Zoe Kazan’s seven-part adaptation of John Steinbeck’s novel, “East of Eden,” premieres on Netflix on October 1. Kazan, who began working on the script in 2020, aimed for a faithful rendition of the multi-generational saga, which explores themes of cyclical violence, sin, and the struggle for individual identity against familial and national legacies.
Her adaptation covers the entirety of the novel, reimagining the Cain and Abel narrative through characters like Cyrus, a Civil War veteran who favors his gentle son Adam over his violent son Charles. A generation later, Adam’s twin sons, Aron and Cal, compete for their emotionally absent father’s affection. Kazan frames the story around the novel’s central question: whether these characters can escape their family’s history and forge their own paths, paralleling this with America’s own reckoning with its past sins, including slavery, violence against Native Americans, and racism.
Kazan’s approach diverges from her grandfather Elia Kazan’s 1955 film adaptation, which she purposefully avoided rewatching until her script was complete. “The film, which introduced a brooding James Dean to cinema, is more inspired by the novel than a direct adaptation of it,” Kazan noted, explaining that her grandfather’s film focused only on the latter third of the book and omitted crucial characters. Elia Kazan, who directed classics like “A Streetcar Named Desire” and “On the Waterfront,” was called before the House Un-American Activities Committee in 1952, a period of significant backlash. Kazan believes her grandfather projected himself onto the character of Cal, the “black sheep,” in his film, which emphasized guilt, rejection, and alienation.
What particularly intrigued Zoe Kazan were the characters her grandfather omitted or rewrote, such as Cathy, the mother who abandons her infant sons, and Lee, a Chinese American servant who raises the boys. Kazan described Cathy as “irredeemable, irresistible, and so full of agency.” The writer acknowledged the personal resonance of adapting a story about navigating a family legacy, stating, “The irony was not lost on me. There’s a literal way that I’m following in my family’s footsteps.”
Kazan’s fascination with Steinbeck began in her teens with a road trip along the California coast. She later pursued the rights to “East of Eden,” pitching her vision to buyers by discussing America’s tendency to avoid its “shadow” and the book’s argument that embracing one’s full self, good and bad, is essential for change. Before this project, Kazan had established herself as an actor in films like “The Big Sick” and “She Said,” and as a screenwriter for “Ruby Sparks” and “Wildlife.”
Her adaptation places Cathy at its center. This character, often portrayed as a manipulator or a victim, vacillates between seductress and “evil incarnate.” Kazan noted, “I don’t think anything in her background excuses her behavior. At the same time, there’s something really compelling about her insistence on her autonomy and selfishness, especially as a woman.” She added that while her interpretation might seem modern, it is rooted in the text. Kazan cast Florence Pugh, known for her roles in “Lady Macbeth” and “Midsommar,” as Cathy, describing Pugh as having “steel rod inside” beneath a doll-like appearance.
Kazan also focused on Lee, a character whose parents were Chinese immigrants who helped build the railroads. Lee often code-switches, feigning broken English to appease white men. Kazan felt Steinbeck left Lee’s personal journey, particularly a period spent in San Francisco pursuing his dream of opening a bookstore, underdeveloped. To flesh out Lee’s story, Kazan collaborated with novelist Alexander Chee. Although Netflix greenlit seven episodes, Kazan initially wrote eight, including one dedicated to Lee’s time in San Francisco. She ultimately wove those elements into other episodes, believing the series is stronger for maintaining a cohesive narrative focus.
During the development of the series, Kazan became a mother, a personal experience that she feels is embedded in Lee’s character, particularly his caretaking and “invisible work.” She also identified with Cathy, noting, “There’s also a part of me, as there is for many mothers, that’s like, ‘I love my children more than anything, and I wish I could disappear.’”
Kazan drew a connection between the novel’s theme of timshel—a Hebrew word meaning “thou mayest,” signifying choice and the ability to overcome sin—and her own relationship with her family’s legacy. She recently deleted tweets interpreting Taylor Swift’s personal life through a literary lens, an experience that led her to reflect on the public’s perception of artists discussing personal lives. “When an artist makes her personal life the subject of her work,” Kazan stated, “I don't think it's a personal critique to talk about what they're doing in their personal life.”
Ultimately, Kazan hopes her adaptation encourages viewers to confront difficult truths about their own legacies and national histories. “I think we have tendencies as humans to feel the weight of our nation’s original sins, or our family’s original sins, that they are so shameful and heavy that anything good we do is going to be insignificant,” she said. “And then I think we have this other, very Trumpian impulse, of whitewashing the past. I think the thing the book is arguing for, and that I find very moving, is this idea that we actually have to carry both things. The weight of our original sins, and the idea that we are not defined by them.”