As villainous Cathy Ames in the new Netflix adaptation of East of Eden, actress Florence Pugh has been described as everything from ‘dazzling’ to being ‘very, very good at being bad.’ Based on the novel by John Steinbeck, as a manipulative, deceitful woman with a dark past, Cathy marries into the central Trask family.
The two Trask brothers are modelled on the biblical warring brothers Cain (Charles, played by Mike Faist) and Abel (Cathy’s husband, Adam, played by Christopher Abbott). In the 1955 version of the film, its star James Dean earned a posthumous Oscar nomination for his portrayal of Cal Trask – who craves the love and approval of his stern father, Adam – after the actor died in a car crash the same year, aged 24.
Cal’s role in the new adaptation is played by Joseph Zada. The 2026 seven part East of Eden – the budget for which Netflix has not disclosed – has already had 19.1 million total views since its October 1 release. And Oxford-born Florence, 30, has been tipped for an Emmy.
The star, who made her film debut as a teenager in the mystery drama The Falling (2014) without any formal drama school training, was invited to join the cast by director Zoe Kazan, whose grandfather, Elia Kazan, directed the original James Dean film.
She says: “About six years ago, Zoe contacted me and wrote me a gorgeous letter, where she essentially was just like ‘I want you and I want to make this with you and I want to create this with you.’ It was kind of like the first time I’d been really invited to be a part of the whole process from start to finish in the way that she wanted me to.
“It was a big job to step into, but I was just so excited that I had the honour of playing Cathy.” Florence, who has been linked to Peaky Blinders actor Finn Cole since 2024, but who made their relationship official at last month’s world premiere of his film In the Shadows, in London, admits she only watched the James Dean classic recently.
Speaking to The Arts Hour on the BBC World Service she says: “It is phenomenal. And James Dean is so beautiful in it. It’s pretty amazing, right? So beautiful.”
Known for her signature deep, husky voice, Florence actually has a condition affecting her windpipe called tracheomalacia, which prompted her family to move to Spain when she was young, to a better climate for her health.
While her dad, Clinton is a restaurateur, her theatrical talent likely came from her dance teacher mum. Of her three siblings, Arabella, Raphaela and Toby Sebastian – Toby is also an actor and musician. Giving her first public performance, aged six, as a pregnant Mary in her school nativity play, Florence performed songs online under the name Flossie Rose, before breaking into film.
Since then, she has won continuous praise for roles in everything from Fighting with My Family, to Midsommar, and Little Women – in which her portrayal of Amy March earned her Academy Award and BAFTA nominations for Best Supporting Actress
Since starring in everything from Oppenheimer to Don’t Worry Darling with Harry Styles, in December she will be in two new releases, Dune: Part Three and Avengers: Doomsday.
Describing the difficulty in switching off from a part as intense as her East of Eden role, she says: “I’m definitely getting better with age and experience. I’m learning how to protect myself more and more. But it’s not, you know, it’s not normal. You’re asking your body to pretend to do all of these things for hours on end.
“And even though your brain knows that it’s not real, your body is still increasing in adrenaline and going out of breath and your heart rate is still doing wild things to try and show to its truest form what’s going on.
“It lives in you, obviously. I try and go home and just have a normal evening, make a drink, go over my lines, make some dinner, go to bed.”
But she admits of East of Eden, which showcased James Dean’s method acting talents back in the 1950s: “It was heavy. I mean, to me, that just proves that, like, the work is happening and your body is remembering it”.
Knowing the film made James Dean an icon, taking any role in a remake was a massive responsibility. Jokily, trying to get a rise out of her co-star, actor and singer Mike Faist, 34, Florence probes: “What about your experience of being asked [to take the part]? How did you feel? Were you nervous? Were you scared? “
Mike, believed to be single, who received a BAFTA nomination for his interpretation of Riff in the Steven Spielberg 2021 version of West Side Story, says: “I might have been. You know, I moved to New York when I was 17 and it’s almost laughably required watching, you know, being a young actor. Especially in New York, and because of Zoe’s grandfather, Elia Kazan.
“You know, On the Waterfront, East of Eden, all of these amazing films – shepherding, Brando, James Dean, Paul Newman. It’s [East of Eden is] kind of required watching. So, as a young wannabe actor, you know, that’s what you do.”
While Mike, who dropped out of drama school, says he knew the film was based on a book, he admits, before landing his current role: “I had never read it before.”
The actor, whose adoptive parents, Julia and Kurt Faist, run a property business in Gahanna, Ohio, where he grew up, describes the feeling he had when he was offered the part. He says: “It is the feeling that you hope for. When that dread kicks [you know] that you’re going to have to go and do this. “
The scale of the production – which is set between 1862 and 1918 – was also immense. Mike says: “It’s so massive. I think I asked Zoe [the director] this morning,’ how many people actually worked on this production in all?. And it was just under a thousand.
“When you see it, you see this world really being built.You do feel like you’re transported back in time. I think of the scope and the legacy filmmaking of it all. There’s really felt like a sense of responsibility to just not mess up. Don’t ruin East of Eden!”
With Florence Pugh and creator Zoe Kazan due to receive a John Steinbeck Award on November 12, and the Netflix adaptation expected to make an impact at the Emmys and the Golden Globes, there is little danger of that.
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