HBO Max’s new series, Julia.Photo: Seacia Pavao/hbo max

Julia Child’s legendary life story is just weeks away from hitting the screen.
Julia, which premieres on HBO Max on March 31, will follow the life of the beloved chef and the impact of her long-running television series,The French Chef, which helped pioneer the modern cooking show and popularize French cuisine in America in the 1960s.
Ahead of the series premiere, PEOPLE has the first look at the show and its cast with eight exclusive photos.
HBO Max’s new series, Julia.Seacia Pavao/hbo max

The still images show Sarah Lancashire in the role of Julia, looking nearly identical to Child, as well as David Hyde Pierce, who plays the role of her husband Paul Child.
Bebe Neuwirth, Fran Kranz, Fiona Glascott and Brittany Bradford also star in the upcoming series. Neuwirth plays culinary book editor Avis DeVoto, Kranz takes on the role of television producer Russ Morash, Glascott will play writer/editor Judith Jones and Bradford takes on the role of Alice Naman.

Chris Keyser, the showrunner and executive producer ofJulia, tells PEOPLE of the biographical series: “Julia Child changed our attitude about food. She put public television on the map. She modeled the idea of a modern, independent woman. And yet all of that put together doesn’t quite explain why, 60 years later, we still can’t get her out of our heads.”
Keyser adds, “That has something to do with our intuition that how she approached cooking is how we should approach all of life. It’s also how we tried to make this show — with joy, about joy.”

Daniel Goldfarb, the creator and executive producer ofJulia, echoes Keyser’s sentiments.
“Julia Child had a singular can-do spirit that is timeless and inspiring and seems more miraculous than ever. She was delightfully ahead of her time in almost every way. She did everything – and she did it with grace, humor, compassion, and endless charm,” he says.
“And Sarah Lancashire, one of the world’s great actors, brings her fully to life, in all her inspiring complexity and humanity. I can’t wait for the world to see her Julia,” Goldfarb adds.

Todd Schulkin will also be a consulting producer on the series on behalf ofThe Julia Child Foundation for Gastronomy and the Culinary Art, the foundation that Child established in 1995 which provides grants to non-profit organizations.
As the name suggests, the grants primarily support gastronomy, the culinary arts and the development of the professional food world, all of which were important to Child during her lifetime.
HBO Max’s new series, Julia.

This isn’t the first time that Child’s life is being adapted for a film or television series.
HBO Max’s new series, Julia.HBO Max

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The first three episodes ofJuliawill debut on HBO Max on March 31, and weekly episodes will follow through May 5.
source: people.com