Retta & Mae Whitman - Good Girls, Bad Choices, and Breaking the Antihero Mold

NBC's Good Girls stars Retta and Mae Whitman join the Neil Haley Show to discuss their dramedy about three suburban mothers who turn to crime to solve their financial problems. Retta explains her character Ruby Hill, a happily married mother of two whose sick child drives her to join her friends in a desperate grocery store robbery, while Mae describes playing Annie Marks, a young mother fighting for custody of her daughter after having her at 16 or 17. Both actresses emphasize the show's unique approach to the antihero concept, presenting complicated women making desperate choices with genuinely good intentions. Mae highlights how the show masterfully blends multiple genres—starting as a grounded family drama before sweeping viewers into a thrilling world of crime, all while maintaining a comedic tone that makes the entire experience both tense and entertaining.The conversation explores why audiences root for these characters despite their criminal actions, with Retta noting the classic antihero formula of doing bad things for good reasons. Mae passionately discusses the importance of seeing unapologetic female antiheroes on television, characters who are complicated, make mistakes, and face consequences while still having good hearts. She contrasts this with the abundance of male antiheroes on TV who rarely face the same scrutiny. Both actresses explain how the show's realism—from robbing a grocery store instead of a major bank to the fact that Annie works there and knows it gets robbed regularly—makes the premise believable and relatable. They invite viewers to tune in Mondays at 10 p.m. Eastern on NBC to follow these women's journey and see where their desperate choices lead them.