Anne With an E Introduces Anne of Green Gables to the Netflix Generation

Writer Moira Walley-Beckett and star Amybeth McNulty preview the new Anne Shirley series

By Chris Harnick May 11, 2017 6:58 PMTags
Watch: "Anne With an E" Star & EP on Show's Relatable Character

What do Breaking Bad's Walter White and Anne of Green Gables' Anne Shirley have in common? Moira Walley-Beckett.

Walley-Beckett, who won an Emmy for her work on Breaking Bad, is behind Netflix's Anne With an E, the latest iteration of the classic Anne of Green Gables tale originally penned by L.M. Montgomery.

"Yep, Breaking Bad, Flesh and Bone—all character dramas," Walley-Beckett said. She said going from the world of a meth kingpin to Green Gables was "actually super refreshing."

"But also I'm drawn to characters who have original wounding and complicated circumstances and Anne fits those categories," Walley-Beckett said.

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Anne With an E stars Amybeth McNulty as the precocious titular character, a character whose fans span generations.

"I guess there was a sense of nervousness for me," McNulty told E! News. "Just because there are a lot of people who have played her…it's just exciting to give my portrayal of her. I think once I got the sense of, if people like it, that's fine. If people don't, that's fine. Once I kind of got that into my brain, it was fine."

The first Anne of Green Gables book was published in 1908. Since then there have been sequels, radio productions, stage productions, films, TV movies, TV shows, web productions—you name it, Anne of Green Gables has been there. What makes this tale so timeless?

"I think because she's relatable. I think because all of us at one point in our lives have felt like an outcast, or felt like a misfit, felt like we didn't belong. I think that's pretty universal," Walley-Beckett said.

Click play on the video above for more from the creator and star.

Anne With an E premieres Friday, May 12 on Netflix.