East of Eden: Everything We Know So Far

Florence Pugh is gearing up for the release of her next major period drama. The actress is the lead and executive producer of Netflix’s limited series, East of Eden, an adaptation of John Steinbeck’s controversial novel of the same name.

“It’s so unbelievably full of life and of human faults and of decision-making that has a knock-on effect for generations after,” Pugh said of the project in an interview with Extra. “It’s unbelievably human, and it’s been an absolute privilege to be able to work on this project from the beginning, creating it from the ground up and making something that I’m in the DNA [of] from the very start, and that’s just a wicked feeling, but totally terrifying.”

Here’s what we know so far about East of Eden.

What is East of Eden about?

The official logline for the show, according to Tudum, reads: “This modern interpretation of Steinbeck’s masterpiece will explore the multigenerational saga of the Trask family, focusing new attention on its indelible antihero, Cathy Ames.”

The official synopsis for the novel offers a bit more detail. “Set in the rich farmland of California’s Salinas Valley, this sprawling and often brutal novel follows the intertwined destinies of two families—the Trasks and the Hamiltons—whose generations helplessly reenact the fall of Adam and Eve and the poisonous rivalry of Cain and Abel,” it reads.

Who is in the cast?

In addition to Pugh, Christopher Abbott, Mike Faist, Hoon Lee, Tracy Letts, Ciarán Hinds, Martha Plimpton, Joseph Zada, and Joe Anders also star. Zoe Kazan adapted the book for TV.

What has the cast said about the show?

In an interview with Extra, Pugh explained that there are minimal differences between the original Steinbeck novel and Kazan’s adaptation, and noted that they’ve “stayed pretty close” to the source material.

“I think what was so beautiful about coming to this project is that Zoe had huge admiration and huge love for Cathy Ames, and she’s shown the story from her POV, so we get to understand her, we get to maybe understand and have sympathy for the reason why she makes the decisions that she does, and hopefully get to have a wild journey on the way. Maybe a few tears,” she said.

Kazan sang Pugh praises in an August 2026 interview with Vanity Fair, telling the magazine, “I felt like it was gonna work from the second that Florence said yes.”

With Pugh as Cathy Ames, Kazan knew she needed a unique actor to star as Cathy’s husband, Adam Trask: “I was really looking for an actor who embodied, physically, a lot of masculinity, but had a softness inside of him,” she said of Abbott. “He got on the phone with me and was like, ‘Don’t you mean Charles?’”

The role of Charles was ultimately filled by Faist, but she didn’t mind that Abbott had the potential to play that role well. “I think our Adam could have played Charles and our Charles could have played Adam,” Kazan explained. “And actually, when we were casting Cal and Aron”—Cathy and Adam’s fraternal twin sons, played by Zada and Anders—“I had all the actors read both parts, because it was really important to me that there was a sense of ‘this could have gone either way.’”

When does the show premiere?

East of Eden premieres on October 1 on Netflix.

Can I see a trailer?

An official teaser trailer for the project arrived on May 13. Pugh narrates the teaser, giving a haunting backstory to her character Cathy Ames.

“When I was a little girl, I imagined I could grow smaller, so small that the bad thing couldn’t find me, and I could disappear because the world is so full of evil things,” she says in the trailer as scenes from her life—hiding in the forest during her childhood, sitting down for her and her wedding portrait, and preparing for motherhood on the homestead—play out.

She adds, “You are growing smaller and smaller, so small no door can keep you out and no door can close you in. So small, you have almost disappeared. But you will not, Cathy. You will not disappear.”

Watch the trailer below.

Can I see any images from the show?

First look photos for East of Eden arrived on August 18, showing Pugh, Abbott, Faist, and Zada in costume.

This post will be updated.