‘Unorthodox’ Star Shira Haas and Creators Discuss Researching the Hasidic Jewish Community
Ellise Shafer editorThe creators of the Emmy-nominated limited series “Unorthodox” knew from the beginning that executing a show based on Deborah Feldman’s memoir would be no small feat.Bringing the story of how Feldman fled her Hasidic community in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, for Berlin took copious amounts of research from actor Shira Haas, who plays Esty Shapiro; showrunner and writer Anna Winger; director Maria Schrader; costume designer Justine Seymour; and casting director Esther Kling.Luckily, Winger was already close to Feldman, who pushed her to turn the book into a show in the first place.“Our kids go to school together here in Berlin, where I live, and so I read the book and I loved it and we became friends,” Winger