Episode Details

This week, costume designer Whitney Anne Adams joins Sophie and Rudi to discuss how she approaches book-to-screen adaptations. Whitney, who hosts the “Tales From a Costume Designer” podcast, worked on Baz Luhrman’s 2013 adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s 1925 novel “The Great Gatsby” as well as “The Supremes at Earl’s All-You-Can-Eat,” a 2024 film based on Edward Kelsey Moore’s 2013 novel.

Before their chat, Sophie shares some recent beach read recommendations (00:01:18) and Rudi discusses two new movies that treat sex and romance very differently: Greg Arakki’s “I Want Your Sex” and Will Gluck’s “One Night Only” (00:07:01). Those films inspire a brief discussion about the current state of rom-coms in theaters and on streaming (00:15:13).

Then Whitney joins the show to discuss how costume designers bring books to life on screen (00:22:00). Whitney details what it was like to work on a big-budget production like “The Great Gatsby” (00:25:24), including making a spreadsheet of every visual reference in the book and screenplay, designing a period piece for a modern audience, getting to attend the table read with stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire, and playing a small part in helping create an enduring Leo meme (00:41:45).

Then they discuss the smaller scale production of “The Supremes at Earl’s All-You-Can-Eat” (00:46:23), which required creating looks across different decades. Whitney also shares what it was like to work on “Five Nights at Freddy’s 2,” a video game adaptation sequel with a rabid fan base. (00:58:05). Finally, she shares a recommendation for a book she’d like to see get adapted for the screen — so she can design the costumes (01:05:50).

Next week we’re discussing “Tony,” director Matt Johnson’s Anthony Bourdain biopic for A24 that stars Dominic Sessa and adapts a portion of the beloved chef and TV host’s 2000 memoir “Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly.”

It Was A Book First is the podcast about new book-to-screen adaptations. Subscribe now to get new episodes delivered weekly on Wednesdays.

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Hosts and producers: Sophie Vershbow and Rudi Greenberg

Guest: Whitney Anne Adams

Editing: Rudi Greenberg

Social media: Sophie Vershbow

Music: Cliff Blum and John Connelly; music production: Kevin Pons

Logo: Trisha Louise Prieto

Website: Kevin Pfab