When Lee Eisenberg first read Lessons in Chemistry, he found himself immediately captivated by the world of Bonnie Garmus’ bestselling novel. Upon finishing the book, he immediately cold-called representatives at Apple, who held the rights to the novel, and asked for a job.
“I said, ‘I don’t know what’s happening with the show, but if there’s anything I can do, whether it’s handing out coffees or writing it or doing anything, I’m here,” Eisenberg tells Rolling Stone.
Best known for his work on The Office and the Freevee hit Jury Duty, Lesson in Chemistry is a marked departure for Eisenberg. The novel introduces audiences to chemist Elizabeth Zott who, after being barred by the patriarchy from completing her life’s work researching DNA, decides to become the face of an afternoon cooking show. Now an Apple+ TV series run by Eisenberg, the show takes many cues from the book but manages to deviate from it in fascinating ways, and is brought to thrilling life by a talented cast led by Brie Larson, Aja Naomi King, and Lewis Pullman.
Ahead of the season finale of Lessons in Chemistry, Eisenberg talked to Rolling Stone about choosing what material to be precious with, the skill of Brie Larson, and how his first adaptation gave him new lifelong collaborators.
Lessons in Chemistry is extremely different from some of your most famous works. What made you decide to take the project on?
I thought the writing was just electric and the dialogue just exploded off of the page. And the twists and turns of the story were so surprising and heartbreaking. The one thing I didn’t mention to Apple was that I had never adapted anything before. I didn’t lead with that in my sales pitch, of course. And it was really very scary. I had such reverence for the book and for Bonnie’s writing. And also beyond me, I knew that there was such an audience. The book had resonated for so many people, so the pressure of getting that right was enormous.
Yes, this is a departure from things I’ve done in the past. But I think for me, something has to click. It could be comedic conceit, it could be a ripped-from-the-headlines story like WeCrashed, it could be something like Jury Duty, which is slightly genre-bending. And for this, I was so taken with the treatment of Elizabeth and these characters that surrounded her. I really felt connected to it. At the time that I was writing it, I had a one-year-old. So a lot of the stories about parenting and motherhood really spoke to me.
Aja Naomi King and Brie Larson in ‘Lessons in Chemistry.’
Michael Becker/Apple TV+
How involved was Bonnie in the project?
Bonnie and I had an initial conversation before I jumped in. And then she stepped back. She wasn’t involved in production and let us do our thing. We had the opportunity to have dinner after everything was all said and done and it was just so nice to finally meet her. I don’t get nervous meeting many people, but meeting someone who’d written something that I was so taken with, that I had worked so hard to try to adapt, that was very meaningful to me.
How did you decide which parts of the book to keep and which parts to go in a different direction?
We tried to stay as close to the book as possible and as often as we could. There were times where it felt like there were opportunities. Like for “The Book of Calvin” [episode], I thought, “Well, what if we got to see that?” and what would the visuals of that feel like? Part of that was selfish because I had seen Lewis Pullman in the first episode at that point and was obsessed with him and had a very strong suspicion that the audience might feel the same. So I was really trying to find a way of keeping Lewis alive and keeping the character of Calvin present in the show in a way that felt completely organic. That was something where we took what was in the book and did our own spin on it.
As far as the character of Harriet went, we were considering Aja for a different role that ultimately did not end up in the show. We were so taken with her as an actress and thought she had such a presence and really would be able to go toe to toe with Brie, that it felt like, “OK, so we’re gonna write this one role for her, then we’re gonna have to cast a Harriet. But once we’re in the script, we’re gonna have to be competing? All I want to do is write for Aja. How do we do that?”
When we talk about a show that’s about both chemistry and good food, what were some of the inspirations for how you wanted the different worlds to look like?
All of it was in the book. I love to cook and when I get into recipes, I become obsessive about it. We had cultural consultants, we had food consultants, we had chemistry consultants. I wanted everything to be exact. I wanted chefs to look at the food and say, “Oh my God, that’s exactly what it was like during that time.” I wanted chemists to really feel like they were in that lab and so with everything, there was a precision to that.
What was it like working with Brie Larson?
Working with Brie, I think it’s my favorite collaboration I’ve ever had with an actor or actress in my career, and I’ve been doing this for a long time. She’s just an incredibly lovely person, and a decent person, and a kind person, and makes the set feel like family and warm. We’ve now become very close friends. The other part of it is, she’s such an incredible actress. I think Brie could do anything. I can’t think of a single role I wouldn’t cast her in. She brought so much warmth, charm, and comedy to this character. Every day, I was just blown away by her performance. If I’m gushing, I’m not doing a good enough job. I’m mesmerized by it. And I truly have watched all of the episodes dozens of times.
You mentioned you approached the book at a serendipitous time, as the parent of a one-year-old. Now that the show is over and you’re about to watch the finale with everyone, what are you experiencing now as a parent who’s probably in a very different time in your life?
Oh, my daughter, she has opinions and she has thoughts. I see so much of my wife in her. I see so much of myself in her. She loves to make jokes. She actually has comic timing. I don’t know where she has developed that and maybe it’s innate, but those things are just incredibly satisfying. And my wife co-wrote two episodes of the show. So really, the creation of the show was very intimate. People were sharing the most personal stories about grief and loss and trauma. So all of these things were shared in the writers rooms and on sets and in conversations with Brie and with Lewis and Sarah Adina Smith, who directed the first few episodes. And it really became a family. Ninety-five percent of the people I’d never worked with before and now I have collaborators that I’m gonna work with for the rest of my life.