Dear Edward star Connie Britton breaks down show’s complex mother-daughter relationship

"It’s threatening for Dee Dee to see this kind of authenticity in her daughter."

By Brenna Cooper and Janet A Leigh

3 Feb 2023

connie britton, audrey corsa, dear edward

Apple

Dear Edward star Connie Britton has given her thoughts on the complex mother-daughter relationship in the show.

The Apple TV+ series is based on Ann Napolitano’s 2020 novel of the same name, following the life of a young boy named Edward Adler (Colin O’Brien) as he comes to terms with being the sole survivor from a plane crash.

Connie, who plays Dee Dee, sat down for an exclusive chat with Digital Spy where she explained the tense nature of her characters' relationship with her daughter.

"My sense of that is, looking at the relationship and the way Dee Dee built her life, her daughter is kind of emblematic of all the parts of Dee Dee that she’s trying to keep undercover," she explained.

"Her daughter is trying so hard to live in her own truth. That is almost compromising to Dee Dee, because Dee Dee is living behind this curtain, you know?"

In the show we see Dee Dee, who loses her husband in the plane crash, struggle to connect with her daughter Zoe (Audrey Corsa) – something which Britton thinks is partly due to the challenging nature of family relationships.

"Family relationships can be so fraught, and can be so challenging," she continued.

"I think it’s because we see each other in our family members so much. But that means we also have to see aspects of ourselves that we don’t want to see."

connie britton, audrey corsa, dear edward trailer

Apple

"It’s threatening for Dee Dee to see this kind of authenticity in her daughter, and to be like, 'That’s threatening all of the structure that I’ve created'."

Connie also touched on her working relationship with co-star Audrey, saying it was "wonderful" to work with her.

"She was wonderful. She was so great and so game and so talented," she added.

"We didn’t have a lot to do together, but we wanted to be really specific about these levels of mother/daughter tension that can exist, and where they come from. It was really fun to play that out."

Dear Edward is streaming now on Apple TV+.