Author Jodi Picoult says she hasn’t gotten over the “really terrible experience” of turning her 2004 novel, “My Sister’s Keeper,” into a less-than-acclaimed movie.
Speaking to People last week, Picoult shared how the 2009 film adaptation of “My Sister’s Keeper” inspired a storyline in “By Any Other Name,” her latest novel.
Released Monday, “By Any Other Name,” tells the story of playwright Melina Green, who has written a theatrical piece based on the life of Emilia Bassano, a 16th-century poet who some historians have claimed was the real author of William Shakespeare’s plays.
Melina soon finds her professional trajectory mirroring that of Bassano’s when a theater festival plans to stage a production of her play under the assumption that it was written by her roommate, who is a Black man.
“It kind of goes back to when I had a really terrible experience turning ‘My Sister’s Keeper’ into a film,” Picoult told People of Melina’s journey. “It took me a long time to kind of wrap my head around the fact that they didn’t ruin my book. My book is still there. And anyone who reads my book is still getting the story that I intended.”
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The movie adaptation of “My Sister’s Keeper” was written and directed by Nick Cassavetes, best known for 2004’s “The Notebook,” starring Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams.
It follows 13-year-old Anna Fitzgerald (played by Abigail Breslin), who seeks medical emancipation from her parents (Cameron Diaz and Jason Patric) after they insist she donate one of her kidneys to her cancer-stricken sister, Kate (Sofia Vassilieva). The film’s starry cast also includes Alec Baldwin and Joan Cusack in supporting roles.
Though “My Sister’s Keeper” was a modest success at the box office, the movie received mixed-to-negative reviews from critics. Many of Picoult’s fans took issue with Cassavetes’ decision to radically change the film’s conclusion from that of the book.
Picoult expressed her distaste for the new ending in a video posted to TikTok last year, noting that she’d unsuccessfully tried to convince Cassavetes and his team to hew closer to the book while the movie was still in production.
“I was really upset, so I flew to the movie set and I went to talk to him and he pretty much threw me off the set,” she said. “The movie came out, and many of you didn’t want to see it or said that you liked the book’s ending better, and for that, I will always be very, very grateful.”