Diane Kruger has opened up about the emotional toll of playing a mother struggling with postpartum anxiety in the new Paramount+ limited series ‘Little Disasters’. The six-episode show, based on Sarah Vaughan’s 2020 novel, follows four women who meet at a birthing class and whose lives are upended when one of them, Jess (Kruger), brings her baby to A&E with a head injury. The doctor, also a close friend, faces the difficult decision to report her to social services.
Kruger described the role as exhausting, particularly because scenes were not shot in episode order. “We could go in a day from doing a scene where I think my child died, to 20 minutes later doing a lovely picnic,” she said. The actress admitted the experience almost broke her: “The emotional extremes that were required almost broke me. Honestly, I said to my partner, ‘I feel like I’m having a burnout, like I’m overstimulated and overspent.’”
However, Kruger found solace in returning home to her daughter with actor Norman Reedus. “Coming home, I have to say, I felt like it was easy — my home and my daughter was with me. We were filming over the summer, and so coming home to her happy little face every night felt like stepping into heaven.” She also noted that the trend of exploring difficult motherhood themes in film and TV is partly due to more women in decision-making roles, saying, “It’s time that we take a look at that as well.”
The series delves into the raw realities of postnatal anxiety, parenting struggles, and maternal OCD, while also touching on culture wars around healthcare and vaccinations. Kruger said she understands women who struggle with postpartum issues: “It doesn’t get better without help. In fact, it just reinforces everything you’re worried about to begin with.” She added that watching friends go through similar struggles made the role feel authentic: “It didn’t require much for me to go there.”
