Florence Pugh hopes East of Eden prompts questions about contemporary society.

The 30-year-old actress plays the lead role of Cathy Ames in East of Eden, the limited series adaptation of John Steinbeck's novel, and Florence hopes that the show leads to some tough, potentially uncomfortable questions being asked.

The actress told Tudum: "We're coming up against changes that are happening now that are taking us back miles into our history as women, and I think ultimately the demand for equality, the demand for respect, and the demand for control of our own bodies will never not be a topic that we don't want to talk about.

"When we make stories that are from a time that feels far, far away, and they mirror things that we are potentially coming up against now, I hope it allows us to ask the question, 'How far have we actually moved forward? And if we have, how do we hold onto that? And if we haven't, how do we change that?'"

East of Eden tells the tale of two families and their interwoven stories.

The show is dark in places, but Florence and her co-stars still tried to have fun on set.

The actress - who starred alongside Christopher Abbott, Hoon Lee, Mike Faist, and Ciaran Hinds - shared: "We were jamming in seven episodes in such a short period of time, and what we needed to shoot was huge.

"It was an epic adventure to go on, which really meant that we didn't have any time for fluff in between. So for me, as a performer, it was a really big step up into how I was going to approach this role and shooting this schedule because I had no time in between.

"I'm not only talking about heavy subject matter in the scenes, but the language is from a different era, which has a different rhythm. It meant that I had to approach this role in a way that I'd never done before. We did have laughs because Chris Abbott is just so f****** funny, and I had a gorgeous time with Mike."