Netflix is expanding the cast for its adaptation of John Steinbeck’s East of Eden, with the limited series starring and executive produced by Florence Pugh now in production in New Zealand.
Joining the ensemble are Tracy Letts, Martha Plimpton, Ciaran Hinds, Joseph Zada, and Joe Anders. They will appear alongside Pugh and previously announced cast members Christopher Abbott, Mike Faist, and Hoon Lee.
The seven-episode drama was officially greenlit by Netflix in September, following a competitive bidding process in 2022 to secure the rights.
Zoe Kazan, the granddaughter of Elia Kazan—who directed the 1955 film adaptation of the novel—and Jeb Stuart (Die Hard, Vikings: Valhalla) are serving as co-showrunners, with Kazan adapting Steinbeck’s classic novel.
East of Eden weaves together the lives of two families in California’s Salinas Valley, the Trasks and the Hamiltons.
According to Netflix, the series will “goes into the multigenerational saga of the Trask family, with a particular focus on its unforgettable antihero, Cathy Ames,” played by Pugh.
Letts (Little Women, Winning Time) is set to portray Cyrus Trask, the father of Adam (Abbott) and Charles (Faist). Plimpton (The Regime, Raising Hope) will take on the role of Faye, the owner of a brothel in Salinas.
Hinds (Game of Thrones) plays Samuel Hamilton, the patriarch of the Hamilton family. Zada (We Were Liars) and Anders (1917) will play Adam’s sons, Cal and Aron Trask.
The series is being produced by Fifth Season and Anonymous Content. Alongside Pugh, Kazan, and Stuart, executive producers include directors Garth Davis and Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre, Antoine Douiahy, and Zack Hayden.
