With the debut of The French Chef in 1963, Julia Child became a TV star. Now, almost sixty years later, the late and beloved celebrity chef is returning to TV yet again—not as a host, of course, but as the lead character in a dramatic series based around her life.
Food and Wine magazine reports that Julia—as the show will be called—is billed as being “inspired by Julia Child’s extraordinary life and her long-running television series, The French Chef, which pioneered the now popular genre of cooking shows.” The series—which will star two-time British Academy Television Awards (BAFTA) winner Sarah Lancashire as the famed chef—will also explore “an evolving time in American history—the emergence of public television as a new social institution, feminism and the women’s movement, the nature of celebrity and America’s cultural growth. At its heart, the series is a portrait of a loving marriage with an evolving and complicated power dynamic.”
The cast will also include David Hyde Pierce (as Child’s husband Paul), Brittany Bradford, Fran Kranz, Fiona Glascott, Bebe Neuwirth, Isabella Rossellini, and Jefferson Mays. The pilot was written by Daniel Goldfarb, best known for The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, and directed by Charles McDougall, who previously worked on House of Cards.
HBO Max will air the eight-episode first season as a Max Original—and yes, they do refer to it as a “first season,” meaning if fans enjoying seeing a dramatic recreation of Julia Child’s life, there could be much more to come.
“We are so happy to help bring the incomparable Julia Child back to the small screen, when we need her more than ever. This show’s look into her life, marriage, and trailblazing career as she transformed the way we talk about food is an absolute delight,” Sarah Aubrey, head of original content for HBO Max, said in the announcement. “Our incredible cast and formidable creative team are a recipe for success, and we couldn’t be more excited.”
Unfortunately, any sort of debut date isn’t even hinted at. HBO Max only states that the show “is scheduled to continue production late spring in Boston.”
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