Looks like Julia Child had a whole kitchen of women supporting her dreams!
HBO Max's upcoming comedy series, Julia, which is inspired by Julia's extraordinary life and long-running television series, The French Chef, premiered on March 31. And now, an E! News exclusive featurette provides an inside look at the chef's powerful female support system—including Avis DeVoto, Dorothy Zinberg and Judith Jones.
"She had this group of Cambridge [Massachusetts] women that all came together to help her," executive producer and writer Daniel Goldfarb says in the clip.
Actress Sarah Lancashire, who stars as Julia, added: "Avis [Bebe Neuwirth] was very responsible for helping her to get the mastering books."
Avis, a cook and food editor, also helped Julia find her Cambridge home, Daniel says, adding that Avis "came on board and became a helper with The French Chef."
It was the same with Dorothy (Lindsey Broad), who, although she was a new mother, was "finding time because she believed in Julia and she believed in this project," Daniel says. Meanwhile, editor Judith (Fiona Glascott) is "maybe even more influential than Julia," he adds.
But one woman exists solely on the screen: Alice Naman (Brittany Bradford).
"Alice is a woman we made up," executive producer and writer Chris Keyser shared, "and through her we're able to say some of the things we want to be able to say about how the world is changing through the sixties and seventies."
Julia, which according to Chris is about "women coming together to support each other" and to "make something extraordinary," will depict the emergence of public television as a new social institution, feminism and the women's movement, the nature of celebrity and America's cultural evolution.
We don't know about you, but we're craving some French cuisine after watching that clip!
Julia is now available to stream on HBO Max.