‘East of Eden’ Trailer: Florence Pugh Is One of Literature’s Most Iconic Villains in Zoe Kazan’s Ambitious Steinbeck Adaptation

Famously adapted by Kazan's grandfather Elia Kazan into a James Dean film, John Steinbeck's novel is a generational tale of two families in California's Salinas Valley.

It’s only fitting for a generational story like “East of Eden” to have its own family legacy behind it. After her grandfather Elia Kazan adapted John Steinbeck’s novel into a celebrated film, Zoe Kazan is taking a crack at a newer retelling of the family saga. Netflix released the full trailer for Kazan’s “East of Eden” limited series on Wednesday, September 2, revealing more of the cast’s interpretations of the classic characters.

Published in 1952, the original “East of Eden” novel is Steinbeck’s most ambitious novel, a 600-page epic that spans from the American Civil War to the end of World War I. Set in the Salinas Valley of California where Steinbeck was born and raised, the novel tells the intertwined histories of two families: the Irish immigrant Hamiltons, who were heavily based on Steinbeck’s own family, and the Trask family, whose search for fortune and success across generations mimics the biblical stories of the fall of Eden and Cain and Abel.

Elia Kazan previously adapted the novel into a 1955 film, which is most famous as the leading debut of James Dean. Due to the novel’s length and complicated story, the movie only adapts the last fourth of the original novel, a change Steinbeck himself approved of. A three-part limited series adaptation later aired in 1981. The Netflix series promises to adapt the entire novel in a more complete form.

Florence Pugh leads the cast of the series as Cathy Ames, the matriarch of the Trask family and a Devil figure in the novel who serves as its principal antagonist. Jo Van Fleet won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her performance as Cathy in the original film. Pugh is joined by Joseph Zada, playing the role of Cal that Dean portrayed in the original movie, as well as Christopher Abbott, Mike Faist, Joe Anders, Hoon Lee, Tracy Letts, Martha Plimpton, and Ciaran Hinds. Kazan writes the entire series, sharing one co-writing credit with Alexander Chee for Episode 6, while Garth Davis and Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre split directorial duties.

All seven episodes of “East of Eden” will premiere on Netflix October 1. Watch the full trailer for the series below.