Teresa Palmer is an exceptionally talented, effortlessly beautiful actress who left her native Australia to ply a trade in Hollywood. Best known for romantic comedy Take Me Home Tonight (2011), for zombie love story Warm Bodies (2013), supernatural horror Lights Out (2015), and biographical war spectacular Hacksaw Ridge a year later. It is her time on the small screen as Diana Bishop in A Discovery of Witches that has opened up new creative angles, and at a time when she is keen to focus as much energy as possible on growing her beautiful family.
Palmer, 35, is married to director Mark Webber, the couple dividing their time between homes in Los Angeles and Adelaide, where they recently decided to relocate. Webber has a son, Isaac, 13, from his past relationship with Frankie Shaw, who is good friends with Palmer, and in 2014 the couple welcomed Bodhi into the world. She has since had Forest (5), Poet, the couple's first daughter (3), and recently another daughter Prairie (10 months old).
Open, charming, fresh-faced, and effervescent, the Australian is a breath of fresh air in conversation, and with new projects in the offing after her award-nominated turn in 2019 in equestrian drama Ride Like a Girl, the actress looks certain to further her creative development, as film and family compete for her attention.
STRIPLV: A Discovery of Witches completed a third season in 2022, proving your versatility between cinema and TV. PALMER: It's been amazing, and, as a drama, it has captured the imagination. I think the producers have been smart to keep the story turning over without it becoming stale or predictable, and for me, I really see this as a way back in after a few years away, looking after my family. STRIPLV: Are you using drama of this kind to build back up to major film roles? PALMER: No, I think there is always enough in premium and subscription TV. You see actors investing absolutely everything they have in that format now because all the parameters have changed. It's funny. If you'd told me a decade ago my focus would be on TV work, I'd have imagined something had gone very long along the way, but we are living in something of a revolution, and the power of premium channels is really being seen at the moment, particularly as the cinemas have been out of bounds for so many people, and may well be again in future. Obviously, I would never turn my back on cinema. It is a unique format, and it creates the very highest level of drama. What was great to see was that while it was out of bounds, there was such a strong and real alternative where people could still enjoy original drama. STRIPLV: Teresa, now that you're a mom, is it more complicated to go from one project to another in quick succession? PALMER: Not really, as I tend not to do too many in quick succession. I am picking projects a good distance apart. Regardless, I take our children everywhere. I've always dreamed of being a mum, so to have a situation where we're traveling together, and I'm working is wonderful. We try to create a very family-friendly environment. I only use a nanny when the workload reaches a peak, but otherwise, I really embrace the joy that comes from being around my children and having them in our lives. With a little bit of planning, you can always incorporate your children's life into your own. STRIPLV: Was it challenging to start working again so soon after giving birth? PALMER: I think as long as your child is with you and is part of a loving family, it doesn't matter whether you're working or traveling. We try to live very happily and harmoniously wherever we are. The fact is I am a mum and am expected to play with my children and talk about Peppa Pig and Paw Patrol. It can be difficult to come out of that mindset and get into film mode, but I'm a professional, and it's what I do. Ultimately, you need to work harder to manage all your different responsibilities. You need to make sure you are spending enough time working on your relationship just as you are on your career. I've always looked forward to having children, though, and I'm enjoying everything that comes with that. But I'm also lucky to have a husband who is a very dedicated and hands-on father who is exactly how I am as a mother. It all comes down to being good at juggling all those different roles in your life. STRIPLV: Has motherhood developed your career, perhaps? PALMER: I don't know if it's developed it because I'm a mom or that it's happened naturally regardless. Or it's all just coincidental timing, but something has definitely changed for the better. I think a lot of that has to do with the wave of change in Hollywood for women, where roles are much more enriched because women are increasingly dominating the box office, so the roles are strong and layered and complex. It's definitely different from some of the girl candy parts I played where it was all about the guy's journey. STRIPLV: Your career has seen you play many different kinds of characters. What types of factors influence your choices? PALMER: Now that I'm older, I'm a lot more selective in terms of projects. I'm drawn to "real." I just want real characters that are steeped in reality, strong women with a specific point of view. STRIPLV: You've been outspoken in the past about environmental radicalism and activism? PALMER: I think there are limits you need to respect. You can't go so far in the pursuit of your beliefs that it harms other people. You can't assume that your vision is so righteous that it gives you the right to do anything that you feel is necessary to your cause. That's a line I could never cross, even though I have great respect and admiration for political and environmental activists. STRIPLV: You run your website, YourZenLife.com, which you founded with actress Phoebe Tonkin? Is that your way of contributing to the world? PALMER: The site is a forum and platform for people to contribute their ideas and stories, and advice to the wellness world. We are trying to support and inspire positive change in the world, and we want people to be able to share their thoughts and ideas with others and help each other to live more healthily and happily. It's a long-term project, and it kind of relies on a big commitment of my time, so at the moment, we are focusing on content across social media only. STRIPLV: Are you frustrated at the lack of time you have to fulfill all your ambitions? PALMER: I would rather be out of time than out of ideas. STRIPLV: What is the most essential advice or knowledge that you can share about wellness? PALMER: I believe that we all need to take care of ourselves from the inside and then head outwards from that. Wellness is something that is both physical and spiritual. My personal belief is that we need to find our happiness from a place within and not from external sources. That includes mental health, which is something that is very personal to me. I've lived with it all my life through my mother, and I would be extremely sensitive to the subject. I also know that for me, I am much healthier when I am happy. It starts from inside you, and it radiates to everything else in your life, the way you work, the way you interact with others, even in the way you approach your nutritional and exercise habits. I love feeling very zen and balanced, and that approach has been very liberating in every aspect of my life. STRIPLV: Where are you at in life these days? PALMER: I have a beautiful home and family life that I've always been pointing towards. My work is also a source of much greater satisfaction these days, and I feel very blessed in life. STRIPLV: What scares you most? PALMER: Not much these days, but when I was a kid, I was petrified of the dark. Yeah, until I was about 13, which is quite old. STRIPLV: I know folks into their thirties, forties who are still scared. PALMER: Okay, I feel brave now. STRIPLV: Let me guess, The X-Files was what did it? PALMER: No, I wasn't really an X-Files fan. It was actually, and I'm going to show up how bad a parent my mum was, it was that movie Communion when I was seven years old. STRIPLV: Yikes, terrifying. PALMER: I know! The alien coming out of the light, that's what did it for me. So basically, I thought I would be abducted too, which is chilling for any adult, let alone a child. STRIPLV: You seem like a pretty upbeat person. Is it hard suppressing your natural enthusiasm? PALMER: I'm naturally an extrovert; I'm very confident, and I don't hide my thoughts or emotions. STRIPLV: Finally, what was it like working with Mel Gibson on Hacksaw Ridge because let's be honest, there's a little bit of a reputation? PALMER: He was a joy to work with, from start to finish, and it was a huge honor. At first, I may have been a bit, "It's Mel Gibson, oh my god!" And I'll admit, I was expecting something different, but he's a really warm, immediately likable person who knew every single person on set, not just their names, he knew them and, you know, he's the director of a crew and cast of at least a hundred people. As ridiculous as it sounds, you just don't get that very often with people of his status. And I really rate and respect that about him.