Why Dakota Fanning needed “All Her Fault” ending spoiled before filming began

Gerrad HallFri, June 19, 2026 at 11:24 PM UTC

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'All Her Fault' star Dakota FanningCredit: Monica Schipper/Getty ImagesKey Points -

All Her Fault star Dakota Fanning reveals the scene she was most excited to film for the mystery-thriller series.

She explains why she was okay with producers spoiling the end of the story for her.

The Emmy nominee reveals her biggest question about her onscreen relationship with costar Sarah Snook.

Dakota Fanning was really looking forward to her final day of production on the Peacock limited series All Her Fault— for no other reason than to finally shoot a scene she was especially excited about.

"My last day of filming — and this was just because I had a lot to say, I just wanted to make sure that I knew it all and could say it really fluidly — was a scene in episode 6 with my husband when I find that he's been lying about what his afterschool teaching requirements have been for a couple of semesters, and we have a blow up in a parking lot," she explains on Entertainment Weekly's The Awardist podcast. "I knew that was coming the whole time and there's chunks of things for me to say, and I wanted them to feel like they'd really been festering for a long time and then were exploding out. But I was also very excited for that because I felt I'd been playing this character the whole time that has a lot bubbling right underneath the surface."

For the duration of the eight-episode thriller series — where Marissa (played by Succession Emmy winner Sarah Snook), whose young son has gone missing, becomes close with her neighbor, Fanning's Jenny — Jenny has had to "stretch herself kind of unbearably thin to be everything that everyone needs her to be," Fanning says. "To not disappoint her husband and to be a good mom and to also succeed at work and not be judged by fellow parents at the school."

A true people pleaser, "really trying to be a genuine version of herself that is what the other person needs, and saying yes when the answer really should be no and not wanting to disappoint," the actress adds, the pressure has become too much, so she gets to "unleash a bit."

Dakota Fanning and Sarah Snook in 'All Her Fault'Credit: PEACOCK

It's one of many intense moments in the series, especially for Snook. "This series demanded so much of her emotionally," Fanning acknowledges. "Both of our first days were the scene where our characters meet in the bathroom and it was such a nice place to start. It's chronological for our characters. You get to kind of see who they are and who they were before the drama, the inciting incident happens. And so it was really nice. And Sarah jokes that it was like such a fun day and a light scene and we're laughing, and then she was like, 'I never laughed again.'"

Marissa's son's nanny said he'd be on a playdate with Jenny's son, but when Marissa stops by to pick him up, Jenny not only has no idea what she's talking about but no idea who Marissa or her son are. Rather than their relationship turning tense, the two quickly bond. In fact, Fanning wondered if things would stay that way between them.

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"My question was, do these characters not end up like in a courtroom? Right. Does it stay okay between the two of them?" she recalls of her curiosity after reading the first three or four scripts. "I was told that it did and that the relationship was going to be one of genuine support and forgiveness and, and true friendship. And I was really excited by that because I think the obvious trope could be for these two characters to be pitted against one another and to be at each other's throats and play a blame game with one another. It's unique to see that not happen between two women."

She also admits that she took up producers on their offer to spoil what happens and reveal the truth about Marissa's son — a twist she says she thought viewers would never see coming.

"Audiences are really smart. The red herrings and the mysteries and the clues, people a lot of times pick up on it and kind of figure it out," the Ripley Emmy nominee says. "It's getting harder and harder to be surprised in these kind of mysteries and thrillers. So I was excited that I felt like the twist was kind of out there enough that people weren't going to catch on. And most people that I've talked to, probably nine out of 10 people, everyone's like, 'I had no idea that was coming' and were genuinely trying to get through it because they couldn't pick up on the usual clues that they are used to. So that was also exciting too, to be a part of something that you truly felt it's gonna be really hard for anyone to guess this."

Sarah Snook and Dakota Fanning in 'All Her Fault'Credit: Sarah Enticknap/PEACOCK

Check out more from EW's The Awardist, featuring exclusive interviews, analysis, and our podcast diving into all the highlights from the year's best in TV, movies, and more.

You can listen to Fanning's full interview on The Awardist, below, where she also looks back on filming the Twilight movies while she was in high school, about her annual birthday gift from Tom Cruise, filming The Nightingale with her sister, Elle, and more.

on Entertainment Weekly

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