How Aja Naomi King Deepened the Story Told in ‘Lessons in Chemistry’

TheWrap magazine: In the book on which the series is based, King’s character, Harriet, is minor. Not so here. “We are really, consistently going on this journey to explore Harriet’s life,” the actress says

Aja Naomi King (Cécile BOKO)

Readers of Bonnie Garmus’ best-selling novel “Lessons in Chemistry” know the Harriet Sloane character as a middle-aged (almost certainly) white woman who becomes the confidante of the protagonist, Elizabeth Zott. But when Aja Naomi King auditioned for a different role in the Apple TV+ adaptation of the book, showrunner Lee Eisenberg was so impressed that he and the writing team decided to transform Harriet so King could play a significant role in the limited series. “We saw her,” he said. “And we were obsessed with her.”

Harriet 2.0 adds an entirely new dimension to Garmus’ story of a brilliant scientist (played by Brie Larson) butting up against the intractable sexism of the early 1960s.

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