assuming with your
husband Mark and the beautiful relationship you have. Is it
true just before you met him, you wrote a manifestation
list of the person that you were looking for. Did
he fit the bill? It was one of those things
you had to just throw the list down and think, well,
I've got to go with this man. I'm in love
(22:50):
with now.
Speaker 1 (22:51):
Yes, it's totally true, and he fit all ten pages.
Speaker 3 (22:55):
Ten pages, ten pages. My goodness.
Speaker 1 (22:58):
So I had gone through this really painful breakup and
I was actually hanging out with a group of people
who are really like deep in self development work and
spirituality and mobile. The singer Moby happened to be one
of them, and he was really instrumental in my early years.
I listened to his album on repeat all the time.
In fact, I would sleep It was my sleep song
(23:20):
Porcelain for two years, so I would sleep listening to Moby. Anyway,
So I meet him, We start connecting and he's doing
a lot of like meditation stuff at his castle in
beach with.
Speaker 3 (23:33):
Just a casual castle, just.
Speaker 1 (23:34):
A casual castle, and he would do these really cool
things in the dar it was you'd turn off all
the lights and so it was like sensory deprivation, so
you couldn't see anything, you couldn't hear anything. It was
dead silent. It'd be a group of like forty forty
fifty people and there'd be only candle light and then
the candle would go off and people would sit in
(23:55):
meditation for however long the collective group would want to
sit in meditation, and this was all very very new
to me, and I was like, what is this.
Speaker 4 (24:05):
Well, you know, I grab up Catholic.
Speaker 1 (24:07):
I didn't know so much about meditation, but I always
felt so connected to myself after these sessions. And then
I found this idea of the law of attraction and
I started looking into that. And so because I had
had this like awful relationship, I was like, I'm just
going to try this. And I got very very specific
(24:29):
in what I wanted and I called it in as
though I already had it. My man is he has
you know, this color eyes, and he's a cancer and
he loves children and he wants to have a big family,
and he's an animal lover and he's at least a
vegetarian and all these things. And I wrote it very specific,
(24:50):
this is the way he is with my friends and
his artistic and creative and deep thinker.
Speaker 4 (24:54):
And so I wrote this all out.
Speaker 1 (24:56):
And the stuff that I was studying at the time
was like, Okay, now, you can't fixate on this.
Speaker 3 (25:01):
Now.
Speaker 1 (25:01):
You got to sort of put it out to the
universe now and put these pages away somewhere in a draw.
Don't fixate, let it go. And I did, and three
months later I met my husband randomly online through Twitter
on twew.
Speaker 3 (25:19):
You just don't hear those stories from Twitter all the
different social platforms. It's usually where you find a troll.
You got catfish, like, this might be the one Twitter
I love story.
Speaker 1 (25:28):
I know, I know, we always say like the modern
day love story through social media. At the time, I
was like in a really sad place. I was at
the Bowery staying at the Bowery Hotel in New York,
which is like the famous hotel in New York, with
my friend Brooke. But I was so desperately lonely and
sad because of this heartbreak. And I happened to look
(25:49):
at this trailer because I was like, I'll just kick.
Speaker 4 (25:54):
Myself when I'm down, Like, what is.
Speaker 1 (25:56):
Another actress up to that's doing better than me and
her career is.
Speaker 4 (25:59):
Better than mine?
Speaker 1 (26:00):
Like, oh, I know, I'm going to google what Amanda
Seafred's up to. Oh, look, she's got another movie at sundown,
so of course she does amazing.
Speaker 4 (26:07):
Good for her. So I watched the trailer for her.
Speaker 1 (26:10):
Movie and I was like, oh my god, that is
so beautiful, my cooleous movie.
Speaker 4 (26:17):
And I was like, Oh, I'm going to.
Speaker 1 (26:19):
Tweet about this. I was just so moved by this trailer.
So I tweeted about it and I was like, oh,
I'll put the filmmaker's handle in there, and it was
my husband. It was his movie, and I put his
handle in there at like mark and I was like,
everyone should check this out.
Speaker 4 (26:34):
This looks so beautiful. Put it out there.
Speaker 1 (26:36):
And then he started messaging me. He slipped into the
DMS and was like, Oh, I'm an admirer of your
work and I was like, oh, and my friend Brooke,
thank god, she's one of my good friends. Now. She's
so cool and in the know of like who's who
and like the underground art scene and she was like,
don't you know who that is?
Speaker 2 (26:55):
What?
Speaker 4 (26:55):
No, who is this person?
Speaker 1 (26:57):
And she was like, you've got to hear his story.
He was a homeless kid and he made him his
way out of his situation, and he's like been on
Broadway and he's worked with all the greats and he's
like really revered in the indoe in this underground acting
scene and I was like, oh my god.
Speaker 4 (27:13):
Really, she was like, you've got to DM him back.
This is so hot.
Speaker 1 (27:16):
You've got to hook up with this guy like anyway,
So I had my and he's always thankful to Brook
for just being.
Speaker 3 (27:24):
Just stilitating that and getting it all totally.
Speaker 4 (27:27):
And then that's that's kind of how it happened.
Speaker 1 (27:29):
We just wrote letters, love letters to each other for
forty days actually just over email, until we met in flesh,
and we had already fallen in love through our writing
at that point when we go on, I.
Speaker 3 (27:40):
Hope this has been turned into a movie. I know
you guys collaborate a lot, so I feel like that
should be on the list of potential projects. I know
it hope out there.
Speaker 1 (27:48):
Do you know? It's really beautiful and it's nice to
fall in love with a person's way rather than just
like the way they look or sexual chemistry or whatever.
It was just like a really deep understanding of each
other before we even were in person for the first time.
Speaker 3 (28:04):
Well, and has that really set the foundation for when
now you are as parents and working this crazy industry,
because I feel like you've been so open about your
relationship and the ups and downs, and you've talked about
it publicly on your podcast, and you've done interviews and
in your book, and there's I'm a big fan of
your podcast some other days. By the way, I'm not
a mother myself, but I take a lot away from
just hearing all the different stories and everything. But there's
(28:26):
a set of episodes I listened to that have always
stuck in my mind, and it's when you had Mark
on and I just remember listening to that. You know,
sometimes you listened to a podcast while you're grocery shop
and you're walking as like background noise. I started listening
to this one. I just sit on my couch and
just like listen to it and take it in because
it was this really beautiful insight into his life and
into your marriage and into your relationship. And I love
(28:46):
how you touched on his childhood and what he went
through and addiction and parenthood and all of those different topics.
How do you make a decision like that as a
couple to put that story out there so publicly.
Speaker 1 (28:58):
I think Mark has always really been proud of his story,
and he feels like he wants to be of service.
He grew up being of his mom still is the
head of the Poor People's Army in Philadelphia. She lives
in the most violent neighborhood in all of America, and
she dedicates her life to, you know, putting homeless people
(29:21):
into these takeover houses and making sure that they have
roofs over their head. And I think that Mark feels
a real sense of responsibility to affect positive change, and
one of the ways he really believes he can do
that is by sharing his story. So he thought, what
better way to do that than on my platform on
(29:41):
the other days and still to this day, we have,
by the way, interviewed, like you guys, so many celebrities,
like massive celebrities with huge paws and fan base. They
are still our most popular.
Speaker 3 (29:55):
Really because everyone had that really visceral reaction to it.
Speaker 1 (29:59):
We have been stopped on the street for those episodes
more than anything, really more than our movies.
Speaker 3 (30:06):
I would believe it that.
Speaker 1 (30:06):
Actually, it was so profound the way he opened up,
and also we really talked about our marriage and the
ways in which both of our unique conditioning in our
childhoods inform our dynamic and our patterns, and how there
(30:29):
can be a certain level of toxicity in patterns when
they get ignored, and just the observation of a marriage
dynamic is really integral. And thank god, we've both done
so much work in ourselves that when we get into
a fight or when you know, as we described it
(30:50):
on the potty, and he describes it too. You just
did a fringe show where he talked about dark Mark.
Whereas like the thoughts and his conditioning and his trauma,
he has immense trauma from his childhood. When that comes up,
how he internalizes that that is a really big part
of our relationship and the fact that we are able
(31:11):
to when those things come up, stop unpack what's going
on without the judgment. And that's something I work on
all the time, like trying not to judge it or
trying not to label it, or trying not to fix,
fix and nurture, because that's my conditioning is. You know,
(31:32):
I grew up with a mother who has skids to
effective disorder. It was just the two of us. So
my conditioning is nurture fix mother, which is why I
have so many children. Brother, And that is a really
important thing to find within your relationship, like what are
both of our responsibilities and how can we co create
(31:52):
and make sure that we are emotionally regulating one another.
And it's been beautiful to talk about and cathartic, and
we're so imperfect.
Speaker 4 (32:04):
I mean we still have fights.
Speaker 1 (32:06):
All the time. I'm like, ah, I get annoyed and
he gets annoyed at me, and but we've made it work.
We get through it, and we up level each time
we have a conflict, there's an up leveling that happens,
and that's how we see it. So but it's been wobbly.
There have been times where it's like we're not going
(32:26):
to make it, but then we do.
Speaker 3 (32:28):
Is it also nice in a way to have a
bit of control over the narrative because the thing is like,
if you're not putting anything out into the world, media
or tabloids or fans can kind of create their own stories.
And I'm thinking of a moment from the first episode
with Mark where you're talking about these paparazzi photos going
everywhere from a fight you were having and some people
think it was from a movie and some people are
(32:49):
not knowing, And do you want to tell the story
for that, because I'm wondering if people maybe just saw
the photos and wouldn't have known this kind of backstory
that led to the podcast.
Speaker 4 (32:56):
Yeah, Well, it was funny.
Speaker 1 (32:58):
We were shooting a movie, so I was producing a
movie in the early days. I was twelve weeks pregnant
with our baby, our first baby, body, and I was financing.
Speaker 4 (33:13):
His new movie.
Speaker 1 (33:15):
And we had only been together at this point, not
very long, maybe not even a year. Wow, But I.
Speaker 3 (33:21):
Mean, you've got the manifestation list working.
Speaker 1 (33:25):
And what had happened was we were filming the movie
and then I found out that he had picked up
again and that he was deep in a relapse. But
a part of the addictive behavior is to conceal and
to manipulate and lie to preserve the thing that you have,
(33:51):
which is for him. It was this relationship, and there's
sort of a certain level of self sabotage that happened sometimes,
I think with addiction. And I did not at that
point understand addiction at all. I only judged it, and
I was water fight and I was pregnant and I
(34:11):
felt trapped and I was so angry, And the paparazzi
happened to be there that day when I was screaming
at him and crying and just full devastation, just like
I'm going to be a single mother, I'm going to
be raising this.
Speaker 4 (34:28):
But this is not the narrative.
Speaker 1 (34:30):
This is not the story, This is not what I
pictured for us, like I just the it felt way
too overwhelming and they snapped these photos. But luckily because
we happened to be shooting that day and there were
some like cameras around, the Daily Mail was like, Oh,
they're filming, they're practicing for a scene, they're rehearsing, and
(34:53):
I was like, Okay, I'm good that that's just maby
that's the story. But yeah, I've always felt like, if
you can share your own story, then you should, and
if you have the ability to do that, It's important
to me to humanize us and the positions that were
(35:17):
in because I have looked at people in the industry
who are on a pedestal and you just think they
have these perfect lives and everything, and you can't help
but be in a state of comparison, which is why
I'm like, why.
Speaker 3 (35:29):
Isn't my life like that? If I just had that
one thing, I would be happy. I think it's what
we when we look at fame and people living their
dream careers. You always think, if I just had that,
I'd be happy. And as I interview more actresses through
my career or all actors, or you always find there's
always something. There's so many different layers to that success.
Speaker 1 (35:45):
Yeah, and I you know, I feel like I had
an epiphany just recently, Like I was working on this
show mixtape, and I was sitting on this log and
we were about to shoot the scene, and I was
sitting next to my coastar Jim Sturgis, who I had
watched in Across the Universe and I'd seen him in
twenty one, and it's like the wind was blowing, there
(36:07):
were birds, and we were outside on this crew and
I just was like, oh my gosh, I am living
my dream, like right here in this moment. It just
dawned on me and I was emotional. I had like
a little tear running down my face, and I was like,
this is the best, and why as human beings do
(36:28):
we keep moving the meter, we keep pushing the bar forward.
I will be happy when this happens. And then you
get that thing, well, now, I'll be happy when I
get to this point and you keep moving the bar.
And I was like, I don't want to do that anymore.
I want to just look around me and be like,
I'm so happy I have everything. This is I'm so
(36:48):
grateful and it's okay to strive for other things and
have other goals, but sitting in a place of just recognizing,
like I can celebrate where I am right now, that
is a beautiful thing.
Speaker 3 (37:02):
It must be very nice for your kids to grow
up in that environment where you're having that mindfulness and
you're and having these conversations and even thinking they could
go back and listen to your podcast and you know,
one day and see that even that moment where you
realize your parents are real people, Like there's a little
long time where they're just your mum and they exist
just for you and your dad, and then you get
to that moment where you realize they're a person with
a story in histories and faults and all those things.
(37:23):
It must be nice for the idea they could go
back and listen to that one day.
Speaker 1 (37:26):
Yeah, and we talk to them about all this stuff,
like if Mark's ever feeling low or going through a
particular thing where he's missing his dad or he's thinking
about his childhood. He is so open with these children.
He just sits and he's like, you know, Dad's feeling
pretty sad right now, and I want you guys to
(37:47):
know that, Like it's really normal to feel sad and
to cry and to have big feelings and feelings come
and feelings go, and this is what it's about. So
they also don't personalize and think, oh, dad's upset because
because of something I've done or and we are really
we talk to them about stuff all the time and
(38:08):
the way we see the world and like it's just
to see the magic through their eyes away they look
at things and their deep gratitude. I didn't have that
as a kid, you know. I was just like woo woo,
you know. And I think my kids have such a
beautiful awareness and a mindfulness and we're raising really conscious
minded children, which is and spiritually rich kids, which is
(38:32):
wonderful and quite a departure from my experience. I had
a very dogmatic, you know, Catholic upbringing, fear based for me.
And I know that's not everyone's experience, but for me,
it was fear based. I need to be good otherwise
I'll be punished. Yeah, I won't go to heaven.
Speaker 3 (38:49):
Is kind of what they tell you in a Catholic
primary school. I can relate. Yes, Yes, there was still
so much more to unpack with Teresa. So after the break,
she opens up about friendship, both in life and in
the industry, and her decision to share deeply personal moments,
including the experience of pregnancy loss that's coming up next.
(39:16):
So coming from that love that you have with your
family and your children. Something else I've noticed about following
your work for many years is this love that you
have for your friendships, and your female friendships in particular,
because you run your podcast and your book and everything
with Sarah right Olsen, who's an actress, I know that
you're very close. And I love that clip at the
Actor Awards this year of you presenting Phoebe Tonkin. That
(39:38):
was the clip that went everywhere from that show because
the look on your face when you read out her
name as Best Lead Actress and then she jumped up,
and you have this beautiful moment of and she can't
quite believe that that you've presented her with this huge award.
And then just a few weeks later, you were at
the gaday USA and she presented you with a big award.
And so it just isn't important to you to have
(40:00):
these friendships be like a big thread throughout your career
and your life.
Speaker 1 (40:04):
I think the special thing about Phoebe is we've known
each other for so long and I have been her
biggest cheerleader for years and years and years, and I
have and I know she has too. We've both been
waiting for the moment for, you know, just the industry
to sort of catch up and recognize Phoebe is such
(40:26):
an immense talent. Oh yes, and she has such a
well of depth. It is absolutely beautiful on screen and
I've always seen it from the early days, and I
knew she just needed that role to really showcase that,
and then she got the role, and then she went
in and just knocked it out of the park in
(40:48):
every way. So she felt so deserving. And I was
actually at the actors I don't know who has won.
I know I'm presenting that a.
Speaker 3 (40:56):
Well, No, I saw the surprise on your face. I
believe you.
Speaker 1 (40:58):
I was practicing backstage in case she won, because I
had a feeling because as I've seen the show, and
I was like, she's so deserving. So I was practicing
saying her name in a relaxed way. Okay, just like,
and the winner is Phoebe Tonkin. That didn't happen. That
did not come across, and that did not come across.
Speaker 4 (41:18):
I really tried.
Speaker 1 (41:20):
Then it came out and it squeaked out of me,
and I sort.
Speaker 4 (41:24):
Of squealed it like sort of screamed out of me.
Speaker 1 (41:27):
And then afterwards I saw some of the other nominees
who I know in that category, and I was like,
I'm so sorry. I just got so excited. I just didn't.
It just burst out of me and championing her and
her being my biggest cheerleader over the years too. It's
just been such a comfort because you can ride the
(41:49):
waves of Hollywood and there are peaks and they're are valleys,
but we can go through it together. And there's a
whole group of us navigating at Bella heath Coat as
well as another really good friend of mine, and we
share in each other's losses and each other's wins, and
there's no room for jealousy. Is only celebration for each other.
(42:13):
And that has been gorgeous, and I hope that we
can lead by example. There's enough room for everyone. And
we're all different flavors and we all do different things,
and there's room for all of us, and together we
are stronger. And you know, I just worked with Russell
Crowe on Bear Country, and one of my favorite takeaways
from him is he uplifts everyone around him. He offers
(42:38):
opportunities to people all over this movie. We're supporting actors
and bit players and dialect coaches and people who say like,
we we owe all of this to Russell and I
was like, Oh, someone in that position could hold on
to this success themselves, but he is giving and sharing it,
(42:58):
and I was like, I always want to be that way.
I want to just share an uplift and give and
celebrate each other. And that's what our little crew of
Ossie is actors do.
Speaker 3 (43:10):
That's really lovely because you do hear I mean every industry,
but you do hear horror stories from Hollywood of especially
this idea that there's one leading lady or ever. It's
so cutthroat. And yeah, I think it was last year
that Sydney Sweeney gave an interview to Vanity Fair and
she's like, all that stuff you hear about women uplifting
women is not true. And then all these other actresses
came out and said, that's not our experience. And I
think everyone's story is their truth and they have different experiences.
(43:33):
But if you're saying that, you've seen a completely different
side of that in this little group that you've been
able to build and the people that you work with.
I think that's a really positive takeaway.
Speaker 4 (43:42):
Yeah, it feels Australian to me.
Speaker 1 (43:45):
Yeah, I was like, we're just like you know that
Aussie matship things a very real thing. And I love
them and I want the best for them and I
want to see them shine, and I know they feel
the same about me. So it's just a gorgeous it's
a gorgeous thing, and maybe it's a rarity, but it's
(44:07):
definitely our experience. And it's been really beautiful.
Speaker 3 (44:11):
You've talked in the past about pregnancy loss and written
so beautifully about it in your book, and then last
year sharing another story of pregnancy loss with I thought
the way you did it was really interesting to share
this video to Instagram. And I know that you also
did a podcast episode showing the joy of finding that
out and then showing the loss, and I remember just
watching that and being it's not something I've been through,
(44:32):
but I've supported a lot of friends through it, and
so sort of seeing that out in the world, and
I remember clicking down into the comments and just seeing
hundreds of comments from thousands, thousands of comments from women
saying thank you for this, or sharing their own stories,
And what is it like to sort of, I guess,
move through that moment of pain and grief with your family,
(44:53):
but also have it out there in the world and
have people reacting to it.
Speaker 1 (44:58):
I think it's both things. It's like really vulnerable and scary.
Did I make the right choice? Because now also my
pregnancy announcement keeps being linked back to my pregnancy loss,
like the it can't be two separate things.
Speaker 4 (45:10):
It's everything.
Speaker 1 (45:11):
The media is like she's had a loss and now
she's pregnant.
Speaker 4 (45:14):
So there's a part.
Speaker 1 (45:15):
Of me that thinks, oh, goodness, did I make the
right choice?
Speaker 3 (45:18):
But I know that I did, because well, we just
read those comments, and you know.
Speaker 1 (45:22):
Exactly it was the comments, and I read all of them,
and I spent days love hearting every single one and
trying to write back to as many as I could.
But I also acknowledge that I have four beautiful, biological,
healthy children that I was able to get pregnant with
and grow and birth and they're healthy, and that already
(45:47):
can be triggering for some people. And I wanted to
put out there that I also went through a pregnancy loss,
and yes, I have these beautiful, healthy children, and you
have the right to grieve a loss no matter how
many children you have. There are some women who can't
even get pregnant, and they long and long and long
(46:11):
to be a mother. And I feel like all stories
should be valid and all stories should be celebrated and told.
And I just thought, I want to put this out
there because to a lot of people, they just look
at me as like a breeder.
Speaker 4 (46:25):
I just have all these children.
Speaker 1 (46:27):
But also I suffered a loss, and I thought I
was having this baby. I mean, you get pregnant, and
I think I took it for granted because I haven't
had that experience before. I did very early on. I
had a mold of pregnancy back in twenty fifteen, but
I was about six weeks pregnant. And it's for me,
it's the breaking up with the dream that the dream
(46:49):
of who this baby is, when they're going to be born,
what the age GAP's going to be. And so I
wanted to show the high of that and the excitement
with the kids, and then show the dream dissipating and
that feeling of oh is this never going to happen again.
So that was important to me, you know, And we
(47:09):
had pushback on our book.
Speaker 4 (47:11):
We dedicated an entire chapter to pregnancy.
Speaker 3 (47:14):
Yes, yes, and so it's a really beautiful chapter.
Speaker 1 (47:16):
Thank you.
Speaker 3 (47:17):
It really kind of hits you for people who have
been through that and for people who have that, for
people in their lives and want to have a small
idea of how to support them through it.
Speaker 4 (47:25):
Yes, exactly.
Speaker 1 (47:26):
And then my co host went on to have back
to back to back to back losses and she's now
pregnant at forty one. I saw that with her rainbow baby,
who like triple quadruple rainbow baby.
Speaker 4 (47:40):
So that was.
Speaker 1 (47:41):
Really important to dedicate that time to writing that chapter
in our book. This is ze Muma's Guide to finding
your path.
Speaker 4 (47:49):
Who through Pregnancy, birth and beyond.
Speaker 1 (47:51):
Because you know, initially everyone was like, why would you
want to write about loss and a pregnancy and birth book.
Speaker 4 (47:57):
I was like, because it's a part of.
Speaker 1 (47:58):
The journey one and four one and four women go.
Speaker 3 (48:01):
Yeah, exactly. It's really important to have all those different
stories out there, which actually think is a beautiful thread
in your new show, The Last Anniversary, which I loved,
by the way, so have he. Because we see all
these different versions of motherhood, we see relationships between adult
mother and daughters. The first episode, you see a woman
become a mother in sort of in a moment where
the pregnancy comes very early and you see her sort
(48:24):
of struggling to bond with the baby. And then your
character Sophie, which I'm going to say that's one of
the most realistic portrayals I've seen of a woman who's
dating but also aware. Like that moment your character stands
in front of the mirror and goes, you're thirty nine,
just give him another chance, and then you see she's
going through a freezing her eggs process and wanting to
become a mother so badly. Is that something that drew
(48:45):
you to the storyline as those threads of motherhood in
this new series.
Speaker 1 (48:49):
Yes, of course I was really drawn to that. In particular,
I think the postpartum depression the way that's portrayed in
our show is so delicately woven in but very realistic.
Speaker 4 (49:04):
And the kind of.
Speaker 1 (49:05):
Disconnect that the character Grace has after she gives birth,
I think it's such a real loss of identity and
not understanding who she is or why she should love
this baby, but knowing that she's meant to. That's meant
to come naturally to her, and because it doesn't, she
feels like a failure.
Speaker 4 (49:25):
And then you see the evolution.
Speaker 1 (49:27):
Of this character and how it gets worse and gets better,
and it gets worse and it gets better. And that
to me, that sort of swinging pendulum experience with postpartum depression.
I didn't experience it myself what my mom did. So
the way my mom talks about and explains it is
the good days of bad days, the good days a
bad day. So that's so well done in our show.
(49:50):
It feels very real and Claude Scott Mitchell is breathtaking,
incredible breath taking. Her performance is exquisite in this. And
then of course my character who's longing to be a
mother and she's seeing these dynamics of these women with
their children all around her, and it's very confronted. And
then so she sort of entertains the idea of dating
(50:12):
a douchebag who's not.
Speaker 3 (50:14):
Treating her well.
Speaker 1 (50:15):
He's the worst guy you could possibly imagine, but it's
just like you're getting old chance. Yeah, give him a chance.
And I'm sure people can relate to that. And that's
a special thing about our show. It's multi generational. So
it's a family drama, but there are access points to
everyone at all ages, at all seasons of life. There's
(50:36):
someone that you can relate to, and they have this beautiful,
imperfect dance with this their life and their their things
that they struggle with and they're hardships and just being
a woman and what does that mean? And I just
think Leanne Moriarty is a genius. I mean we all know.
Speaker 4 (50:56):
This, We've read her books.
Speaker 1 (50:58):
She's got this beautiful recipe and she knows how to
weave in real stories, meaningful stories. But then at the
heart of it, there's the underpinning. Is this twists, this mystery,
this secret lies, And it's really well done and I
think it's going to captivate audiences.
Speaker 3 (51:18):
I definitely think that as well. Oh Treesa, thank you
so much for again being so open here and in
your life. And I can't wait to see the rest
of the show. It's just incredible. Thank you, Thank you
so much.
Speaker 4 (51:27):
This is wonderful.
Speaker 3 (51:32):
So I was lucky enough to attend the premiere of
the Last Anniversary and it really is such an incredible show.
I have just been loving the new episodes that are
dropping weekly on bind and Theresa Palmer's performance in it
is just incredible. So if you want to know more,
we have put all the links in our show notes.
The executive producer of No Filter is Niama Brown, Senior
(51:53):
producer is Grace Rufray, sound design is Jacob Brown, and
I'm Laura Brodnick. It's been a pleasure to be your
No Filter guest host today. Kate Langroup will be backing
your ears on Monday with another captivating No Filter story.
Speaker 1 (52:05):
Bye. No
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