Effervescing with peace and gratitude, actress Teresa Palmer is living proof that changing your mindset can transform your life.
When, in February 1986, Kevin Palmer and Paula Sanders named their firstborn after Mother Teresa, they could not have predicted just how much her child would embody that name. For though she is widely known as an accomplished actress, Catholic-raised Teresa Palmer has embraced her role as a mother (of four, and another on the way!) in a way that not only promotes the family values that she, as a child, didn’t have – her parents separated when she was three and her mother was a manic depressive – but builds spirituality and purpose into the package.
She does this in some ways unwittingly. Her interviews, such as this, are peppered with hope and optimism for her children; while in a more obvious positive message of motherhood to women around the world her Zen Mama project – founded with fellow actress Sarah Wright Olsen – serves as an all-encompassing space to build a community of parents and caregivers discussing the comedy, beauty, and complexity of pregnancy and parenthood.
“The site is a forum and platform for anyone raising kids in every corner of the globe, to contribute their ideas and stories and offer advice one another that will strengthen bonds and improve the journey of raising children. We are trying to support and inspire positive change in the world – it’s so important to us,” enthuses Palmer.
Promoting parental wellness makes the 39-year-old beauty incredibly candid about her own experiences, even when they are heartbreaking. The most poignant example of this, came in May last year when Palmer shared the devastating news of a miscarriage she had suffered, a moment which she used to offer condolences and love to ‘anyone who knows the pain of pregnancy loss.’ However, the gracious and insightful Aussie native knows all too well that painful episodes in life can often build faith in a brighter future. The Bible states, after all, that adversity develops perseverance and character. Sure enough, wind forward to March 2025, and in announcing her current pregnancy, Palmer – who is married to former F1 racing driver Mark Webber – said she was “honoured and grateful to have been able to carry this little soul, my fifth baby, in my heart and body. Sometimes in life things happen that we just don’t understand”.
The latest member of her clan will join her four other children – Bodhi Rain, 11, Forest Sage, eight, Poet Lake, five, and Prairie Moon, three, along with Webber’s teenage son Isaac Love, whom he shares with his ex, SMILF actress Frankie Shaw. The ever-expanding family, who recently sold their sprawling Adelaide Hills home in Scott Creek, spend their time between Australia and Los Angeles, along with adventures wherever else work takes them. Devoted to raising kids properly along with maintaining a career in the fickle world of film is not an easy task, but it’s one Palmer strives to achieve.
“When you take on multiple responsibilities it requires significant effort. I lean on my family, my other children, my sense of spirituality and faith in the future,” says Palmer. “Through all those things it’s essential to devote adequate time to nurturing your relationship, just as you do to advancing your career.
“I’ve always anticipated having children, and I am relishing every aspect of it. Thankfully, my husband is incredibly supportive and actively involved, which mirrors my approach to motherhood. Ultimately, it’s about mastering the art of juggling all the different roles in life.”
Handily, her most recent acting endeavour, BINGE original series The Last Anniversary, was filmed close to home. A screen-adaption of the Liane Moriarty tome of the same name, it is the first occasion that one of the Sydney native’s books is set in Australia, and was filmed in the Hawkesbury region of NSW, with Palmer explaining: “The Hawkesbury River is so beautiful and it’s a great way to show another side of Australia to the world and, also, Australian accents! It feels like a tried-and-true Aussie story and I’m so glad this adaptation didn’t get Americanised. Instead, it’s stayed true to the roots of Liane’s book and where she set it.”
The narrative centres on Sophie, a 39-year-old journalist who unexpectedly inherits a house on Scribbly Gum Island from Connie, the late great-aunt of her ex-boyfriend. However, Sophie quickly becomes entangled in a mystery spanning decades, one that threatens to reveal secrets preserved by three generations of women in the family.
Landing of the role of Sophie was a dream come true for Palmer who reveals she had longed to film a series like this, particularly alongside Australian producer Bruna Papandrea – the founder of production company Made Up Stories behind Big Little Lies and Nine Perfect Strangers. “I’ve had their posters on my vision board for manifestation. Particularly, I wanted to work with Bruna as I collaborated with her many years ago when she gave me my first major role in Warm Bodies. I often voiced my desire to work with her again; then out of the blue she reached out to me with the script for The Last Anniversary, so there was definitely a sense of destiny about it,” she explains.
This notion of magical thinking and manifesting has been a vital aspect of Palmer’s journey to where she is now. No ‘nepo baby’, the grounded Adelaide-born actress was raised in difficult circumstances around a religious framework, and has worked hard to forge her own path. On one side, she had her father, Kevin, who was sensible and dependable and, despite being an atheist, enrolled his daughter at Mercedes College, a private Catholic day school. The rest of Palmer’s time was spent with her mother, Paula, devout in the faith and former missionary who battled bipolar and schizoaffective disorder and resided on a housing estate. Though she experienced enduring and deep love from both, Palmer admits that such a dichotomy, along with her mother’s mental health issues, made life complex for her teen self.
“Mental health is something very personal to me. I’ve lived with it all my life through my mother who, due to her illness, was actually incredibly relaxed, granting me the liberty to explore and do as I pleased.
“However, the flipside to this was that such an excess of freedom can actually lead to other problems because my mum lacked the tools to manage or control me as a teenager. Our relationship was complex and deeply intertwined – we both relied on each other immensely. She remains my best friend to this day,” confides Palmer.
Despite the pressure of supporting a vulnerable parent, Palmer is grateful for those formative experiences which gave her the fortitude to survive the early and difficult days of her career. Moving to Hollywood when she was 19 to pursue her career ambitions, she recalls the excruciating loneliness and sheer terror at the prospect of failing, but following the success of her debut, Wolf Creek, it was clear to film execs that they had a star on their hands. In the movie 2:37 she wowed as a depressed teenager, and in 2016 gave one of her finest performances yet in Hacksaw Ridge, directed by Mel Gibson. The World War II epic told the true story of Desmond Doss, an American combat medic who, as a Seventh-day Adventist, refused to use a weapon of any kind.
However, her journey wasn’t all sunshine and glamourous award parties, with the mesmerising beauty revealing that she experienced a particularly trying period around 2010 following a bad break-up and a lack of roles. However, the ‘Dark Ages’ proved to be a valuable time of self-reflection and growth, with Palmer explaining: “When you experience an extended period of disappointment and rejection it can start to exude from you like a fog of despair. It radiated from me, particularly during auditions, and left me feeling despondent… like my spirit was repeatedly broken.
“However, this led to a kind of epiphany where I realised it was time to nurture some form of spiritual life. I’d like to think that most of us reach a point where we understand that the material world just isn’t going to cut it, so we must turn inward and, for me, this meant returning to and exploring my religious foundations, as well as philosophy, theological concepts and starting meditation sessions. It all proved to be very healing. I recognised that I was enough just as I was, and that this new sense of trust and faith in life would lead me where I needed to be.”
This profound mental shift led to a wealth of opportunity and wonder, with Palmer meeting her husband soon after. Not only does she express gratitude for finally being able to become her true self, but the outer world, once cold and lonely, became a place of warmth, beauty and love. Work became consistent, she co-founded the Your Zen Life platform (a precursor to Your Zen Mama) and, seemingly, the floodgates opened to a life that was abundant and enriched.
“I firmly believe that true wellbeing begins from within and radiates outward. Wellness encompasses both the physical and the spiritual, and it is a privilege to empower others to discover their own source of love.
“Personally, I hold the conviction that true happiness stems from within rather than from external sources. For me, a state of happiness directly correlates with my overall health,” she says. “It starts inside and extends to every facet of our lives – our work, our interactions with others, and our approach to nutrition and exercise. I don’t think I would be on this journey were it not for my foundation in faith, and I’m so grateful for it.”
Karen Overton
All episodes of The Last Anniversary are now screening on Binge
