Zoe Kazan '05 is a film, television and stage actor, playwright and screenwriter. Kazan is the co-showrunner, writer, and executive producer of Netflix’s highly anticipated limited series EAST OF EDEN, a breathtaking adaptation of John Steinbeck’s landmark novel reimagining the epic story through the perspective of its antihero, Cathy Ames. The series, spanning over five decades, stars Florence Pugh, Christopher Abbott, Mike Faist, Ciarán Hinds, Tracy Letts, and Hoon Lee, and will premiere on Netflix on October 1st.
In 2022, Kazan starred alongside Carey Mulligan in Universal Pictures’ critically acclaimed film SHE SAID- telling the story of New York Times reporters Megan Twohey (Mulligan) and Jodi Kantor (Kazan), who helped expose the silence surrounding sexual assault in Hollywood. In 2018, Kazan co-wrote, and co-executive produced the drama WILDLIFE based on the novel by Richard Ford and directed by Paul Dano. The film opened to critical acclaim starring Carey Mulligan and Jake Gyllenhaal. WILDLIFE premiered at Sundance then went onto screen at Cannes, Toronto, the New York Film Festival and the London Film Festival and was nominated for “Best First Feature” at the 2019 Independent Spirit Awards.
In 2015, Kazan was nominated for an Emmy award for her performance in a supporting role in the Emmy-nominated HBO miniseries OLIVE KITTERIDGE. Other television credits include HBO’s THE DEUCE and BORED TO DEATH and Netflix’s CLICKBAIT. In 2012, Kazan starred alongside Paul Dano in the critically acclaimed Fox Searchlight film, RUBY SPARKS, which she wrote and executive produced. RUBY SPARKS tells the story of a novelist struggling with writer’s block who creates a female character and wills her into existence. Kazan received a nomination for “Best Screenplay” for this film at the 2013 Film Independent Spirit Awards.
Kazan’s additional film credits include; the Coen Brothers’ western, THE BALLAD OF BUSTER SCRUGGS (garnered three Academy Award nominations, one BAFTA nomination, and was recognized in NBR’s “Top Ten Films” list), Michael Showalter’s THE BIG SICK alongside Kumail Nanjiani (SAG nomination for outstanding performance by a cast in a motion picture,) Sam Mendes’ REVOLUTIONARY ROAD, IN THE VALLEY OF ELAH, FRACTURE, THE PRIVATE LIVES OF PIPPA LEE, Richard Linklater’s ME AND ORSON WELLES, Josh Radnor’s HAPPYTHANKYOUMOREPLEASE, MEEK’S CUTOFF, IT’S COMPLICATED (alongside Meryl Streep and Alec Baldwin which won the National Board of Review award for “Best Cast”), IN YOUR EYES, THE PRETTY ONE, THE MONSTER, OUR BRAND IS CRISIS, WHAT IF and MY BLIND BROTHER and THE EXPLODING GIRL.
Kazan’s theatre work has been extensive. In 2017 Kazan wrote “After the Blast, ” a play which takes place in a post-apocalyptic world. It was directed by Lila Neugebauer and played at Lincoln Center. Kazan made her New York stage debut in 2006 in the Off-Broadway revival of “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie.” Her Broadway credits include Manhattan Theatre Club’s revival of William Inge's “Come Back, Little Sheba,” the world premiere of Martin McDonagh’s “A Behanding in Spokane” and the Broadway revival of Chekhov’s “The Seagull,” for which she was nominated for a Drama Desk Award. In 2008, Kazan was named the recipient of the Clarence Derwent Award for Most Promising Actress. She is the only actor to be awarded the Derwent Award for three roles in one year.Additional off-Broadway credits include Jonathan Marc Sherman's “Things We Want” and “Clive,” both directed by Ethan Hawke at The New Group Theater; the Signature Theater Company’s revival of Tony Kushner’s “Angels in America,” in which she played Harper Pitt; Manhattan Theater Club’s production of “When We Were Young And Unafraid”; and Playwrights Horizons’ “100 Saints You Should Know,” for which she received a Drama Desk Award nomination and a Lucille Lortel Award nomination for Outstanding Featured Actress.
As a playwright, Kazan has had plays produced at the Humana Festival at the Actor’s Theater of Louisville (“Absalom” in 2009), off-Broadway at the Manhattan Theater Club (“We Live Here” in 2011), South Coast Repertory Theater (“Trudy and Max in Love” in 2014), and at Lincoln Center (“After the Blast” in 2023).
Kazan currently resides in New York City.
