East of Eden, the Netflix adaptation of John Steinbeck's novel, has become the streaming platform's most-watched TV series in the UK since its release last week. The seven-part series stars Florence Pugh as Cathy Ames, with Mike Faist and Christopher Abbott portraying the brothers Charles and Adam Trask who fall for her.
Christopher Abbott plays the sweet-natured Adam Trask, who shows kindness to Cathy when she appears bloodied and beaten at the door of his home. His brother is initially more sceptical of their new arrival. Adam nurses her back to health and they go on to marry, though cracks begin to show before they leave for California, a place Adam has always dreamed of but Cathy does not share that dream.
Christopher Abbott's breakout role and recent hits
Google searches for Christopher Abbott's past movies and TV shows have soared since East of Eden's debut. His breakout role was as Charlie Dattolo in the HBO series Girls, where he was a recurring cast member portraying the kind boyfriend of Marnie Michaels (Allison Williams).
More recently, he has had leading roles in Poor Things alongside Emma Stone, the 2025 horror film Wolf Man, and the 2022 comedy-thriller Sanctuary. He is also familiar with literary adaptations, having previously taken the lead role of Yossarian in Catch-22, a TV series based on the Joseph Heller novel.
Abbott on playing Adam Trask
Discussing his role as Adam, Christopher told Netflix's Tudum: "He's a character that has lived a lot of different lives, and he's sort of changed his personality throughout it. He starts off, like, hopping trains and living like a vagabond and stealing stuff and then becomes a different human when he has son. It's a big epic arc to track."
East of Eden is now streaming on Netflix.
