Florence Pugh says you do not have to love the book to fall for Netflix’s East of Eden. She plays Cathy Ames in the seven-episode limited series, created by Zoe Kazan from John Steinbeck’s 1952 novel, and she thinks it can reach people who have never opened the pages.
Speaking in a Netflix featurette with Kazan and the cast, Pugh called it “such an honor” to be invited into the project. The adaptation, she said, “stepped off with Cathy’s POV of the world,” which puts her character’s view at the center. She described the story as “dangerous and alive.” The team worked to keep it close to viewers. “No one wants to feel like it’s far away,” she said, and the aim was for audiences to “jump into that world.” She also pointed to the scale of the episodes, which she called “huge,” with epic landscapes. It was not easy going. “The story is complex and it was hard,” Pugh said, but she also found it “so fun to do.”
More room than the 1955 film
Kazan is co-showrunner, writer and executive producer, and Netflix says she had long wanted to bring the novel to the screen in a new way. Her grandfather, Elia Kazan, directed the 1955 film, which covered only part of the book. Seven episodes give her space for the wider family conflict and its central relationships, and for characters such as Cathy, Lee and Charles. Cathy, seen through her own eyes, becomes a major focus.
Pugh leads a cast that includes Christopher Abbott, Mike Faist and Hoon Lee. The series arrived on Netflix on October 1, 2026, and received generally positive reviews from critics.
Sources
- Florence Pugh Explains Why East of Eden Netflix Show Isn’t Just for People Who Love the Book
- East of Eden: How Zoe Kazan Reimagined a Steinbeck Classic
- East of Eden (2026 miniseries)
