Zoe Kazan Didn’t Want James Dean to “Haunt” Her East of Eden Series

And considering Zada’s role as Cal Trask was previously played by Dean, “I felt like, ‘Let’s not let this ghost haunt this production,'” Kazan explained. “I asked him not to watch it before he auditioned and all the time that we were filming. He says he didn’t. I have to believe him.” 

The Big Sickactress emphasized that since her series is far more expansive than the film, she didn’t want Zada—who stars opposite his onscreen fraternal twin Aron Trask (Joe Anders) in the final two episodes—focusing too much on Dean’s iteration. 

After all, the Oscar-winning movie highlights only the novel’s final act, which follows Cal and Aron (Richard Davalos) at age 17 in a retelling of Cain and Abel.

Meanwhile, the Netflix series explored all four parts of the American classic, including the mirrored dynamic between Cal and Aron’s dad Adam Trask (Christopher Abbott) and his brother Charles Trask (Mike Faist). 

“This was a really different character position in a really different way in the narrative,” Kazan added. “I’m really proud of him. I’m also just so proud of him as a person. He’s the loveliest boy.”

For the 43-year-old, making East of Eden—also starring Florence Pugh, Martha Plimpton, Hoon Lee, Ciaran Hinds and more—meant it was essential that her remake be separate from her grandfather’s.

“We never talked about his work,” she recalled to E! of her childhood. But after eventually pressing play when she got older, Kazan reflected, “My grandfather’s work redefined American theater and American film and theatrical acting. I live in the tradition that my grandfather helped establish.”

“The movie is so beautiful,” she continued. “It’s incredible. It is very different from what I was trying to do here. It only takes on the last fourth of the book and in a very loose way. I had to put it out of my mind as I was making this.”

Kazan—whose grandfather became a controversial figure after becoming a friendly witness to the U.S. government at the height of the Hollywood blacklist—eventually rewatched the movie during her flight to film the new series in New Zealand.  

“I felt such an enormous feeling of relief that what I was making was, in fact, very different,” Kazan admitted. “There’s always that anxiety, like, have I cribbed something by accident?” 

As fans prepare to click into East of Eden—now on Netflix—keep reading for more novels that were adapted for the screen.