Is Scarlett Johansson's My Mother's Wedding based on a true story? Details explored

My Mother’s Wedding, directed and co-written by Kristin Scott Thomas, marks the British actress’s debut as a director and stars Scarlett Johansson among its lead cast. The film was released in select theaters on August 8, 2025, and may also be available for streaming or rental on demand.

My Mother’s Wedding centers on three sisters reuniting for their mother’s third wedding after losing both their biological father and stepfather during childhood. Although the story is fictionalized, it draws inspiration from Kristin Scott Thomas’s personal life experiences rather than being a direct autobiography.

In an interview with Today on August 6, 2025, Scott Thomas explained that while the film takes many creative liberties, the memories held by Scarlett Johansson’s character, Katherine, are based on her true recollections:

“That all happened to me, and those are my exact memories.”

This connection grounds Johansson’s role in real emotion, drawing from Scott Thomas’s childhood losses of her father and stepfather, both naval pilots who died in separate accidents.

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Scarlett Johansson’s role and the real-life inspiration behind

A still from the movie (Image via YouTube/Vertical)

Scarlett Johansson plays Katherine, the eldest of three sisters, each coping differently with the shared loss of two fathers. The sisters return home for their mother Diana’s wedding to her third husband, a new beginning that brings old grief to the surface.

Johansson’s character reflects a naval officer following in her father’s footsteps, but struggles with emotional distance in her personal life. Kristin Scott Thomas explained in an interview with Today :

“The part that is absolutely true and is my experience as a child is all the memories that Scarlett Johansson character carries in her head.”

She further added that these memories were:

“And that was sort of the seed for the film in the beginning — wanting to explain that to my family, what I remembered about our fathers.”

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The exploration of grief through fiction

While the story draws heavily from Kristin Scott Thomas’s personal history, it is not a direct autobiography. Instead, she created a fictional family to explore the long-term effects of loss and family dynamics. Scarlett Johansson’s character is not a direct self-portrait, as Kristin encouraged the actors to bring their own interpretations.

Kristin Scott Thomas also plays the mother, Diana. In the same interview with Today, Kristin noted that the character was not a direct portrayal of her mother:

“I played it as the mom that I would like to be. The idealized version”

This approach allowed characters to portray complex emotions shaped by grief but free from strict biographical constraints. Kristin also reflected on the importance of sharing such stories:

“As a child, I thought I was the only one, and then, growing up, you realize that actually this is thing.”

Through Scarlett’s role and the film’s narrative, the story resonates with many who have experienced loss and the challenges of family reconciliation. My Mother’s Wedding explores themes of family dynamics, grief, and the difficulties of moving forward after loss.

The film examines how different family members can view the same events in varying ways, and how memories, sometimes idealized, can influence present-day relationships. It offers a thoughtful look at the emotional complexities involved in coping with tragedy while embracing new chapters in life.

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