{"id":4549,"date":"2026-07-29T22:09:01","date_gmt":"2026-07-29T22:09:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=4549"},"modified":"2026-07-29T22:09:01","modified_gmt":"2026-07-29T22:09:01","slug":"the-shards-team-details-author-bret-easton-ellis-hands-off-approach-to-tv-adaptation-how-series-incites-the-same-feeling-as-the-book","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=4549","title":{"rendered":"\u2018The Shards\u2019 Team Details Author Bret Easton Ellis\u2019 \u201cHands-Off Approach\u201d to TV Adaptation, How Series \u201cIncites the Same Feeling\u201d as the Book"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<!-- do not apply CSS styles to this element! --><\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<svg><\/svg> <span>Logo text<\/span>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n\tAt Monday night\u2019s New York premiere of FX\u2019s upcoming horror drama <em>The Shards<\/em>, one name was on nearly everyone\u2019s lips: Ryan Murphy. The prolific creator was quickly cited by the show\u2019s cast, from the young actors playing the privileged teens at the center of the series to Broadway producer Jordan Roth, as being key to their desire to be part of the project.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=4547\">\u2018The Man Will Burn\u2019 and the Battle Beneath Burning Man\u2019s Chaos<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\n\tBut not far behind Murphy on the list of factors drawing actors to <em>The Shards<\/em> was the book of the same name and its author Bret Easton Ellis.<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\u201cI\u2019m a huge Bret Easton Ellis fan and when this book came out, I read it immediately and read it over and over again,\u201d Kaia Gerber said. \u201cThen when I heard Ryan was doing it, I\u2019m also the biggest fan of Ryan. He gave me my first ever job. When he told me he got the rights to it, I just got chills and teared up.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\n\tThough Ellis\u2019 semi-autobiographical novel, released in 2023, was key to helping the cast understand their characters, Ellis himself has been only lightly involved with the series by selling the book to Murphy and penning a draft of the first two episodes, which Murphy also worked on. The author, who also serves as an executive producer on the show, wasn\u2019t at Monday\u2019s premiere and hasn\u2019t been heavily involved in promoting the show, which is set for an Aug. 5 release.<\/p>\n<p>\n\tAfter a previous adaptation of <em>The Shards<\/em> at HBO fell apart over creative differences, Ellis indicated he was done with future screen versions of his novel. \u201cI really felt like eight months of the year had been wasted,\u201d Ellis said in January of the \u201cfrustrating\u201d development process. \u201cI said, \u2018Never again; I\u2019m never going to do this again.\u2019\u202f\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\u201cHe took a very godfather-y, hands-off approach,\u201d executive producer and longtime Murphy collaborator Brad Simpson told <em>The Hollywood Reporter<\/em> at the <em>Shards<\/em> premiere. \u201cHe gave us some guiding light from the beginning and sort of said, \u2018Go with God. Go make your show.\u2019 It was great to have those initial conversations with him, but he has let Ryan and his team do what they do so well, which is produce the TV show.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\n\tWhile Gerber had met Ellis prior to joining <em>The Shards<\/em>, she \u201cdidn\u2019t see Bret at all while we were filming,\u201d she told <em>THR<\/em>. Still, she said she tried to remain loyal to the book\u2019s portrayal of Susan Reynolds and that the series \u201cincites the same feeling, which I think is the most important thing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\n\tCo-star Hayes Warner echoed this sentiment, saying that everything Murphy did to create the series was done to honor the book.<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\u201cHe has so much respect for Bret, and that book is such a masterpiece,\u201d Warner said. \u201cThe world of the show, everything about the show is from the book and in honor of Bret.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=4546\">Amanda Ip, Jay Baruchel, Ciara Bravo and Kevin Durand to Star Opposite Alan Ritchson in \u2018Reacher\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\n\tNumerous castmembers, including star Igby Rigney, who plays the lead role of the fictionalized Bret Ellis, said that Murphy was their conduit to the author.<\/p>\n<p>\n\tRigney admitted he \u201cdidn\u2019t have any\u201d consultation with the real-life Ellis, but shared, \u201cBret consulted with Ryan a bunch, and then Ryan was there to hold my hand and guide me through that particular element of it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\n\tHe said he was able to understand his character through his work with Murphy and the script.<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\u201cWe did sort of have a line of communication from Bret to Ryan and Ryan to us,\u201d Daniel Dale, who plays fellow student Ryan Vaugn, told <em>THR<\/em>, adding that he hadn\u2019t personally met Ellis.<\/p>\n<p>\n\tStill Ellis has signed off of the first two episodes, co-star Graham Campbell confirmed.<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\u201cI didn\u2019t get to meet Bret personally, but I know that he saw the first two episodes, and he gave us his stamp of approval, and that meant a lot to us,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\n\tSpeaking about his and <em>The Shards<\/em> team\u2019s approach to crafting the series, Campbell added, \u201cI think we ended up taking the best of what had already been put on the page and developing it into something that was exciting to us and it landed somewhere that I think we\u2019re all pretty proud of.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/uspropertymoves.com\/?p=4544\">\u2018Love Island USA\u2019 Cast Member TJ Palma Signs With CAA (Exclusive)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Bret Easton Ellis was only lightly involved in Ryan Murphy&#039;s &#039;The Shards&#039; series at FX, selling the book and writing the first two episodes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4548,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[36,3064,348,2559,923,2560,2561],"class_list":["post-4549","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting","tag-books","tag-bret-easton-ellis","tag-events","tag-kaia-gerber","tag-red-carpet","tag-ryan-murphy","tag-the-shards"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - 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