Watch ‘American Fiction’ Director Cord Jefferson and Author Percival Everett Unpack the ‘Surprises’ of Adapting the Novel for Film

Samantha Bergeson
·3 min read
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“American Fiction” writer-director Cord Jefferson knew the best way to capture the strangeness of modern life was to adapt an ironic dark comedy novel.

Jefferson, whose Indie Spirit Award-nominated film is based on Percival Everrett’s novel “Erasure,” unpacked the timeless appeal of a story involving a highbrow Black novelist who parodies the perpetuation of racial stereotypes and unwittingly writes a hit novel.

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IndieWire Honors recipient Jefferson and author Everett, as well as lead star Jeffrey Wright, detailed the making of “American Fiction” in an exclusive “Page to Screen” featurette courtesy of Amazon MGM Studios.

“When I read the book, I felt the material deep in my bones,” Jefferson said. “So I knew almost immediately that I wanted to adapt it. There’s levity but also surprise. That to me is really keeping in essence with the book.”

Everett added, “As soon as I met Cord, it was clear that he understood the spirit of the novel. He took my material and made it a film.”

Wright, who plays the film’s protagonist Monk, applauded how “Erasure” and “American Fiction” deals with “some super relevant, age-old themes along with a deep thread of comedy and irony running through it.”

Wright previously told IndieWire’s Anne Thompson that “it was clear from the script that [Jefferson] was a writer of wit and wisdom and had on the page a wonderful handle on story.”

Wright continued to heap praise on the first-time filmmaker, “Although he hadn’t directed before, he clearly understood the narrative architecture in a way that was fresh and thoughtful.”

Wright was already familiar with Jefferson’s journalistic work as well as his TV writing on series like “Master of None.” Wright decided to not read the original novel before completing Jefferson’s “American Fiction” script until after production wrapped.

“I realized that Cord had reshaped it in his own image,” Wright said of the adaptation. “Even some of the catalyzing moments, he had recrafted. The script, which I read first, struck me on a most personal level. It was almost as though the book of my life was the critical thing to read.”

Wright concluded, “We rarely see a family that’s as authentically mad, and loving, and dysfunctional. And at the same time a family that also happens to be Black. I’ve never in my career played these notes. […]  It’s not the social commentary and the satire, which is wonderful, but for me, the core of it is the story of a man and his relationship to his family. In some ways, that’s the most radical aspect of the film.”

See cast members Sterling K. Brown, Issa Rae, and Tracee Ellis Ross discuss the film in the “Page to Screen” video below. “American Fiction” will open in select theaters on December 15 and expand to additional theaters starting December 22.

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