‘My Brilliant Career’: Philippa Northeast on How Those Big Changes Honor the Book

Miles Franklin’s classic novel My Brilliant Career made global stars out of Judy Davis and the late Sam Neill with the 1979 film adaptation. Now, Philippa Northeast and Christopher Chung take up the mantle of Sybylla Melvyn and Harry Beecham in the TV adaptation on Netflix, which premiered globally with all six episodes on August 13. The Australian production has women in every creative leadership role behind the scenes, and it makes some key changes to the source material that paints a more honest picture of 1900 Australia. Northeast explains how the changes honor the defiant spirit of the novel in our video interview above, in which we discuss the entirety of My Brilliant Career Season 1. Warning: My Brilliant Career spoilers ahead!