ComicBook.com: One of the central emotional elements of I Am Not Okay With This is the death and suicide of Sydneys father, Maggies husband, which is something you dont often see as an emotional anchor in shows like this. One of the things we get to see is how Sydney processes this trauma, but we dont get to see quite as much of it from Maggies perspective. How would you say Maggie is dealing with things?

Kathleen Rose Perkins: Oh, I think shes bottling it up and in a bit of denial. Shes just not facing any of her grief, which I think is really interesting that they chose the parent to do that because its usually the parent whos trying to engage with the child and be there for them in a time of loss. And theyre the mature one. Theyre the one thats better at it. But in this show, I really appreciated that they showed Maggie completely not wanting to engage and just head down doing her work. Probably addicted to work a bit. And then when she wasnt at work, she would drink alcohol. So there was a lot of just basically distracting herself from dealing with the grief over the loss of her husband.

And also shes probably got tremendous guilt. I mean people who are survivors of people who commit suicide, they go through a lot of different emotions and one of them is the guilt of being the survivor. So, and also what did I do? Did I drive him to it? All that stuff is really painful to deal with. So I think Maggie just isnt dealing with it.

Absolutely. And I think its important that the show actually shows that side of things.

I think so too. And I think that they did. Yeah, youre right. It is mainly told from the standpoint of Its Sydneys story definitely. And were all spokes and shes the hub of the wheel and were all reacting to her and dealing with her. But I do think it touches upon everybodys life and their experience, especially when you look at what Wyatt Oleffs character family is going through at his home. And then also with how Aidans character the little brother, my son, is how hes dealing with it too is They touch upon it for everybody. But yeah, youre right. Its Sydneys story ultimately.

Speaking of Sydney and it being her story, how do you think the grief and trauma of losing someone so close to them has actually directly impacted the one-on-one Maggie Sydney relationship?

Yeah. Well, so when I got the call to audition for it, one of the scenes in the audition was the scene in the very first episode where I come home late at night and she was sitting there watching TV and she tells me that she was called down to the principals office and she got a diary and shes got The counselors office, sorry. And that she starts to open up to Maggie and says just something really traumatic. She says Sometimes I feel like the people I love dont love me back. And Maggie, which I think was my favorite line, and I know its a terrible thing to say to a young person but she says Sometimes maybe youre aiming too high, hun. Its just a brutal line.

And I think that encapsulates the majority of their relationship through the course of the first season that she basically just doesnt want to engage with her daughter, but also she wants to instruct her daughter to lower her standards. Because I think that that is what Maggie is trying to follow that piece of advice herself. Shes trying to give that piece of advice to herself in a way saying, You know what, if you just lower your standards, dont expect too much and you can get through life relatively unscathed. Again, thats her trying to deal with the trauma and just not facing all the emotions that shes feeling. So I find that quite interesting that again, shes the adult whos supposed to be helping out the child and the only way that she can help her out is to say, I dont know, just basically dont expect too much and maybe youll get by okay.

Thats just terrible advice. But a lot of adults do that, especially when theyre dealing with their own stuff. So I thought that was quite interesting and thats the reason why I really wanted to play the part because its just something you hadnt seen in an adult before and a young adult type of a show. You havent seen the adult not wanting to engage with the child.

Was there anything special or specific that you did in order to prepare as an actor for the role of Maggie considering all these pieces of grief, mental health, and trauma, and how theyre so central to that, since it is a unique take in a young adult-oriented show?

Yeah. Well, thats a good question because Im nothing like Maggie. I would rather talk about my feelings and I cry a lot and I like to I just dont, Im not like Maggie at all. So it was a challenge to not emote until it was called for, essentially I get to be emotional, but its not until later on. And so I think the one thing that I do really have in common with Maggie is that I like to work. I like to busy myself with tasks and just doing stuff.

So I really just tried to tap into that every time I was in a scene, I tried to busy myself with work whether it be collecting the laundry or making coffee or wiping down the counter. I was always doing something and engaged in an action. Even if I was drinking wine, I was doing that before I was communicating or engagin with someone, specifically my daughter. So, I tried to try to tap into the aspect of task doing because thats what I have in common with this character.

One of the things I really love about this series is how rooted it is in normal people. Specifically with Maggie, shes a working class, single mom, really trying to do her best for her family, considering everything that theyre going through. And its something thats really identifiable I think for a lot of viewers, even young people can see their own families reflected in that to an extent. How did you approach building the Maggie character as you present her on screen?

Well, I dont have kids so Im not exactly sure what its like. But I do have friends that have kids and some of them are entering the teenage years. And so Ive often sat across from especially a mother, a good friend of ours, is a mother of teenagers. We drink wine together because thats how she unwinds. And I just listened to her and what she had to say. And one of the most interesting things that she told me, which Ill never ever forget, is that she said its a one-way street. All you do with these children is you give and give and give and they just take and take and take. And I think that I know that Maggie barks orders at Sydney, but she has to rely on her because shes a single mother.

She doesnt have Her husband is gone. Shes the only one running the show and shes got to be at work all the time. So shes got to rely on her daughter to run the household in some aspects, and Sydney hates that because she just wants to be a kid and its really trying. I cant imagine what thats like. And the one thing that I learned from playing this part is I think it was smart that I didnt have kids because I dont think I have the patience to be able to handle what it takes to raise a child especially on your own. I cant imagine what thats like.

So yeah, what Ive heard since the show has launched is that a lot of children, a lot of kids think Maggie is a bitch and a lot of parents who have seen it have said, Oh, I wanted to say some of those things to my kids so many times. They can totally understand where shes coming from and they applaud her badass, non-helicopter parent, just do the work type of parenting that she does. They applaud that and wish that they could install it to their own parenting. So I find it interesting that its a bit of a polarizing character depending on what age you are.

Absolutely. And Maggies relationship with Sydney is one that we also see develop over the course of the season in a very frank and honest portrayal of what can sometimes be that challenging parent-child, mother and daughter relationship. Speaking of putting that together, what was your favorite part about that mother-daughter relationship in the series?

Oh gosh. Well, I mean, so I really loved the first scene where I tell her to lower her standards, to not aim so high. I really did love that. But I also loved that partnered with the moment at the very end in the last episode where I get to do up We get in very close proximity, which we never do in the whole series, we never get anywhere near each other or touch each other for that reason. So when Im really in close contact with her in front of the mirror doing up her prom dress and the buttons and telling her a really sweet story about her dad and me at the end of the series. Those two moments were my favorite moments to play together because it was a total arc.

You can see the arc of the relationship going from one point to a completely different a 180 almost back to, Oh, these people. I see what they could be. I see that there could be this really loving relationship between these two women who probably have more in common with each other than theyd like to admit. I think Sydney always thinks that she was like her dad and a daddys girl. But I think that Sydney and Maggie, maybe if the series continues, maybe they can recognize the similarities that they share and become more like teammates rather than adversaries, which thats my favorite. That was my favorite thing to play is Oh, we get the moment where were completely separate and enemies to each other.

And Im often in flashbacks, Im part of her anger that promotes her superpower when it comes out, when she gets angry. And so they use a lot of flashbacks of me, especially on the couch drinking wine. So throughout the course of the season, you see that Im a point of contention for her. But that very end scene in the last episode was so sweet to me and its definitely more in my wheel house. Im more of a warm person. So that was really nice for me to be able to play both sides of this character.

And speaking of Sydneys powers, which are largely a secret, say for just a couple of people, neither of those people being Maggie, how do you think Maggie would react to knowing about Sydneys powers?

Yeah, thats such a good question. I mean, Id prefer her to think that it was cool, but knowing Maggie, I dont know that she would. I believe that she would probably most likely be bothered by it. Like, Oh no, now this. On top of everything else, you can move things with your mind. Oh, shit. Okay. Its just one more thing that shed have to deal with.

Ive got to ask, especially since this is a show with super powers, if you personally were to have a super power, what would your super power be?

Yeah, so I mean I think this is, I love this question and its a party question that I often bring out. So Ive done a lot of thought on it. Obviously, you want to be able to fly, but take that off the table. My super power would be, I could blink and in that blink have immediate expertise and knowledge of a skill.

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Okay. Thats a cool power.

Yeah. So it would be basically my power would be immediate expertise. So I could just immediately know how to do heart surgery and immediately know how to fly a plane and immediately I just have to close my eyes. Its like The Matrix a little bit, but I wouldnt have to get plugged into the internet.