It's always fascinating to watch television shows that are based on real stories, and the latest example of that is Netflix's Maid. The series chronicles single mother Alex's story. She attempts to make ends meet and raise her daughter as a housecleaner escaping an abusive relationship. It's based on the memoir Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother's Will To Survive by Stephanie Land about her own trials and tribulations raising her daughter.
But as with most adaptations, the TV show isn't 100% accurate to the book itself. Most obviously, Stephanie became the character of Alex. But there are several other ways the series differs from its source material. Fortunately, none of the changes dramatically shifted the story being told. It's still honest to Stephanie's experience as well as the overall struggle of those experiencing poverty. Read on to see what changes were made and why.
The Characters' Names Were Changed
According to Bustle, one of the first changes that was made for the show was changing the main characters' names. Stephanie became Alex, and her ex-boyfriend became Sean instead of Jamie. Even her daughter Story became Maddy. Changing the names is the easiest way to distance the source material from the show.
Alex's Mother Has a Bigger Role
The role of Alex's mother is vastly expanded on in the Netflix show. Paula is played by Andie MacDowell, who is the real-life mother of actress Margaret Qualley, who plays Alex. So if the two of them seem like they have a real mother-daughter connection on the show, it's because they actually do. It's pretty cool.
We Also See More of the Ex
Another role that was expanded was that of Maddy's father. As Elle magazine reported, the book mostly mentions the author's past relationship when her ex was picking up her daughter on the weekends. But the character of Sean gets a much larger role in the series to add extra tension and drama to the storyline.
The Location Shifted
Per Bustle, the show's locale is still set in Washington, like the book, but the name of the city changed. Instead of taking place in Port Townsend, the show takes place in a town called Port Hampstead. And Alex does the majority of her housecleaning work on Washington's Fisher Island.
But It Was Filmed in Canada
The show may take place in Washington, but it was filmed on Vancouver Island in Canada, reports Bustle. A lot of television shows choose to film in Canada because productions get big tax breaks. You'd probably be surprised to know that a lot of your favorite shows were taped up north.
Alex Doesn't Stay in a Homeless Shelter
In the book, the author spends a pivotal amount of time in a homeless shelter with her young child. In fact, the first line of the memoir is, "My daughter learned to walk in a homeless shelter." But as Elle reported, in the Netflix show, the character Alex doesn't ever stay in one.
Other Characters Were Added
In addition to expanding characters like the author's ex and mother, other characters were added to more fully flesh out the story. According to Oprah Daily, these changes helped showcase all sorts of struggles within the same system that Alex was in. People of all races, ages, and backgrounds deal with poverty, and Alex's story is just one. So the other characters help round out real statistics.
The Clients Got Expanded Stories, Too
In the memoir, Stephanie wrote a bit about the people whose houses she cleaned, but they didn't get as much attention as her own personal story. That makes sense — it was a memoir, after all. But as Elle noted, the series gets more time to give these clients their own stories, and further expand the main character's world.
Expansion of Diversity
Stephanie's story is valid, of course, but it's also limited because she can only represent a small slice of the realities of poverty in America. The show added a more diverse set of characters to better represent the full spectrum of people dealing with these types of issues — especially women of color.
The Reason for the Expansion
Showrunner Molly Smith Metzler told Elle that the reason they added more depth to the characters was to more fully realize Alex's world. "The memoir is riveting to read, but it is an extremely lonely experience for Stephanie Land. She doesn't talk to anybody. I wanted to capture how isolating her experience is, but it's not amazing TV for a character to not interact with anybody, so our first challenge was to populate the world and also to make sure she felt very alone."
The Timeline Has Shifted
TV shows often condense or expand on books to better structure a story. In the Maid show, some of the action was shifted around. According to Elle, the car crash took place much later in the book, and Alex's housing arrangement turned out poorly in days versus the year it took in the memoir. All just small timing changes.
Key Relationship Details Changed
As Oprah Daily notes, the circumstances around the main character meeting the future father of her child were changed. In the book, the author met Jamie after walking home from her bar shift. Alex, the character, meets Sean after an open mic event. The change doesn't make much of a difference, but it is there.
These Changes Are Understandable
As the showrunner explained to Decider, she wanted to pay tribute to the book while also telling a compelling story for TV.
"You don't work for the book, right? You work for an audience, and so that part of it is really freeing and fun and also really challenging," she said. "I read the book eight times. I highlighted the passages that had an emotional effect on me. And then you have to put all that aside and say, 'How do I make this its own thing, its own entertainment?'"
But the Essence Is Still There
Even with some of the larger changes that were made, the showrunner explained to Decider that she felt happy with the tone that was struck.
"One of the things I'm very proud of about the show is that I think it's emotionally very true to the memoir … There are characters and big storylines that aren't in the memoir, but I think emotionally, the show is telling a similar story to the book in that we are both chasing the same ending and chasing the same message."
Definitely.
And the Author Approved
According to Oprah Daily, Stephanie Land was a fan of how the series turned out. "Throughout this whole process of giving my story to the hands of strangers, I had to force myself to trust they'll do it justice. They have. By far. And it's because they took a true interest in learning, and used their own experiences, to truly understand how it feels to be food, work, and housing insecure," she said.
