Campus novels in which a well-respected man has some sort of infraction with a student—or even more sinister encounters—have become a dime a dozen in recent years. So when Julia May Jonas’s Vladimir (Avid Reader) was released in 2022 from the perspective of the #MeToo’d professor’s wife, also a professor on campus, the perspective alone was brand new. But when Jonas’s narrator begins a life-consuming obsession with a young novelist and new professor Vladimir, Jonas’s spin on well-worn territory, looking at all-consuming desire and gender, felt like a completely fresh perspective.

This month, Jonas helmed the Netflix limited series adaptation of Vladimir, starring Rachel Weisz, as the enigmatic, unreliable narrator who dives into the deep end of her obsession with Vladimir (Leo Woodall), which fuels her both sexually and creatively. Meanwhile, her husband John (John Slattery) awaits his fate after a trove of allegations are thrown at him.

PW talked to Jonas about Vladimir’s extremely hot cast, adapting her own book, and when we can expect her much-anticipated second novel, Diana.

What was the process for you in terms of adapting your own novel? It seems fairly rare for a writer to be taking the lead on their own adaptation, let alone their first television experience.

Because I came from the world of playwriting before I came to novel writing, I had some relationship to screenwriting. That felt like it gave me a lot, and a lot on set as well. I used to have a theater company, and even aspects of producing, directing, and writing I had done. When I walked onto set, I didn't feel like I was totally out of my depth. I had these really great producers—Sharon Horgan was one—and I felt really quite safe and held in being able to put together a draft and send it to my producers. I had support from really seasoned people who could keep me in line.

What was it like putting Vladimir into a different medium?

One reason I wrote a novel and not a play is that I wanted to do a completely different form and wanted to be able to play inside of the confines of that. Because someone puts it down and picks it up, by its nature, the relationship to time in a novel is very different. I also knew that was not going to be the same as the TV show, so I didn't want to do a transcription. One thing that really helped me click into the series was having Rachel [Weisz]'s character using a direct address but as an unreliable narrator—she's not fully telling you the truth. And that continues throughout the whole series. I had to think about how to work the plot lines throughout eight episodes in a way that kept you watching things changing.

You ended up with an incredibly talented and hot cast—you have to obviously have someone incredibly charismatic to play Vladimir but then also John Slattery playing John is just so perfect as well.

I love Leo [Woodall] as Vladimir, so much, because he deeply embodies that kind of lit bro, you know—inarticulate, and so hot, but maddening at the same time.

And of course he’s wearing a chain.

We know who this guy is and the way he gets to operate in the world is very different from how Rachel's character has had to operate in the world. It was hard for me to not think about John Slattery in the role the minute we started writing it. He has that great ability to have done these really questionable things, but he's still really likable and charming, and you can't help but feel kind of on his side. I hope it feels like a comeuppance when you realize towards the end this is not someone who did very kind things.

I thought Jessica Henwick, who plays Cynthia, Vladimir’s wife, was such a great foil to the narrator and showing Vladimir’s flaws. I don’t remember her being as big of a part in the novel.

She was a big character in the novel for me even though she may not have as much page time as the other ones. I really wanted someone that the main character admired and related to, and that complicated these desires she had. But that also [she] was incredibly threatened by because Cynthia is younger and the narrator feels like she's going to take her place. Jessica does this amazing job of being like, I'm trying after going through all this trauma.

Can you believe you got Rachel Weisz to play the narrator? She’s just so perfect for it.

We were really quick to come to the decision about wanting to go to her, especially because she's talking to the camera. Like, I wouldn't want anyone to talk to me more than I would want Rachel Weisz to. She has an incredible innate intelligence and humor. She takes on the character to such an amazing extent that it feels like I'm watching the character.

I remember when I read the novel being struck by how accurate it felt in the ways it talked about women’s desire, and the show of course reiterates that in the way the narrator both sees Vladimir as a sex object and a creative vessel. But it also reinforces what a great fit Weisz is for this role because she’s always exploring women’s desire in her work.

When we talked about the show, they asked how explicit is it? I'm like, it's just very horny. It's all about this idea of longing and fantasy. As the character being a 55-year-old woman, you're wondering like, my whole desire structure has been about people wanting me, and now I'm trying to figure out how to want because I want to get past that idea and the struggle with that. Female sexuality is so wrapped up inside of that and trying to have a more direct relationship to pleasure and desire in a way that feels like it gives you power.

When are we getting your second novel, Diana? I can’t wait for it and it was supposed to come out this spring.

It’s coming out in May 2027. It's very finished. It was very close to being done with my final edit and then Vladimir got greenlit. So, I had to pause for a second.