Ellen Pompeo hasn’t taken on another role since stepping into her Grey’s Anatomy scrubs 20 years ago. But with Hulu’s Good American Family, that changes.
Pompeo plays Kristine Barnett on the new limited series, which is inspired by Natalia Grace’s headline-making adoption case. Kristine and her husband, Michael (played by Mark Duplass) adopted Natalia in 2010. However, the Indiana couple later alleged that Natalia — a young girl with a rare type of dwarfism — was an adult “con artist” intent on harming them. They even petitioned to have the Ukrainian-born adoptee’s date of birth changed in court. (A recent blood test confirmed that Natalia was a child when she met the Barnetts.)
As Pompeo told Vanity Fair, “It was important for me as an actor to do something that I was afraid to do,” and “play someone who is not necessarily the most likable person.” Even so, she empathized with aspects of Barnett.
“I started from the perspective of a mother’s love and what drives mothers to raise their children, to support their children, to do the almost impossible for their children,” she said. “And that is something that I could relate to because I have three kids of my own.”
Pompeo noted that Good American Family is not a “beat-for-beat” depiction of the Barnetts’ story. However, there have been several real-world updates since the family adopted and parted ways with Natalia.
A Shocking Adoption Saga
In 2019, both Barnetts were charged with neglect of a dependent after prosecutors alleged they moved to Canada and left Natalia behind in 2013. Per the Journal & Courier, the Barnetts divorced in 2014.
Kristine’s charges were dismissed in 2023, and her ex-husband was acquitted a year earlier.
After Michael appeared on Natalia’s docuseries, The Curious Case of Natalia Grace: Natalia Speaks, Kristine took to Facebook to provide her own perspective.
“Natalia was a very much loved and cared for member of my family. She was not abused by anyone in my family,” Kristine wrote in the 2024 post, via People.
Looking Back
In addition to denying specific allegations raised in Natalia Speaks — which she called “highly sensationalized” — Kristine claimed that Natalia “will go to great lengths to hurt people but also to gain tremendous amounts of sympathy at the same time.”
Even so, Kristine said she still wishes Natalia well.
Natalia, for her part, has said she felt “brainwashed” by her former adoptive family. “Kristine coached me to lie about my age and say I tried to murder my parents,” she claimed in a recent People interview. “Why would you do that to your child?”
The post ‘Good American Family’: Where Is Kristine Barnett Today? appeared first on Bustle.
