A Scripted Julia Child Series Is Coming to HBO Max

Belatedly responding to everyone who wished Julie and Julia cut out the whole blogger plot, HBO Max has ordered a drama series based on the life of acclaimed chef, cookbook author and TV host Julia Child. “Julia” will star Happy Valley’s Sarah Lancashire as Child. The cast also includes David Hyde Pierce as Child’s husband, Paul, Isabella Rossellini, and Bebe Neuwirth.

“This show’s look into her life, marriage, and trailblazing career as she transformed the way we talk about food is an absolute delight,” Sarah Aubrey, head of original content for HBO Max, told Variety. “Our incredible cast and formidable creative team are a recipe for success, and we couldn’t be more excited.”

The beats of Child’s life are probably well known by now. After working as a copywriter, she enlisted in the OSS during WWII, where she first began cooking by coming up with recipes for shark repellant. During her service, she met her husband and the two moved to Paris after the war. Once in France, she attended the Cordon Bleu school, and met collaborators Simone Beck and Louisette Bertholle, with whom she eventually wrote Mastering The Art of French Cooking.

Child’s show, The French Chef, debuted on PBS in 1963 and ran for a decade, pioneering the “cooking show” format, and introducing Americans to Child’s charming demeanor. I mean, just watch her mess with these lobsters.

HBO Max has ordered eight episodes of the series, which will “explore the emergence of public TV, feminism and the women’s movement, the nature of celebrity and America’s cultural growth.” And presumably include a lot of glamour shots of butter.