Max McLean on Bringing ‘The Screwtape Letters’ to the Big Screen and Staying True to Lewis

Author and actor Max McLean has no illusions about turning C.S. Lewis' The Screwtape Letters into a theatrical movie. It will be daunting, McLean says, but also deeply worth it. McLean's New York City-based nonprofit, Fellowship for Performing Arts, recently partnered with the C.S. Lewis Company to bring The Screwtape Letters -- one of Lewis' most influential novels -- to the big screen. It's a story close to McLean's heart: As founder and artistic director of FPA, he has overseen a successful stage adaptation of the work for nearly two decades.

The Screwtape Letters follows the story of Screwtape, a senior demon, as he coaches his young nephew Wormwood in the art of leading a man away from God. Toward the end of the story, Screwtape loses the battle, and the man soars to heaven.

The story's themes, he said, are rooted in the Christian faith..

"It's Lewis's attempt to identify spiritual warfare," McLean said of The Screwtape Letters. 

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