Natalia Grace has found a new family to care for her in the latest episode of “Good American Family.”
In Episode 6 titled “Not Today Satan,” after Natalia (Imogen Faith Reid) is left alone in her own apartment by her adoptive parents Michael and Kristine Barnett, she meets and receives help from a woman named Cynthia Mans.
Portrayed by Christina Hendricks, Cynthia befriends a struggling Natalia, who has been having issues walking and taking care of herself. Yet Natalia questions her intentions.
Cynthia is inspired by the real-life Cynthia Mans, who did meet the real Natalia Grace while she was living alone in Tippecanoe County, Indiana, according to a 2021 document from the Court of Appeals in Indiana obtained by TODAY.com.
Grace, a Ukrainian orphan with dwarfism, had been adopted by the Barnetts in 2010, before they accused her of being a grown woman pretending to be an adult. The Barnetts had Grace tested and were able to legally change her birth certificate to show that she was born in 1989, the document from the Court of Appeals in Indiana stated.
The couple then moved her into her own apartment, helping her get disability funding before they moved to Canada with their three biological children.
However, the Court of Appeals document showed that Grace’s Ukrainian adoption paperwork stated she was born in 2003. After meeting Cynthia Mans and her husband Antwon Mans, Grace moved in with them, per the Indiana Court of Appeals document.
“You almost can’t believe that this is based on true circumstances,” Hendricks tells TODAY.com. “The script itself was already so amazingly written, and I thought they did a really great job (where) halfway through you go, ‘Wait … I thought I knew what was going on,’ and bam, all sudden everything shifts.”
Hendricks explains that her character comes at a time when Natalia “needs a place of comfort, protection, nurturing and a safe space.”
Cynthia, who has also taken in other children in need, Hendrick says, creates a family and community for Natalia.
“There’s also some moments where you start to question what Cynthia’s intentions are,” the actor says. “But I think that’s one of the things that I like about this show is you really have to pay attention to each character, because nothing is quite as it seems.”
Among the first moments where Natalia doesn’t know if she can trust Cynthia is when the older woman offers to drive her home and invites her over for dinner after seeing her living conditions.
She also helps her grocery shop but once at the store, she suggests that Natalia pay for her family groceries using her food stamps.From Hendricks’ perspective, Cynthia is a “complicated and interesting” individual.
“I would say that I went about this as a person who was trying to nurture her and trying to protect her,” she says. “I think that people are complicated and I think even if you are trying to help someone, and if you are trying to extend that, there can be all sorts of situations in your life that it’s not just going to be one pure thing.”
From this episode, one could say that through Natalia, Cynthia attempts to better her family’s financial and living situation.
In real life, according to a document from the Court of Appeals of Indiana viewed by TODAY.com, the Manses filed a court petition in 2016 to seek guardianship of Grace. They also testified against Michael Barnett during his 2022 trial, where he and his wife were accused of multiple charges including neglect of a dependent. Michael Barnett was acquitted of his charges, while Kristine Barnett’s charges were dismissed.
As “Good American Family” continues, viewers will see the role the Manses take on in Natalia’s complicated life. Hendricks, on her end, tells TODAY.com that the journey Cynthia takes is “very different” from any other she’s portrayed on screen.
“I was excited to show that I could do something entirely different like this,” Hendrick says. “I liked this tenderness and this warmness of this woman who surrounds herself with children and has this, sort of, playful side to her.”
“(She) helps people let their guard down, but is also tough and sticks up for her family and has had to stick up for herself a lot in her life,” she says.
New episodes of “Good American Family” stream Wednesdays on Hulu, with the finale on April 30.
