Netflix series East of Eden adds five new actors

Netflix is ​​expanding the ensemble for the series adaptation of John Steinbeck's East of Eden. The limited series starring Florence Pugh has begun production in New Zealand. The cast includes Tracy Letts, Martha Plimpton, Ciaran Hinds, Joseph Zada ​​and Joe Anders (pictured, from left), who will appear alongside Pugh, Christopher Abbott, Mike Faist and Hoon Lee.



Netflix officially greenlit the seven-episode drama in September after acquiring the rights in a 2022 bidding war. Zoe Kazan – the granddaughter of Elia Kazan, who directed a 1955 feature film based on the novel – and Jeb Stuart (Vikings: Valhalla) are co-showrunners, with Kazan adapting Steinbeck's book.

East of Eden tells the intertwined stories of two families in California's Salinas Valley, the Trasks and the Hamiltons. Netflix says the series will "explore the multi-generational saga of the Trask family, with new focus on the indelible anti-hero, Cathy Ames (Pugh)."

Letts (Homeland) plays Cyrus Trask, the father of Adam (Abbott) and Charles (Faist). Plimpton (Raising Hope) plays Faye, the owner of a brothel in Salinas. Hinds (Game of Thrones) plays Samuel Hamilton, the patriarch of the Hamilton family. Zada (We Were Liars) and Anders play Adam's sons, Cal and Aron Trask.

Fifth Season and Anonymous Content produce East of Eden. Pugh, Kazan and Stuart produce alongside directors Garth Davis and Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre, Antoine Douiahy and Zack Hayden.