Mike Faist Joins EAST OF EDEN Series With Florence Pugh

Tony nominee Mike Fast has found his next project! According to Deadline, the Challengers star is set to appear in the limited series East of Eden for Netflix alongside Hoon Lee, Christopher Abbott, and Florence Pugh, who also co-produces. 

Garth Davis and Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre will both direct episodes from a script by Zoe Kazan. The series is based on the John Steinbeck novel, previously adapted for the screen by Kazan's grandfather Elia Kazan. 

The epic tale follows the interconnected stories of two families- the Trasks and the Hamiltons- tackling themes of good and evil, often looking to the Biblical story of Cain and Abel for inspiration. In the film version, James Dean starred in the role of Caleb Trask, which Faist will play here. 

Mike Faist recently appeared in the London production of Brokeback Mountain alongside Lucas Hedges. Earlier this year, he was seen in Luca Guadagnino's Challengers for MGM and Jeff Nichols' The Bikeriders. In 2021, he starred in Steven Spielberg's West Side Story, for which he received a BAFTA award nomination.

Faist originated the role of 'Connor Murphy' in the international megahit Dear Evan Hansen, which earned him a Tony Award Nomination, Grammy Award and Emmy Award. Additional New York theatre credits include Steven Levenson's Days of Rage (Second Stage), A Month in the Country (Classic Stage Co.) and Branden Jacobs-Jenkins' Appropriate (Signature).

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