“Good American Family” creator Katie Robbins knew she wanted to inject as much empathy and humanity as possible when she signed on to turn the story of Natalia Grace into a limited series. The stakes grew considerably when a television legend signed on to star as Natalia’s abusive mother.

Based on a real-life case that previously inspired a hit docuseries, “Good American Family” follows the story of Kristine and Michael Barnett after they adopt Natalia Grace, a 7-year-old girl with dwarfism. But as the new family dynamic begins to go south, the parents start to wonder if they might be getting swindled by someone who is much older than she appears. Ellen Pompeo leads the cast — in her first TV lead role outside of “Grey’s Anatomy” — as matriarch Kristine Barnett. Mark Duplass (“The Morning Show”) plays her husband Michael, and breakout star Imogen Faith Reid embodies Natalia Grace.

The eight-episode drama shows how the Barnetts’ adoption devolves into them petitioning the court to change Natalia’s legal age to 22, and then leaving her in an apartment to fend for herself. It opens with Kristine Barnett’s arrest in the middle of a speaking engagement where she boasted about being a good mother to her biological sons. Then the show flashes back to the adoption of Natalia Grace, and how Kristine’s world began to fall apart when she began to suspect her daughter might be trying to bring her down.

Later episodes then flip the script toward Natalia’s perspective, showing the harrowing journey of a young girl being left behind by the parents who promised to protect her.

“It was a really hard role for [Ellen],” Katie Robbins told TheWrap. “She had to go to some really dark places. That’s a challenging thing for an actor to have to live in day after day, and she really brought it.”

Robbins said she and Pompeo shared the desire to pursue themes of bias, truth and ambition around motherhood through the story of Kristine Barnett — a woman who made a name for herself through parenting books until she was arrested for abandoning Natalia.

“To get to see [Ellen] push herself in directions that I think people will be surprised and impressed with… she did an extraordinary job,” Robbins said.

Robbins said she was approached to adapt the Barnetts’ story in 2020, years before “The Curious Case of Natalia Grace” turned their adoption story into a cultural phenomenon in 2023, reminiscent of a real-life version of the 2009 film “The Orphan,” starring Vera Farmiga and Isabelle Fuhrman.

She said she was struck by how her perspective on the case shifted depending on who was being interviewed, which became the central thesis for her Hulu series, which she ran alongside Sarah Sutherland.

Imogen Faith Reid, Ellen Pompeo and Mark Duplass in “Good American Family.” (Disney/Ser Baffo)

“So often these days we look at something and we make snap judgments about it. We don’t ask a lot of questions … We wanted to disrupt that idea,” Robbins said. “[The show] became about figuring out how to play with timelines and perspective so that people are constantly questioning their first impressions.

“When those turns happen, you are forced to say ‘Why did I think this? Maybe I’m wrong about this,’” she added. “At the end of the day, the more we can ask ourselves about our own perceptions, the more empathetic we can be.”

The real-life Natalia Grace and Barnett family were not involved in the making of “Good American Family,” but Robbins credited the writers and show’s research team for ensuring authenticity was ever present in their TV adaptation.

“Good American Family” releases new episodes Wednesdays on Hulu.

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