‘Lessons in Chemistry’ showrunner Lee Eisenberg on ‘having a female perspective’ behind the camera [Exclusive Video Interview]
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“With a book that’s as beloved as ‘Lessons in Chemistry,’ I felt a tremendous amount of pressure to service the audience, and I also felt like I was part of that audience. I was so reverential of the source material that I wanted to do right by it,” admits Lee Eisenberg, the creator and showrunner of the limited series “Lessons in Chemistry” based on the novel by Bonnie Garmus. We talked with Eisenberg as part of our “Meet the Experts” TV showrunners panel. Watch our exclusive video interview above.
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“Lessons in Chemistry” stars Brie Larson as Elizabeth Zott, a chemist in the 1960s who becomes a cooking show host after rampant sexism blocks her pursuit of a career in science. “I was a pretty good English student,” Eisenberg remembers, but chemistry wasn’t his strong suit, “so the prospect of having to go back into that was pretty daunting.” But “we had chemists with us at every step of the way that weregoing through our scripts and giving us notes … And then we also had a food stylist. So for all of the different facets of the show, we surrounded ourselves with experts.”
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And the series about feminism in the mid-20th century was staffed largely with female writers and directors. It was a “magical experience” for Eisenberg, “taking the book and bringing it to the screen and having a female perspective.” Working on the series helped him appreciate “the advances that have happened in the 70 years since these characters existed” while also recognizing “still the ways that women are mistreated in the workplace. So much of that we were able to kind of pull from those experiences and apply it into the writing of the show.”
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