{"id":870415,"date":"2026-10-04T11:42:10","date_gmt":"2026-10-04T11:42:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/870415\/"},"modified":"2026-10-04T11:42:10","modified_gmt":"2026-10-04T11:42:10","slug":"florence-pugh-on-how-east-of-eden-with-zoe-kazan-boosted-confidence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/870415\/","title":{"rendered":"Florence Pugh on How East of Eden With Zoe Kazan Boosted Confidence"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tWhen Zoe Kazan<\/a> set out to adapt East of Eden<\/a> into what would become the seven-episode Netflix<\/a> limited series, she only had one actress in mind for the central role of Cathy Ames: Florence Pugh<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI didn\u2019t have a backup,\u201d Kazan previously told Netflix<\/a>. \u201cI didn\u2019t have another person that I thought would be just as good. She is the exact right person to play Cathy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tElaborating on what it was about Pugh that stood out, Kazan said the actress embodied how John Steinbeck described the character in the novel.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe way that Cathy Ames is described in the book is kind of doll-like but with something icy or steely underneath,\u201d Kazan told The Hollywood Reporter at East of Eden<\/a>\u2018s New York premiere Wednesday night. \u201cAnd I felt in Florence this mix of a very feminine presentation with, in a Jungian sense not in a gender sense, of masculinity to her soul. That she had a lot of raw emotion and agency and action, which is very Cathy to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tKazan was also struck by Pugh\u2019s performance in 2019\u2019s Midsommar<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI feel like that performance announced a generational talent,\u201d she said. \u201cI think she\u2019s a genius. It was very clear to me that, even though that character is very different from Cathy, if she can do that magic trick of a performance, she can do this.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tKazan sought to center Cathy\u2019s perspective and understand more of the motivations behind the complicated antihero. Pugh also serves as an executive producer on East of Eden, taking on a central role in the creation of the series since she was brought on in 2020.<\/p>\n

\n\tPugh \u201cfelt very honored\u201d when Kazan approached her.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI couldn\u2019t believe that she was wanting to cast me,\u201d Pugh told THR on the East of Eden premiere red carpet<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\tBeyond that, though, being able to help shape the adaptation through the executive producer role, Pugh said, helped boost her confidence.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cShe really wanted me to be a part of the process; she wanted to create it with me. And that was just huge,\u201d Pugh said. \u201cAt that time in my career and in my life, I was being given an opportunity that was a massive moment for me to step up and to lead in a different way. Those moments in people\u2019s careers are the beginning of feeling truly confident about yourself. This project has meant a lot to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tPugh also wrote about her long journey with East of Eden on Instagram<\/a>, saying of Kazan, \u201cZoe Kazan has poured her heart and soul into this project, I wouldn\u2019t have been able to do any of this without her. She was my protector, my work wife, my cheerleader, my confidence. She created something so epic we all wanted to work on it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tIn East of Eden\u2018s stellar reviews (the limited series boasts an 85 percent freshness rating on Rotten Tomatoes), Pugh in particular is praised for her performance.<\/p>\n

\n\tIn his review of East of Eden for THR, chief TV critic Dan Fienberg writes<\/a> that Pugh, \u201ctears into one of fiction\u2019s great and confounding antagonists, a woman so determined and determinedly wicked that she makes Becky Sharp from Vanity Fair look like a Girl Scout. \u2026 Having Pugh playing a character who is, by her very nature, hesitant to reveal her truth is an interesting choice that puts the onus on everybody around her who doesn\u2019t recognize what is so obvious to viewers. Cathy is scary when she lies, but she\u2019s scarier when she tells the truth, with an unobscured honesty that is purely Pugh-ian. She\u2019s so good that even in the second half of the series, when Cathy ages past the point at which Pugh is convincing, it still works.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tEsquire calls<\/a> Pugh\u2019s performance a \u201ccareer best,\u201d with USA Today saying<\/a> that she makes the show a \u201cmust see.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tFrom left: Zoe Kazan and Florence Pugh at the East of Eden NY premiere on Sept. 30.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tArturo Holmes\/Getty Images<\/p>\n