The Hulu series “Little Fires Everywhere” explores the drama that unfolds between two families, the Richardsons and Warrens, following a custody battle regarding the adoption of a Chinese-American baby.

Kerry Washington plays Mia Warren, a single artistic mom, and Reese Witherspoon stars as Elena Richardson, an upper-class mom of two who helps Mia get established in Shaker Heights, Ohio. The show, which is also produced by the two leading actresses, is an adaptation of the 2017 best-selling novel by Celeste Ng.

Showrunner Liz Tigelaar spoke with Variety in an interview published Wednesday on how her team expanded on the book’s narrative.

[Warning: Spoiler Alert!]

Elena’s Back Story

As in the book, the series holds true to exploring the past of Mia. Her backstory comes up as she develops a relationship with Elena’s daughter Izzy, who’s defiant behavior makes her the black sheep of her family. Elena also begins investigating Mia’s background as the two find themselves at odds. Because of this, the writers dedicated a whole episode exploring Mia’s past, and since the story centers on both women they felt it was only fair to give Elena a history of her own. In the book, Ng wrote “a lot of clues...referencing an ex-boyfriend who wanted Elena to come to San Francisco in an anti-war way,” but never fully delved into the matter.

“We had to craft a whole backstory for Elena because that wasn’t in the book,” Tigelaar said.“We wanted an origin story for both women of what’s the tipping point of their lives where they changed to become the women they are today and how were they before that tipping point? It had to do with loss — really for both of them — and how they wanted to see themselves — what choice they made in a critical moment.”

Izzy’s Sexuality

Furthermore, the series expands on Izzy’s character. While her general position remains true to the novel, Tigelaar sought to “deepen” Megan Stott’s role through her relationships with the other characters.

“I wanted to explore the confusion over what’s sexuality, what’s romanticism, what’s just wanting to be mothered in a way that’s just speaking your language? And I liked looking at those stories through Izzy’s relationship with Mia and Mia’s relationship with [her mentor] Pauline,” Tigelaar explained. “They were very different relationships along very different time periods, but looking at how all of these different relationships form from your little life rafts at certain times in your life was something I’ve experienced — positive people keep you afloat, to people pulling you down.”

Themes Of Race And Class

The show is set in the 1990s a time when discussions of race and class were often considered taboo. Tigelaar and her team sought to bring attention to these themes in the adaptation. They did this not only with the drastic lifestyle differences between Elena and Mia, but with an illegal immigrant. Bebe, who is Mia’s friend and co-worker, is at the center of the two leading stars’ differences. She seeks to reclaim custody of her daughter, whom she abandoned on a firehouse doorstep as a newborn, from Linda, who happens to be a close friend of Elena.

“We did a lot of research on the time period — a lot of us lived it but we don’t necessarily remember it in the most thoughtful, critical thinking kind of way,” Tigelaar revealed. “Specifically, we really looked at color-blindness and what we were told in the ’90s about how even if you were with a small child and they said something about somebody’s race, they would jump to, ‘We don’t talk about that. We don’t say things that highlight our differences.' Your silence was revealing your own judgment and prejudice.”

The first three episodes of “Little Fires Everywhere” premiered on Hulu Wednesday.

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