Period drama miniseries East of Eden is streaming now on Netflix.
Based on the titular 1952 novel by John Steinbeck, the seven episodes take place in the farmlands of the Salinas Valley in California, exploring the interwoven lives, ambitions and betrayals of two families, the Trasks and the Hamiltons, across multiple generations.
The show takes inspiration from the biblical story of Cain and Abel, tackling themes of free will and morality.
It is adapted by Zoe Kazan, whose Academy Award-winning grandfather Elia Kazan directed the 1955 film adaptation of the novel starring James Dean.
Reflecting on her family’s connection to the material, Zoe, who wrote and executive produced all seven episodes of the new series discussed how her version of the story differs from her grandfather’s.
“The movie isn’t a super faithful adaptation of the small part of the book,” she said in an interview. 
“What I felt was the whole epic story is an opportunity to explore, to fall in love with all these characters,” she added.
Speaking on casting Academy Award-nominee Florence Pugh as the scheming antihero Cathy Ames, Zoe revealed that she had no backup plan for having a different actress bring the role alive.
“I didn’t have another person that I thought would be just as good. She is the exact right person to play Cathy. I think she’s a genius. I watched her on set for five months. I have no more insight now as to how she works than I did before. I can see how hard she works and I can see how much it means to her, but there’s no obvious preparation or process that is visible to me at least,” she noted.
The talented 30-year-old is best known for her performance as the protagonist in the 2019 horror film Midsommar, and is set to appear on the big screen later this year on Dune: Part Three, reprising her role as Princess Irulan.