The extremely long-gestating adaptation of Philip Rother’s American Pastoral is slowly making its way to the screen, with Ewan McGregor set to star and direct. However it’s not the only Roth novel that’s getting a movie version as James Schamus is set to write and direct Indignation, which has just added Logan Lerman and Sarah Gadon to the cast, according to Deadline.
Roth’s Indignation is ‘set in 1951 and focuses on Marcus (Lerman), the 18-year-old son of a kosher butcher in Newark who grapples with anti-Semitism, sexual repression and the escalating Korean War as he comes of age at a Midwestern Lutheran college. Into his life comes Olivia Hutton (Gadon). Blonde and pretty, Olivia is a classmate of Marcus at Winesburg College. She goes on a date with Marcus and is attracted to his intensity. She is sexually promiscuous, headstrong and fiercely independent. A daughter to a highly regarded Cleveland surgeon, Olivia had previously attempted suicide and spent time in a mental institution.’
It’s a good fit for Lerman, who many don’t realise is Jewish himself and so has the right cultural background for the role.
Gadon incidentally has also just signed up for the mini-series adaptation of Stephen King’s 11/22/63, which has James Franco in the lead as a time-travelling teacher who sets out to prevent JFK’s assassination.