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I\u2019m sitting in a quiet section of a Sydney photo studio with Aussie actor and new mum Teresa Palmer. At 39 years old, and with more than 40 acting credits under her belt, Palmer positively radiates energy. She\u2019s tired, but she\u2019s luminous.<\/p>\n
She\u2019s simultaneously breastfeeding her new baby, Lotus Bloom, born at home in September, and answering one of my questions about her new film, Addition, when Lotus loudly and spectacularly fills her nappy. I\u2019ve never seen so much relief on such a tiny face. \u201cWow, that smells,\u201d says Palmer. \u201cSorry, I\u2019ll give her to my husband.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMark!\u201d she yells across the studio. \u201cSomebody\u2019s left you a big package!\u201d<\/p>\n
Her husband, American actor, writer and director Mark Webber, glides over, takes the baby and cleans her up with the ease of a parent with six kids. Apart from little Lotus Bloom, there\u2019s Bodhi Rain (11), Forest Sage (9), Poet Lake (6) and Prairie Moon (4). Webber also has a 16-year-old son, Isaac Love, from a previous marriage.<\/p>\n
Given that apart from the children, Palmer also has a blog (Your Zen Mama), a wellness company (Lovewell), a podcast (Mother Daze) and a full calendar of acting roles, I wonder how she fills her cup. The simplest answer, she says, is that she doesn\u2019t. But equally, it\u2019s her children and acting career that really light her up. \u201cAnd when I can blend them,\u201d she says, \u201cit\u2019s even better. My kids came to visit me while I was shooting last week and that\u2019s my favourite. I get to show my children off to all my friends at work.\u201d<\/p>\n
Palmer kicked off her acting career with an appearance in the 2005 Aussie horror Wolf Creek. But while she\u2019s done her fair share of thriller\/splatter\/slasher movies, she\u2019s no scream queen. She was Daniel Radcliffe\u2019s love interest in the 2007 drama December Boys, and acted alongside Adam Sandler and Guy Pearce in the Disney comedy Bedtime Stories. In 2013, she co-starred with Nicholas Hoult in the cult zombie romance Warm Bodies, and in 2019 she played Michelle Payne, the first female jockey to win the Melbourne Cup, in Ride Like a Girl. This year, she led the cast of the ABC\u2019s adaptation of Sally Hepworth\u2019s novel The Family Next Door.<\/p>\n
Palmer says she\u2019s attracted to gritty, complex characters that require some deep digging. \u201cThey\u2019re the ones that excite me the most,\u201d she says. \u201cTo peel back the different ways that trauma manifests itself in the body \u2026 I\u2019m really fascinated by characters going through that. I recently got sent a comedy and I was like, \u2018Was this meant for me? Have they seen my work?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
The downside? \u201cExhaustion is the main thing,\u201d she says. \u201cYears ago, I figured out a way to leave the work at work, so I usually listen to a podcast on the way home to reset before I walk in the door. And, you know, nothing quite brings you back to centre like kids. So that\u2019s been incredibly helpful.<\/p>\n
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Lucy Folk \u201cEos\u201d dress and \u201cMantra\u201d pants. Prada shoes. Lucy Folk jewellery.Credit: Jedd Cooney<\/p>\n
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Lee Mathews \u201cBillie\u201d dress. Prada shoes.Credit: Jedd Cooney<\/p>\n
\u201cWorking really long hours and then coming home, seeing each one of them and finding out about their day \u2026 by the time I get into bed, it\u2019s been hours and hours non-stop. But nothing a good night\u2019s sleep can\u2019t fix.\u201d<\/p>\n
In Addition, a romantic dramedy in cinemas early next year, Palmer plays Grace Lisa Vandenburg, a 34-year-old mathematician with extreme anxiety and a form of obsessive compulsive disorder which presents as compulsive counting. When we meet Grace, she is recently out of hospital, has lost her job at the university she was working at, and is teaching maths at a local high school.<\/p>\n
After a couple of encounters with Seamus, a British expat house painter played by Joe Dempsie (Skins, Game of Thrones), she begins a romance that starts off the way many new relationships do, with electrifying physical intensity. And then, as also happens in many new relationships, complications arise.<\/p>\n
For a start, there\u2019s Grace\u2019s imaginary friend, genius inventor Nikola Tesla, played by Eamon Farren (Twin Peaks, The Dig). He is her lover, companion and tormentor. He is, at the heart of it, a manifestation of her OCD who might, for instance, encourage her to triple-count every one of the 2220 bristles on her toothbrush, causing her to miss a dinner date. \u201cGrace can be her weirdest, wildest, craziest, most vulnerable self with him [Tesla] and he accepts her and loves her,\u201d says Palmer, jiggling Lotus on her leg.<\/p>\n
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Miu Miu top, skirt, socks and loafers.Credit: Jedd Cooney<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen the trailer came out, a lot of people reflected to me that they felt really seen,\u201d she adds. \u201cPeople who have OCD tendencies walk through the world in their own unique way. Sometimes that means a romantic relationship is going to be quite nuanced and complex. Diversifying romantic relationships and partnerships and showing that on screen is very important.\u201d<\/p>\n
As Grace, Palmer\u2019s energy, emotion and physicality are so close to the surface, it\u2019s almost as if she vibrates, from the first flush of love to greasy flatness as the monotony of coupledom takes over. \u201cGrace and I actually have similar levels of energy,\u201d says Palmer. \u201cThere\u2019s a playfulness, chaotic energy and a wildness to her which I can relate to because all of those parts also exist within me, although my life looks so different to hers.\u201d<\/p>\n
I ask Palmer if her kids have an understanding of what she does for a living. \u201cThey get such a kick out of it,\u201d she says. \u201cThey ask to watch my movies over and over again. My daughter Poet has seen Ride Like a Girl 20 times. It\u2019s just been such a fun thing, and now they\u2019ve all decided that\u2019s what they want to do with their lives.\u201d<\/p>\n
Freedom of choice is important to the actor. Palmer\u2019s mother, Paula Sanders, a former missionary and nurse, dreamt of working in Calcutta but never did it. Instead, she focused on motherhood. \u201cI love her for that,\u201d says Palmer, \u201cbut I also feel grief that she never got to do that thing. I love showing my children that there are ways in which you can do both.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Prada tank, skirt and shoes.Credit: Jedd Cooney<\/p>\n
For many years, Webber and Palmer were a bit of a travelling show, living wherever in the world the next project was. But a few years ago, the pair decided to settle permanently in Australia, where they\u2019d be able to give their children the sort of schooling and social life Palmer grew up with.<\/p>\n
So, the family made the move to Byron Bay, initially something of a cultural adjustment for her husband, who was more at home in New York City. \u201cIt\u2019s a long way from the big smoke for him,\u201d she says. \u201cBut the great thing about Byron is that there\u2019s a massive artist community, so he\u2019s found his people now.\u201d<\/p>\n
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For Palmer, it was more of a professional adjustment, shifting her focus away from the US and towards local roles and production companies, a transition she says hasn\u2019t been particularly dramatic. \u201cI love Australian storytelling,\u201d she says. \u201cI love the way we make movies and television shows.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been really good for the kids \u2013 they\u2019re just settling in so well. I think there\u2019s a sense of familiarity there, and life balance. The kids are going surfing straight after school and walking around barefoot. And I think it\u2019s really grounding for them to get back to nature.\u201d<\/p>\n
The big challenge for Palmer in 2026 will be juggling back-to-back jobs. Apart from Poor Boy, a supernatural thriller also starring Guy Pearce and Ann Dowd to be shot in Melbourne, she\u2019s also going to be working on a film created by Webber and shot in Australia \u201cwith a bunch of our friends\u201d.<\/p>\n
The strength and understanding of her family and the relationship dynamic helps her with the juggling act. \u201cWe just have to figure out the logistics of whether Mark stays with the boys and I take the younger three with me. I\u2019ll just do a lot of the travelling back and forth and we\u2019ll juggle it.\u201d<\/p>\n
This year, the family will be spending Christmas in the US with Webber\u2019s son, his ex-wife and her new partner, who are currently living in Webber and Palmer\u2019s LA property. \u201cWe always do a big Christmas tree in the lounge room,\u201d says Palmer. \u201cWe have a beautiful extended family. It\u2019ll be so nice.\u201d<\/p>\n
Addition is in cinemas January 29.<\/p>\n
Fashion director: Penny McCarthy. Hair: Keiren Street using Wella Professional. Make-up: Aimie Fiebig using Sisley Paris. Fashion assistant: Louis Lefebvre<\/p>\n
Stockists: Albus Lumen<\/a>; Lee Mathews;<\/a> Lucy Folk;<\/a> Miu Miu<\/a>; Prada<\/a>.<\/p>\n