Netflix has officially greenlit the “East of Eden” series, giving a full-season order. Florence Pugh, Christopher Abbott, Mike Faist, and Jun Lee have been announced as the lead cast. Garth Davis (“Lion”) will direct the first four episodes, and Zoe Kazan serves as the writer and executive producer. The series will consist of seven episodes.
Based on John Steinbeck’s classic novel of the same name, which was made into a film in 1955 directed by Zoe’s grandfather Elia Kazan and marked James Dean’s first significant role on screen. The film was written by Paul Osborn and starred Julie Harris, Raymond Massey, and Richard Davalos. Warner Bros. produced it. The story is set in California before World War I and tells the tragic tale of a clever and sensitive farm youth who, unable to receive his strict father’s love, deliberately tries to undermine his innocent twin brother and reveals the truth that his mother is still alive and has become a madam, ultimately leading to the destruction of his family.
The series will “explore the novel’s themes of trauma and healing, love and betrayal, duty and free will, and will vividly depict the Trask family against the backdrop of huge historical forces.” It will focus on the story of multiple generations of the Trask family and feature the anti-hero character Cathy Ames as the protagonist. Pugh will play Cathy, Abbott will play Adam, Faist will play Charles (some reports that Faist will play Charles, while other Reporter say he will play “the famous role played by James Dean,” but that character is Cal, not Charles), and Lee will play Lee.
Kazan said, “When I first read ‘East of Eden’ as a teenager, I fell in love with it. Since then, adapting Steinbeck’s novel has been my dream. Most importantly, I wanted to bring to life the amazing and unconventional anti-heroine protagonist Cathy Ames. Florence Pugh is our dream Cathy, and I can’t imagine a more exciting actor to play this role. Writing this limited series over the past two years has been the creative highlight of my life. I hope that together with our partners at Netflix, Anonymous Content, and Endeavor Content, we can do justice to this material and offer a new perspective for 21st-century audiences.”
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