East of Eden: Florence Pugh’s Confession Reveals Astronomical Dedication to the Role

Florence Pugh has never been one to simply show up and say her lines. The Oscar nominee leads Netflix’s East of Eden as Cathy Ames, one of the most infamous characters in American literature. She also serves as an executive producer on the seven-episode limited series adapted by Zoe Kazan from John Steinbeck’s classic novel.

Speaking with Krista Smith on Netflix‘s Skip Intro, Pugh revealed just how far she goes for the women she plays. She shared:

I’m someone who’s always been very opinionated about the roles that I step into, especially when we’re on set, I will argue in defense of my character. I want to know that character so well by the end that I could argue any fight for her.

Pugh explained that being involved from the very beginning let her shape Cathy exactly as she imagined her while reading the script. She shared that much like Cathy, she was aging alongside the character, which brought a deeper and more humble understanding to her performance.

Florence Pugh Explains Being Protective of Cathy’s Journey

In John Steinbeck’s novel, Cathy leaves a trail of destruction behind her. She marries the kind-hearted Adam Trask, played by Christopher Abbott in the show, and abandons him and their newborn twin sons. She later reinvents herself as Kate, the ruthless madam of a Salinas brothel.

Most readers see her as pure evil, but Florence Pugh and the team wanted to show where that darkness came from. According to Pugh, the creative team was protective of one key idea. Everything that happens to Cathy, whether intentional or accidental, creates a ripple effect on her choices for the rest of her life. Pugh shared:

Cathy is a prime example of that. Something happened to her very young, and it changed the way that she saw the world forever. That’s how I defend her […] She’s forced to look at that decision and that is only possible because we’ve had so much time to view all of these lives and to view all of these decisions.

This is where the limited series format pays off. Pugh pointed out that viewers get to watch Cathy at every major turning point, as a young woman, as a new mother, as the woman who walks away from her children, and finally as Kate, forced to face the sons she left behind.

Pugh was especially excited about the Kate chapter, sharing, “I think one of the most exciting things about discovering her as Kate [is that] she essentially evolves into the true version of herself.” To her, it felt like a second chance at the character, playing a woman who has finally found her world, her business, and her voice.

Florence Pugh Reveals What East of Eden Hopes to Achieve

East of Eden may be set more than a century ago, but Florence Pugh believes its story feels uncomfortably close to home. Cathy lives in a world that gives women very little control over their bodies, choices, or futures, and Pugh sees the same battles playing out today. When asked what she hopes audiences take away from the show, she shared:

I think ultimately the demand for equality, the demand for respect, and the demand for control of our own bodies will never not be a topic that we don’t want to talk about.

Pugh feels that recent changes are pushing women’s rights backward, and that period stories like this one can work as a mirror. When a tale from a distant era reflects modern struggles, she hopes it makes viewers ask how much progress has really been made.

That idea runs through Cathy’s entire story. Many of her darkest choices, from rejecting motherhood to clawing her way to power, come from a world that offered her few real options. With Pugh defending Cathy every step of the way, East of Eden becomes a conversation about where women stand today.

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East of Eden is now streaming on Netflix.