Try GOLD - Free

Motherhood is the hardest, most thankless job... it's painful to have to act like it's great all the time

Sunday Mercury

|

May 11, 2025

In The Uninvited, Elizabeth Reaser plays an actress turned stay-at-home mum grappling with the path her life has taken. She tells RACHAEL DAVIS more

Motherhood is the hardest, most thankless job... it's painful to have to act like it's great all the time

MOST of us have a point - or several - in our lives where we wonder: 'Where has the time gone, and what have I done with it?'

Rose, the protagonist in Nadia Conners' debut comedy-drama The Uninvited, finds herself having one of those moments when an elderly woman turns up at her front door just as she and her husband are about to host a star-studded party.

Rose, played by Twilight star Elizabeth Reaser, used to be a renowned theatre actress but has now found herself as a stay-at-home mum, looking after the son she shares with her Hollywood agent husband Sammy, played by The White Lotus star - and director Conners' husband Walton Goggins.

The couple - well, mainly Sammy - have planned an intimate soiree to impress star client Gerald, played by The Diplomat's Rufus Sewell, but the evening is thrown into disarray when a confused elderly woman arrives, claiming their home is hers.

The interaction with the woman, Helen, played by nonagenarian True Blood star Lois Smith, leads Rose to have a series of revelations over the course of the evening about the direction her life has taken from her career to her marriage, motherhood to the complexities of ageing as a woman - particularly as it transpires that Helen has no one left to call, as she's outlived her spouse and friends.

"I'm also an ageing actress who's experiencing a lot of the things that Rose is experiencing," says Elizabeth, 49.

"So it felt [like] the script was just so accurate in that sense... I was just like: 'Oh my God, someone's writing this thing that I'm experiencing. How is that possible?'"

Sunday Mercury

This story is from the May 11, 2025 edition of Sunday Mercury.

Subscribe to Magzter GOLD to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,500+ magazines and newspapers.

Already a subscriber?

MORE STORIES FROM Sunday Mercury

Sunday Mercury

Sunday Mercury

BACK FROM THE BRINK

Puss at death’s door after horrifying abuse is loving life in forever home as worrying rise in abuse revealed

time to read

2 mins

August 31, 2025

Sunday Mercury

Sunday Mercury

Drug gang leader dies in prison

A FORMER Midland crime boss died following a battle with cancer, a coroner has determined.

time to read

1 mins

August 31, 2025

Sunday Mercury

Hunt for lotto millionaires

TWO Birmingham lottery ticket holders are millionaires - but they don't know it.

time to read

1 mins

August 31, 2025

Sunday Mercury

CITY GANG RIVALS ‘NO LONGER EXIST’ COP TELLS COURT

Burger Bar Boys & Johnson Crew discussed in boy murder trial

time to read

2 mins

August 31, 2025

Sunday Mercury

Jab for high cholestrol could ‘transform’ heart care

A CHOLESTEROL-busting jab that is administered twice a year has the potential to transform heart care, according to its developer.

time to read

1 min

August 31, 2025

Sunday Mercury

CALL TO SHUT 'CROSSROADS' HOTEL TAKING ASYLUM SEEKERS

MP BACKS FEARFUL COMMUNITY

time to read

1 min

August 17, 2025

Sunday Mercury

JAILED VILLA MUM MOONED AT JUDGE

Woman who slashed rival bared her bum in court

time to read

1 min

August 10, 2025

Sunday Mercury

KILLER WHO STABBED TO DEATH PREGNANT GIRLFRIEND DIES IN JAIL

MURDERER WANTED WOMAN TO HAVE ABORTION

time to read

1 min

August 03, 2025

Sunday Mercury

SEX ABUSER WILL BE FREE BEFORE HIS CHILD VICTIM CAN GET THERAPY

MUM'S ANGER AT JAIL TERM AS GIRL SUFFERS SEVERE TRAUMA

time to read

1 min

July 20, 2025

Sunday Mercury

Heat deaths to rise 50-fold by the 2070s

HEAT-related deaths in England and Wales could rise up to 50-fold in the next 50 years as an ageing population is hit by dangerous climate change, a study warns.

time to read

1 min

July 13, 2025

Listen

Translate

Share

-
+

Change font size