Tara, a seemingly ordinary suburban housewife and mother, has Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID). For Tara, she can appear as anyone: from herself to "T," a provocative teenager who flits around in midriffs and Daisy Dukes; to "Buck," a trucker-hat wearing Vietnam vet who is prone to violence when (easily) provoked; to "Alice," a 1950s housewife who bakes pies that can rival Betty Crocker's in pumps with nary a meticulously hair-sprayed curl out of place. All of these characters and more will be revealed in United States of Tara, as the first two seasons of this series premieres back-to-back starting tonight, August 30, at 10 pm on HBO / HBO HD.
The myriad complexities of Tara and her characters are brought to life by Toni Collette who won both an Emmy® and Golden Globe® award for her outstanding lead role in this series. John Corbett plays Max, her loving and supportive husband of almost 20 years, who works hard to keep up with Tara's alters while maintaining some sense of normalcy for their teenage children: sarcastic and rebellious daughter, Kate, played by Brie Larson, and tender-hearted bookworm son, Marshall, played by Keir Gilchrist.
Although they are typical teens, they have learned to cope with their mother's unpredictable personalities. They have, in their own way, been able to deal with their mother's various personalities. The only sticking point to their living in oblivion is Tara's insecure sister, Charmaine, played by Rosemarie DeWitt, who cannot accept Tara's condition and is envious of the attention her sister has received from it.
Executive produced by Steven Spielberg and Diablo Cody (Oscar® winning screenwriter for Juno) who also created and wrote the series, Cody reveals that the subtext of the series is really about women in today's society, most of whom are trying--sometimes in vain--to juggle all their responsibilities simultaneously. "[The concept] resonated with me because I've always been sort of interested in how modern women have to play so many parts. And, if you fail at one, it's like you fail on the whole... and it's so stressful. It's stressful how many hats women have to wear in society."
But it is not just about the women and mothers. United States of Tara is, overall, a tribute to family and how, together, they overcome obstacles of all kinds. Cody concedes, "There's really nothing more hopeful or encouraging than the idea of a family living with something this major and still managing to hang on to the love that they have for one another."
Spielberg and Cody are joined by DreamWorks producing partners Justin Falvey and Darryl Frank, and fellow executive producer, Alexa Junge (Friends).
Catch Toni Collette in her Emmy® and Golden Globe®-winning role as Tara in the first two seasons of United States of Tara, premiering tonight on HBO / HBO HD with two half-hour episodes back-to-back. New episodes premiere back-to-back every Monday at the same time. On HBO SIGNATURE, catch two back-to-back episodes of the first season daily at 10pm starting September 4.