“It will actually be two books,” John Steinbeck said of his 1952 magnum opus East of Eden, “the story of my country and the story of me.”

In adapting East of Eden for the 21st century, Zoe Kazan took those words to heart. “I really took that as my credo,” she tells Tudum. “It needs to be epic and intimate. It needs to be as personal for me as it was for him, even though he’s literally writing about his family.”

Kazan has her own family connection to the material; her grandfather, Academy Award-winning filmmaker Elia Kazan, directed a 1955 film adaptation of the novel, starring James Dean. But she took a much different approach to East of Eden. “The movie isn’t a super faithful adaptation of the small part of the book that it is adapting,” Kazan, who wrote and executive produced all seven episodes of the new series, says. “What I felt was the whole epic story is an opportunity to explore, to fall in love with all these characters.” 

That epic story is brought to life in the series by a cast led by Florence Pugh, who plays East of Eden’s scheming antihero, Cathy Ames. “I didn’t have a backup,” Kazan says. “I didn’t have another person that I thought would be just as good. She is the exact right person to play Cathy.” 

Geoffrey Short/Netflix

Kazan’s instincts proved correct as the series moved into production. “Her awareness of the camera is unparalleled,” Kazan says of Pugh. “I don’t use this word lightly: 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.”

Kirsty Griffin/Netflix

That enigmatic quality suits the character of Cathy, whose motivations have been debated by generations of readers since East of Eden’s publication. The series preserves Cathy’s character while also “unfolding” her nature. “I wanted to make sure that she was also a person and not just an archetype,” Kazan says. “I think that really required me to do some unfolding rather than inventing. Basically, everything that’s in the series has at least a root in the book.”

Geoffrey Short/Netflix

East of Eden spans multiple generations as it weaves together Cathy’s story with the Trask and Hamilton families — whose members are played by actors including Mike Faist, Christopher Abbott, and Ciarán Hinds — as they settle in California’s Salinas Valley. 

What those generations pass on to the next is at the heart of both the book and the series. “What gets handed down?” Kazan asks. “What are you carrying? How do we reconcile ourselves with our shadow selves?” 

East of Eden hits Netflix on Oct. 1.