‘East of Eden’ Writer Zoe Kazan Recalls Historic Childhood Home in L.A.

“The Big Sick” star Zoe Kazan has ties to Hollywood that go back generations, and the multihyphenate recently shared some insight on the homes she’s lived in throughout her life—from her formative childhood years to her time now as a mom.

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal ahead of the premiere of “East of Eden”—the Netflix miniseries Kazan wrote and is a co-showrunner for—she recalled the most formative details of her childhood, where she grew up surrounded by family members who are influential in film.

“Most of the adults I knew growing up in Los Angeles were connected to the movies, so working in Hollywood seemed normal to me,” she said.

Kazan’s mother, Robin Swicord, is a screenwriter and director, whose impressive resume includes “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” the 1994 adaptation of “Little Women,” and “Memoirs of a Geisha.”

Her father, Nicholas Kazan, is a screenwriter, producer, and director whose list of notable films includes “Reversal of Fortune,” “Bicentennial Man,” and “Matilda.” And his father was honored Broadway and Hollywood director Elia Kazan, who directed the James Dean–led 1955 film adaptation of “East of Eden.”

“By my teens, I understood who my grandfather was to the world,” Kazan shared. “To me, he was just a member of the family.”

Elia Kazan died in 2003, and his granddaughter said she thought about him and “even dreamed about him” while working on the miniseries, even though she chose not to rewatch his 1955 film until she had finished writing.

Although their respective adaptations are quite different, both feature an impressive cast. The 2026 Netflix series is stacked with talented actors, including Florence Pugh, Mike Faist, and Christopher Abbott.

“The 1955 film took on only a small part of the book, and I think it’s a fairly loose adaptation,” Zoe Kazan told People magazine. She added that the “intergenerational aspect” of the story is what she loves most, an appropriate answer given her upbringing.

WIth strong familial connections to the industry, Kazan shared what her home life was like growing up, describing the home she was raised in.

“I grew up in an old gray-blue house in Santa Monica, CA, that dated back to the late 1800s. From the street, it looked like a modest Craftsman, but inside it felt bigger,” Kazan explained. “My parents bought it in 1983, when my mother was pregnant with me. Over the years, I watched them slowly make it nice.”

California wasn’t the only place Kazan called home as a child.

The family also spent summers in Washington state, because as she shared, her parents wanted Kazan and her younger sister, actor and writer Maya Kazan, to “experience more than just living in L.A.”

These days, Kazan resides in Brooklyn with her partner, actor-director Paul Dano, whose work includes “Little Miss Sunshine” and “The Batman.”

The couple, who share two young children, moved into their New York abode “10 days before” welcoming their second baby in 2022.

Kazan noted that her current home is aged, which she appreciates.

“I love living in an older space,” she said. “I feel like we’re stewards, not owners.”

The couple recently splurged on “two bookshelves added in recesses on either side” of their bed, and Kazan is confident they “won’t have trouble filling them.”

But her favorite items at home aren’t necessarily high-priced finds. The mom of two also told the Journal that the “coolest” thing in her abode is “a $2 painting of a leopard dangling from a branch” that is currently displayed by their front door.

Cheaper still is her favorite spot at home: the living room floor where she likes to lay and “enjoy the quiet” when she gets the rare opportunity to spend time alone.