Sophia Soto
Joseph Zada portrays Caleb in East of Eden. The modern interpretation of John Steinbeck’s book from Zoe Kazan (editor Joey Magidson’s interview with her drops shortly, so be on the lookout for that) examines the multigenerational saga of the Trask family and sheds some new light on its antihero, Cathy Ames.
This isn’t his first book-to-screen adaptation, and it certainly won’t be his last. Along with The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping releasing in theaters on November 20, he also has the second season of We Were Liars coming up. This gives him the source material along with the script as he builds his characters. So how does he balance both?
“You don’t stick to either of them. At the end of the day, it’s just your own interpretation of both of them. You just take what you can from both, and I’m so lucky to have great source material for everything that I’ve done so far, almost everything. You just have more to grab from and more to take,” Zada shared. “With each project, I have many different methods that I’m trying out. I’m always trying to learn new things and try new things and see what works.”
One of the most powerful scenes is the series’ conclusion, which shows Caleb struggling with unbearable guilt over his brother’s death while preparing to lose his father. To free his son, Adam [Christopher Abbott] says, “timshel,” which means “thou mayest.”
“It feels like closure. It feels like he’s forgiven and he’s told that all of his actions, you know, they aren’t who he is and that he has the choice to be everything else at the end,” he explained. “It’s the love from his father that he needed and the assurance, and it was really important because I spent this whole time with this character who’s fiercely not believing that, that he is destined to his own fate. And so, I remember in that moment every time having that revelation. Also, I think that was the last or second last day that we filmed as well, so it was pretty awesome.”
Watch Awards Radar’s full video interview with the actor below, where we talk about his character’s most significant moments, the story’s core themes, his approach when working on adaptations, and much more.
All episodes are now streaming on Netflix, and this interview will contain major spoilers.
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