Askew UK’s October cover star Florence Pugh is firing on all cylinders: She’s set to break your heart opposite Andrew Garfield in The Time We Live In, then next spring, in a surprise, be given the coup de grace to the deadpan Yelena Belova character in Marvel’s “Charlie’s Angels”*. She’s not going to stop there – Netflix has now confirmed that she will also star in a highly anticipated new series based on a literary classic: the tragic East of Eden.
Per Variety, the upcoming seven-part reimagining of John Steinbeck’s 1952 masterpiece will “trace the multi-generational saga of the Trask family,” who settled in the Nass Valley as farmers in Salisbury, California, in the early 20th century, with a “new focus on indelible protagonist Casey Ames.”
In the novel, Cathy is portrayed as the embodiment of evil – a mesmerizingly beautiful blonde who is fully aware of the power she has over people. As a teenager, she burned down her house and killed her parents; she then married the novel’s protagonist Adam; her brother Charles became pregnant and unsuccessfully attempted an abortion and soon after gave birth to twins; when her husband tried to stop her, she shot him in the shoulder. She then changed her name to Kate, began working in a brothel, poisoned the brothel’s owner and then took over the brothel, turning it into a den of sexual sadism. Her story ultimately ends with her committing suicide.
It’s a meaty role that several strong actors have attempted in the past: Jo Van Fleet, best known for her role in Elia Kazan’s 1955 film co-starring James Dean, won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Kathy in East of Eden. And Bond girl Jane Seymour won an Oscar for her role in the 1981 miniseries. The playful portrayal in the film was nominated for a Golden Globe Award. But, in theory, this new retelling should give Cassie more space than before – and really delve into her backstory and motivations in a way that the book never really did.
As we’ve come to expect from the streaming giant, the supporting cast is fantastic — Christopher Abbott plays Adam in Poor Things, Mike Fist plays Charles in The Challengers, Huon Li plays Lee, and… plays the Chinese-American servant of the Lasker family, who form part of the behind-the-scenes team alongside Pugh’s Casey. Zoe Kazan, best known for The Big Sick, The Plot Against America and She Said, has adapted Carey Mulligan to star alongside her partner Paul Dano Mulligan and Jake Gyllenhaal in “Wildlife,” while Paul Dano, who is also Elia Kazan’s granddaughter, is helming the adaptation and will serve as showrunner alongside Jeb Stewart. Meanwhile, “Lion” star Garth Davis and “Lady Chatterley” savvy Raoul de Clermont-Tournel will share directing duties, with Pugh signed on as executive producer.
“In bringing this family saga to life, my own family’s connection to the material was not lost on me,” Kazan told Netflix in a statement. “But it was Steinbeck’s writing — personal, shocking, profound and liberating — that captivated me when I first read East of Eden as a teenager. Working on this work has been the greatest joy of all time.
So bring on the windswept scenery and intricate costumes—and the inevitable Emmys.
