Teresa Palmer On Navigating Certain Pressures & Expectations, Both On And Off Screen

Australian star Teresa Palmer has been acting for over two decades — making a big name for herself both in Australia and Hollywood. From her debut role in Wolf Creek to YA hit I Am Number Four, and more recently The Fall Guy and The Clearing, she hasn't looked back. At the moment, Palmer is currently promoting her new film, Addition, based on Toni Jordan's book of the same name. During our interview, the star opens up about life as a working mum, delicately tackling the representation of anxiety in film, and the pressure of starring in a book-to-screen adaptation.

Palmer has made headlines in the past for breastfeeding at big events — she shared a photo during the Golden Globes in 2017 — and she did so again during the Addition Sydney red carpet, breastfeeding her youngest daughter, Lotus Bloom. The actor tells us her decision to become a mother wasn't made lightly, and Palmer expected to have to walk away from her acting career. Fast forward to now, the mother of five is not only still working, but she's extremely busy. In 2025, she starred in TV shows The Last Anniversary, Mix Tape, and The Family Next Door, as well as appearing in the indie feature Tecie and lending her voice to podcast series The Search for the Silver Lining.

"The old narrative, or certainly what I believed, was I had to choose. I could either be a mum, or I could be in film and television," she says. "I chose to be a mother, which I thought meant it would be at the demise of my career. And that was not my experience. I've just kept going, and we just [do] this juggling act between the family and me working." The Wolf Creek star credits her mother and husband for helping her continue life as a working mum. She's married to director and actor Mark Webber, and says he takes on a number of roles in the household. "He's our chef, and he does all the food stuff. Then I do all the extracurriculars and the schedules, and the school drop-offs, and pickups and bedtimes, and all the things," Palmer explains. "We're part of a team, like all the kids, we talk [to them] about being part of the team, [so] then I get to work as well... I couldn't do it without my mum. Couldn't do it without my husband."

Palmer's longevity in the industry has allowed her to pick and choose roles that really speak to her, and taking on the role as Grace Lisa Vandenburg in Addition has impacted her in more ways than one. The film follows Grace, whose anxiety physically manifests itself in counting, and how debilitating the mental health issue can be. We see Grace stumble, grow and embark on a beautiful love story with Seamus (Joe Dempsie), while putting forward the message that it's okay to ask for help. "I did some research. I actually followed a woman on YouTube who was very open about her counting and how that works, and her intrusive thoughts and how rapid fire the thoughts come, and how quickly the feeling comes when she's in a spiral," she recalls. "I took a lot of inspiration from what she was sharing, and then also the smorgasboard of people around me who navigate anxiety."

The star wanted her performance to feel "grounded in reality", and hopes it will touch audience members around the world. "I hope that people feel seen, and that their version of their own anxiety is represented on screen," she says. While some fans have reached out to the star about how touched they were seeing anxiety represented on screen, she was surprised by the reaction from her friends and family. "They were completely moved and taken by the fact that this particular nuance and this part of Grace's anxiety, the counting, was portrayed in this way and put out there on film," Palmer says. "My friend said she's never seen it before, and so she felt like it was the first time she was really seen."

The Addition star notes that in the film, it's Grace's family who band around her and provide an "anchor" or "support system", something she encourages people struggling to do. "For people watching, if there is an anchor in your life, there is someone that you fully feel okay [revealing yourself] to, start that process. Because I think it can be incredibly healing," Palmer says. "Finding therapy that works for you, it will look different for everyone, but finding an outlet where you can start to heal the wound within is going to be an integral part of that healing process."

Over her career, Palmer has starred in many book-to-screen adaptations, including Addition. Most recently, she was in Sally Hepworth's The Family Next Door, Liane Moriarty's The Last Anniversary and Jane Sanderson's Mix Tape. There can be immense pressure from book purists who demand filmmakers stick to the source material, but the star didn't take this on board with Addition, or for her previous roles. "I usually release myself of the pressure, because when you are adapting a book, a lot of it, you're hearing the inner workings of this mind of this character. And on screen, you're not always going to have a voice-over," she explains.

Palmer's trust in Addition's screenwriter Becca Johnstone paid off, because the finished script ended up winning the 2024 Australian Writers Guild Award for Feature Film Adaptation. It's a nuanced look at mental illness, family and love — while being completely Australian at its heart.