‘Lessons in Chemistry’: Lee Eisenberg Says Brie Larson ‘Exceeds’ Expectations in Bestseller Adaptation (Exclusive)

Taking Lessons in Chemistry from bestselling book to Apple TV+ series was the “gift of a lifetime creatively” for showrunner and executive producer Lee Eisenberg, who worked closely with lead actress and executive producer Brie Larson to turn Bonnie Garmus’ debut novel into a fitting adaptation. Ahead of the Friday, Oct. 13 premiere of Lessons in Chemistry, Eisenberg opened up to PopCulture.com about bringing the world of Elizabeth Zott to life.

Lessons in Chemistry, set in the early 1950s, follows Elizabeth (Larson) as she transforms her dashed dreams of being a scientist into a whole new realm of possibility and influence as a TV cooking show host. Eisenberg’s wife read the book before he did, and her praise of Garmus’ storytelling immediately sent him on the adventure of a lifetime. 

“I just started reading it the next day and I flipped for it. I thought the dialogue just exploded off of the page. The story turns in it were so surprising and unexpected,” he explained. “Then the character of Elizabeth was so singular and compelling … and had such a singular worldview that she so compelled me. The prospect of trying to adapt it was really the kind of the gift of a lifetime creatively.”

Having been brought into the Apple TV+ series adaptation by Larson and Michael Costigan and Jason Bateman’s Aggregate Films, Eisenberg found Larson to be the “most incredible collaborator,” pointing out just how involved she was in getting everything from the script to the main titles and music just right. When it came time to film, Larson reminded everyone why she’s an Academy Award winner, the showrunner added, as she “just delivered every day” as Elizabeth, handling all the different aspects of her character deftly

“The character suffers unthinkable loss and grief. There’s an amazing romance here. She has to be a world-class scientist, a world-class chef, and has to be able to be the host of her own TV show, and she’s a mother,” Eisenberg said of the series protagonist. “So there’s all of these different kind of components to the character that we asked of [Larson], and she delivers at a level that so far exceeds my expectations, and they were incredibly high for her to begin with.”

Setting the tone for Lessons in Chemistry with the first two episodes fell to director Sarah Adina Smith, who told PopCulture she knew it would be “tricky” adapting a book that was already so beloved. “I think we really wanted to do service to the fans of this book and really use the book as our North Star,” she explained. “But then what I love about Lee is he also recognizes where you do need to sort of back away from the source material and also saw so many opportunities for something that may have just been a quick mention in the book to be able to expand, and how a TV series offers you [the] opportunity to spend more time with something that was maybe a smaller part of the book.” Lessons in Chemistry premieres the first two episodes on Friday, Oct. 13 on Apple TV+ and debuts new episodes weekly on Fridays through Nov. 24.