23-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams is entering a new arena, this time behind the camera, as the executive producer of Carrie Soto Is Back, an upcoming Netflix drama based on Taylor Jenkins Reid’s bestselling novel.
It is a story with multiple layers for fans of competitive tennis, layered characters, and reprieve turns, which is already shaping to be a smash hit. At the center of it all is Carrie Soto, a fiery tennis icon whose hunger for victory turned her into a legend, leaving her a little lonely at the top. Retired and the sport’s most celebrated player, Carrie’s serene departure is upended when her record is challenged. So, at the grand old age of 37 (in sports years, naturally), she puts her gloves back on for an even more dramatic comeback, this time with her father back in her corner as coach.
Although Carrie’s character isn’t explicitly based on Serena, Taylor Jenkins Reid, the author, has never hidden her inspiration. In a 2022 interview, Reid named Serena and Venus Williams as key to her interest in tennis storytelling. “My immense respect for the Williams sisters is part of what makes me interested in tennis,” she said. “I wouldn’t dare write a book about tennis without being influenced by the absolute glory of their journey.”
Now, Serena is bringing her perspective to the screen and helping shape the project’s creative vision as an executive producer. With Netflix officially in development, fans can look forward to an exhilarating, emotionally textured dip into the psyche of a woman who isn’t just playing for victories but for purpose, identity, and perhaps a bit of calmness.
This isn’t Serena’s debut as a producer, but Carrie Soto Is Back feels especially appropriate. Who better, after all, to help tell the story of a determined, comeback-thirsty tennis legend than the woman who transformed the sport of tennis and then kept it coming, even as the world was telling her that she shouldn’t?
If the screen adaptation captures even some of the fire and heart Serena brought to the court and Carrie brings to the page, we’re in for something special.
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