A television series adaptation of André Aciman's Enigma Variations novel is reportedly in development at Netflix, and this Emmy Award-winning actor has signed on to star in and executive produce the show. Can you guess who it is? You know him, you love him, and he's been a standout in both television and film. It's none other than Jeremy Allen White!
Most people will recognize White from his iconic role as Carmen "Carmy" Berzatto in the Golden Globe Award-winning comedy-drama series The Bear. His remarkable performance as the young Italian chef has earned him three Golden Globe Awards and two Emmys. If you're a long-time fan, you might also remember him from the comedy-drama Shameless, where he played Phillip "Lip" Gallagher.
But White hasn't confined himself to only television. His latest film role saw him playing Kerry Von Erich in the biographical sports drama The Iron Claw. We'll see him next as Bruce Springsteen in the biopic Deliver Me from Nowhere. He also has two movies currently in post-production. It'll be interesting to see him take on a new role with this Netflix series adaptation, as it's a much different role than we've seen him play before.
As mentioned earlier, Enigma Variations is in the early stages of being created and worked on at Netflix. If it progresses to actually being made into a limited series, it will be Aciman's second novel ever to be adapted for the screen. His 2007 coming-of-age novel Call Me by Your Name was turned into a movie starring Timothée Chalamet and Armie Hammer in 2017.
Besides White, Oliver Hermanus (Mary & George, Shirley Adams) is attached to this project as director and an executive producer. Additionally, Amanda Kate Shuman (The Wheel of Time, The Blacklist) serves as showrunner, writer, and executive producer. Aciman, Michael Ellenberg, and Lindsey Springer are also signed on to executive produce with Media Res producing.
An official synopsis for the series hasn't been disclosed, but here’s a summary of the book from Goodreads:
"Enigma Variations charts the life of Paul whose loves remain as consuming and covetous throughout adulthood as they were in adolescence. Whether in southern Italy, where as a boy he has a crush on his parents’ cabinet maker, or on a snowbound campus in New England, where his enduring passion for a girl he’ll meet again and again over the years is punctuated by anonymous encounters with men; on a tennis court in Central Park, or a sidewalk in early spring New York, his attachments are ungraspable, transient and forever underwritten by raw desire—not for just one person’s body but, inevitably, for someone else’s as well."
White will reportedly star in the leading role of Paul. No other actors have been cast besides him. If this Netflix series adaptation moves further along, we can expect more cast announcements in the future. But for now, this is all we know about Enigma Variations.