8 things we learned from the ‘East of Eden’ premiere

Seventy-one years after her grandfather Elia Kazan brought East of Eden to the big screen, Zoe Kazan is reviving author John Steinbeck’s classic novel for the small screen for a new generation of viewers.

The new Netflix limited series, created by the Ruby Sparks star and co-writer, is a multigenerational family saga revolving around the Trask and Hamilton families. But at the center of it all is the extremely complex and villainous antagonist Cathy Ames, played by Florence Pugh, whose performance will likely be remembered come Golden Globes and SAG Actor Awards time, not to mention the 2027 Emmys.

Kazan’s Netflix adaptation marks the second time East of Eden has been brought to the small screen following the 1981 limited series starring Jane Seymour. Besides Pugh, the cast of the new version includes Christopher Abbott, Mike Faist, Joseph Zada, Joe Anders, Zoe Phillips, Hoon Lee, Martha Plimpton, Ciarán Hinds, and Tracy Letts.

"I think the book is timeless, and so, whenever we [would have] told the story, it would feel applicable," Kazan told Gold Derby at the show’s NYC premiere, held at the Plaza Hotel on Sept. 30. "It was really on our minds to make sure that this didn't feel like a dusty period piece to make it feel really immediate to the audience. We did that through direction and performance, but also through every department, hair, makeup, clothes, everything's period appropriate."

Here are the eight things Gold Derby learned from East of Eden’s cast and creative team at the show’s NYC premiere.

Cathy Ames challenged Florence Pugh as an actress

For the Oscar-nominated star of Little Women, the opportunity to play the undeniably cruel Cathy Ames proved to be a learning experience. "I’m always interested in complicated human women," Pugh said. "Getting to play Cathy has been the honor of my career, and I know that she's a character that I'll be talking about for the rest of my career.

"It was hard to do, and I’m so grateful that she pushed me to go to further places," Pugh continued. "But I really felt like I grew up; I showed up for this role, and I wouldn't have the skillset that I now do without playing this character."

Hoon Lee sees connections between East of Eden and Your Friends & Neighbors

The Your Friends & Neighbors star plays Lee in East of Eden, who is often regarded as the story’s moral and intellectual heart. But Lee himself offered a slight correction for how he perceived his alter ego. "I wouldn’t call my character the emotional center," he noted. "I would say that the family is the emotional center and that encompasses quite a few people."

Lee also offered an update on the Emmy-nominated Apple TV drama, confirming that filming on Season 3 has officially wrapped. Although he couldn’t say too much about what's to come, he did tease what he believes will be exciting for fans to see once the Jon Hamm-led show finally returns, and drew similarities between his characters on East of Eden and Your Friends & Neighbors.

"I will say that one of the things that was most enjoyable for me in the season is that Barney is a character very different from Lee, who is always on the precipice of unraveling," he teased. "And, that fully happens. I would say if you like that aspect of Barney's character, you're really going to enjoy Season 3."

Tracy Letts hearts John Steinbeck

The veteran playwright and actor makes the most of his time onscreen as the Trask family’s domineering patriarch, Cyrus. Letts noted that at this stage in his career, "it’s always a script" that gets him excited about taking on a new project like East of Eden. "If it’s on the page, then I’m in," he emphasized.

As an added bonus, Letts is also a big fan of Steinbeck’s many works. "John Steinbeck is probably my favorite writer," he proclaimed. "East of Eden is a great book, and Zoe [Kazan] did an amazing job with the adaptation. It was just very apparent from the page that it’s really well-written. So, I always want to be a part of something that's well-written."

From James Dean to Joseph Zada

Dean played Cal Trask in the inaugural film version of East of Eden, and Zada — who will next be seen in The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping as a younger version of Woody Harrelson's character — felt the shadow of the Hollywood icon, while also making the role his own.

"I didn’t watch the original film," Zada admitted. "I just stuck to my guns and what I believe the character needed and where I felt the character in my body." Along the way, the We Were Liars actor enjoyed getting to work with Pugh and Abbott. But he also learned a lot working closely with the show’s creative team.

"I think just working with the actors that I got to work with. I'm such a fan of Chris’ work coming in, [and] with Florence’s, obviously," he said. "I loved working with [director] Laura [de Clermont-Tonnerre] and Zoe [Kazan]. They were just so pivotal to helping me shape the character and learning to trust myself."

Christopher Abbott likes going period

For the Girls alum, there are many aspects to working on a period series that make his job as an actor easier. "You feel like you’re playing a character a little bit more," Abbott said. "I mean, the clothes do a lot. They help you to walk different.

"And, you know, riding a horse, I’m not doing that every day in New York, but all these things influence character in a lot of ways. So you can sort of use that stuff to relieve yourself of making character choices."

Still, Abbott noted that "playing a part in a book that is very well regarded and very much in the American canon is always going to be a bit daunting. At the end of the day, you kind of just have to forget all that and just play the scripts that Zoe [Kazan] wrote and play them as if they’re new and trust that you’ve sort of done the work and the character is all there. It’s a hard task, but I love doing it."

Martha Plimpton is a big Florence Pugh fan

Plimpton's Faye serves as a motherly figure to Pugh’s Cathy on East of Eden, and the opportunity to work closely with the Midsommar actress proved to be rewarding in more ways than one. "She was wonderful," Plimpton enthused. "She was very, very generous and game and prepared and professional and terrific. It’s everything you want in a scene partner."

Although getting to work with Pugh proved to be a great experience for Plimpton, the actress — who is also gearing up to appear in the sophomore seasons of The Lowdown and Task — said that her "only criteria" for taking on a new role is that her character "has something to contribute to the story."

"It doesn’t matter how little or how big," Plimpton observed. "Working with great, incredible people — smart people, funny people ... that's really important to me that everyone have a sense of humor and not take themselves too seriously, because I feel like when you take the work seriously, then you don’t have to take yourself seriously. And that’s what makes the day go by a lot more smoothly."

Ciarán Hinds is eager to go to Narnia

For those familiar with Steinbeck’s original novel, it should come as no surprise that Hinds, who plays Samuel Hamilton, described it as "such a heavy and dark story."

"[It’s] about [different] generations and whether the curse of a generation passes onto another one or what is the way out of that and the chances that you have of meeting people in life that's right or wrong for you," the Oscar-nominated actor said. "It's the light and the dark of humanity. It's mostly dark, but when the light comes in, you're very grateful for it."

Hinds will have a lighter time next year when he appears in Greta Gerwig's highly anticipated fantasy epic, Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew, set to be released by Netflix on Feb. 12, 2027. "I can only tell you that because I play the role of a narrator and I’m not very featured in it ... [you] may see me once or twice, but otherwise it’s vocal," he shared. "It was just myself, the crew, and Greta Gerwig working together for one day is what I did."

Hinds explained that "all the creative stuff was happening apart from that," but he thoroughly enjoyed his time working on the project. "It was a wonderful day just to work with her and the crew and the brilliant photographer, Shamus McGarvey, who’s from the same part of the world as I am, but he’s rather brilliant," he concluded.

Director Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre and co-showrunner Jeb Stuart embraced modernity

Despite being set in the past, director Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre and co-showrunner Jeb Stuart believe there are timeless qualities to East of Eden that make it relevant to modern audiences.

"This story brings a lot of hope in the fact that it’s the theme of the second chance, the theme of choosing your own destiny," the director shared. "You don’t have to be defined by your trauma [tied to past] generations. I think this is something that I feel intimately connected [to], which is timely and timeless."

Stuart adds that "casting’s a big part" of making East of Eden newly relevant. "When you relate to the actors that you’re seeing, you suddenly fall into that period," he explained. "I think period gets a bad rap a lot of times because, oh, they talk differently or they dress differently. One of the goals that we had was that people shouldn’t be talking about the hairstyles or the outfits and saying, ‘Wow, they got that right.’ They should be looking and saying, ‘That’s just like my sister.’"