'East of Eden' Actors on Making Cal and Aron's Rivalry Feel Real

Joseph Zada and Joe Anders, who play Cal and Aron Trask in Netflix's 'East of Eden,' say their on-screen rivalry came from a real, if joking, place. When Collider asked how they made the brothers' dynamic feel natural, their immediate answer was 'Just deep-seated hatred of each other!' Zada added that it was about 'Just wanting to be better than Joe every day and proving it in every scene.'

But the two were also close from the start. Zada said they were 'really close off the rip,' and Anders described having 'a really natural relationship when we first met each other.' That friendship, combined with a shared fear of the material, helped them ground the complicated bond between Cal and Aron, whose relationship shifts between brotherly love and competition.

Both actors admitted to being 'terrified' about taking on such 'unbelievable characters.' They had 'extensive conversations and freak-outs' about doing the story justice and worried they might 'make fools of ourselves' or 'end our own careers.' That pressure pushed them toward an 'extreme dedication' to making their characters feel 'real' and 'true,' according to Anders.

Hoon Lee, who plays Lee the housekeeper, explained that his character's deep attachment to the Trask boys comes from a sense of responsibility, not blood. 'He would in essence be abandoning these babies into the wilderness' if he left, Lee said. His character 'was present for the birth of these boys' and understands the circumstances into which they were born. Lee's approach is rooted in one of his lines: 'The greatest fear that a child has is that he won't be loved. Rejection is the hell that he fears.'

Zada and Anders did not try to imitate the performances of Christopher Abbott and Mike Faist, who play their father and uncle. Zada explained that looking too closely at the older generation risked 'muddying' what he had already found in Cal. Instead, he focused on the idea that Cal 'carries much of the family's history within him,' while Aron, played by Anders, has a 'positive and hopeful about the future' outlook.

Hoon Lee credited the casting team, led by Ellen Lewis, with creating 'a cohesive company of personalities' that made the generational connections feel natural. The result, he said, is 'an extremely harmonious group' where the younger actors did not have to consciously mirror the older ones.

'East of Eden' is now streaming on Netflix.