‘From Scratch’: Author Tembi Locke Didn’t Watch Too Much of the Show
Netflix’s From Scratch is one of the most stunning displays of romance seen in a long time. The highly-rated limited series stars Zoe Saldaña, as Amahle “Amy” Wheeler, a woman who puts her law school career on pause to move to Italy and study art.
Amy finds herself swept off her feet by a Sicilian chef named Lino (Eugenio Mastrandrea). The series is based on author Tembi Locke’s real life, but she didn’t watch much of the show.
‘From Scratch’ is based on author Tembi Locke’s real life
Fans of the Netflix tear-jerker might be stunned to know that the series is based on Tembi Locke’s best-selling memoir, From Scratch: A Memoir of Love, Sicily, and Finding Home. Though names have been changed in the series, Amy is based on Tembi and her whirlwind romance with her late husband, Rosario “Saro” Gullo.
“About 20% of it is hardcore fact,” showrunner Attica Locke told Tudum. “Some places in our series — down to where things are placed on the set and where people are standing — are exact mirror images of what actually happened.”
Tembi Locke didn’t watch too much of the show
Since Locke holds her memories and her 20-year romance with her late husband, Saro, close to her heart, it was important for her not to watch too much of the series. “I didn’t watch the visuals because I want to maintain and protect my own memories,” she told TODAY. “Suddenly, you start to remember the thing that was made, and you forget the original images.”
Still, if fans want to read about Locke’s life as she experienced it, she describes her relationship with Saro in her memoir.
“He soothed the places I hadn’t known needed soothing, seemed perfectly willing to embrace the parts of me that were wanton, unsettled, unfinished, and contradictory,” she wrote. “Together we had engaged life as two forks eating off one plate. Ready to listen, to love, to look into the darkness and see a thin filament of the moon.”
Tembi Locke trusted Zoe Saldaña to portray her in ‘From Scratch’
Though it was important for Locke to preserve her real-life memories and not watch too much of the series, she trusted Saldaña to get the most intimate moments of her life with her late husband right. Moreover, with her sister, Attica Locke,, her co-executive producer, and the showrunner, she knew she could step back when needed.
“Zoe and I had lots of talks about things, so I felt very confident,” she told Shadow and Act. “By the time we would get on set, I was like, ‘Okay, this scene is in good hands.’ There were times when it was too much. It was a lot to relive. Some scenes are literally frame-by-frame recreations of things that happened. There’s a delicate balance, but I also had Attica there to say, ‘You don’t need to be here today. Go home.’”
Still, despite protecting her memories and her emotions, Tembi revealed that there were many connections between her real life and the series especially when the cast and crew traveled to Italy. “The rain scene, that’s where it actually happened, the same block. It’s the same corner,” she explained. “When we got to Italy, that was happening over and over and over again both in Florence and later when we went to Sicily, these coincidences, non-coincidences, were sort of miraculous.”
