Florence Pugh Takes ‘East of Eden’ to London Ahead of Netflix Debut
From left, writer Zoe Kazan, Christopher Abbott, Florence Pugh, and Mike Faist share a laugh in London. Photo courtesy of Josh Shinner/Netflix.
What to Know
Florence Pugh joined her co-stars and writer Zoe Kazan for an “East of Eden” event at the British Library.
All seven episodes arrive Oct. 1 on Netflix, with Cathy Ames at the center of the family drama.
Florence Pugh’s next family drama comes with generations of trouble. Before East of Eden premieres Oct. 1 on Netflix, Pugh joined Christopher Abbott, Mike Faist and writer Zoe Kazan at London’s British Library on Sept. 21 for clips and a conversation about their adaptation of John Steinbeck’s novel.
Literary content creator Jack Edwards hosted the evening, which followed a London photo call with the four. The stop continued a tour that has connected the series with libraries, students and audiences ahead of its release.
Pugh (The Wonder) plays Cathy Ames, whose arrival changes the lives of brothers Adam and Charles Trask, played by Abbott (Poor Things) and Faist (Challengers). Kazan’s adaptation puts Cathy at the center of a story about the damage family members pass down and the choices they make for themselves.
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East of Eden writer Zoe Kazan views a special collections display with Manuscript Division curator Barbara Bair at the Library of Congress on Sept. 17, 2026. Photograph by Shawn Miller/Library of Congress.
“She’s the motor of the book for me,” Kazan told Entertainment Weekly in an interview published Sept. 18. She explained that focusing on Cathy meant cutting much of the Hamilton family’s storyline, a difficult decision that helped shape the series around the character who keeps disrupting the Trasks’ lives.
The tour has also connected Kazan with the story’s earlier screen history. According to Netflix, she and Pugh visited the Library of Congress on Sept. 17 to see Steinbeck materials and artifacts associated with the novel and the 1955 film, directed by her grandfather, Elia Kazan.
They then joined more than 350 attendees for a masterclass at Johns Hopkins University. Other stops included an advance screening at The London West Hollywood and a Sept. 18 conversation at The Atlantic Festival in New York.
Florence Pugh, who plays Cathy Ames in East of Eden, views a special collections display at the Library of Congress on Sept. 17, 2026. Photograph by Shawn Miller/Library of Congress.
While the story takes viewers to California, production took place in New Zealand. In Dunedin, Queens Gardens and sections of Stuart and Princes streets helped recreate the Salinas Valley’s period streets, with historic buildings, dressed storefronts and horse-drawn carriages.
Garth Davis (Lion) directed the first four episodes, and Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre (The Mustang) directed the final three. Kazan shares showrunner duties with Jeb Stuart, while Pugh also executive produces.
Hoon Lee, Tracy Letts, Ciarán Hinds and Martha Plimpton round out the principal cast alongside Joseph Zada and Joe Anders, who play the next generation of Trask brothers, Cal and Aron. All seven episodes will stream globally on October 1 on Netflix.
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