‘A Gentleman In Moscow’ Creator, Showrunner Ben Vanstone Drawn To Character, Human Triumph In the Face of Adversity

This article contains spoilers about the ending of A Gentleman in Moscow.

Based on the 2016 novel by Amor Towles, Paramount+’s A Gentleman in Moscow shows life amidst the incredible political turmoil of Russia’s October Revolution. At the center of the series is Count Alexander Ilyich Rostov (Ewan McGregor) who spends decades under in a luxurious Russian hotel after being placed under permanent house arrest by a Bolshevik tribunal. Throughout his time within the hotel, Rostov meets and changes the lives of several people, adopting a daughter along the way and falling in love with a faded silent film actress, played by McGregor’s real-life wife Mary Elizabeth Winstead.

It’s this series of tragic, threatening, but ultimately inspiring human events that drew series creator, co-writer, and showrunner Ben Vanstone to the project.

“For me, it’s always the character, this man and the triumph of the human spirit in the face of adversity. He has everything taken away, and through that, he has to reinvent and find out who he truly is. I think that really appealed to me,” Vanstone shared. “To tell this story through this group of characters, inside this incredible setting, really appealed to me. Also, the unusual fairy tale quality to the novel allowed us to have a very particular take on doing a period drama in a way that wasn’t necessarily your typical period approach, which I thought was really extremely exciting as well.”

A student of history, Vanstone was also drawn to the project thanks to Towles’ unique take on exploring vital decades of Russian history through the eyes of this single man. The series starts shortly after the October Revolution of 1917 and continues through the rise of Khrushchev in the early 1950s. A threat of oppression and a fear of retribution permeates the series and adds to the human drama on display.

When writing the series, parallels between the events of Gentleman and modern-day politics didn’t escape Vanstone.

“Not only were we dealing with the invasion of Ukraine by Russia in 2022 as we were preparing this but also the direction of politics — not just in my country but around the globe — was becoming increasingly polarized. People who should know better were using ideas to gain power. Across the world, there’s a leaning towards dictatorships and authoritarian leadership. Whatever sort of politics is dressed up in, it’s usually about power and the individual and the consolidation of that power,” Vanstone commented. “So, seeing especially in the Stalin years, the idea of socialism and communism corrupted and used for other means, that is rife in our politics of today. It felt like it rang particularly true, and unfortunately, it still feels very relevant today.”

When adapting the novel, Vanstone and team made a handful of significant changes from Towles’s source novel. One included expanding the character of Anna Urbanova, the fading silent film actress beautifully played by Winstead. According to Vanstone, the novel relays most of the action through Rostov’s eyes and his perspective, but television can be much more democratic in terms of perspective. In broadening Anna’s role, the creative team and Winstead were able to fully explore her growing romantic relationship with Rostov.

One thing that didn’t change was the ambiguous ending that left Towles’s readers guessing Rostov’s fate. The series ends with Rostov’s adopted daughter Sofia (Beau Gadsdon) admitting she didn’t know what happened to Rostov and Anna after she defected to the United States. In her mind’s eye, she imagines Rostov and Anna living happily on a picturesque farm.

The reality of Rostov’s fate may have been darker, although Vanstone keeps his own opinions close to the vest on the matter.

“I’m loathe to interpret things for people, but I always wanted to capture a sense of ambiguity in the end. The moment he leaves the hotel, it becomes Sofia’s story, so it’s impossible for us to know for sure because she doesn’t know,” Vanstone shared. “Whether that ending is real or imagined, I think is something with which I’m quite happy. I’ve got opinions, but also quite happy with it.”

A Gentleman In Moscow streams exclusively on Paramount+.