Harlan Coben reveals which British acting legend he wants to work with again on a Netflix adaptation
The author and series creator has worked with plenty of well-known faces over the years, but who would he reunite with?
It's only a couple of weeks until we all get to enjoy yet another Harlan Coben Netflix adaptation, this time round with Run Away which will be landing on the streamer on New Year's Day.
The new eight-parter is set to follow Simon Greene (James Nesbitt), a successful career man, husband and father who seems to have it all until his eldest daughter Paige runs away. When he comes across her in a park one day, what should be a chance to bring her home only escalates into shocking violence, kickstarting a string of unfortunate events that leaves Simon searching for the truth.
Run Away is just another star-studded Harlan Coben affair, with the series boasting the likes of Nesbitt, Ruth Jones, Alfred Enoch, Minnie Driver and more in its ensemble. Of course, if you're familiar with Coben's Netflix adaptations, then you'll know that the casts his material manages to pull in always feature plenty of familiar faces.
Previous shows of the author's have included the likes of Missing You, Stay Close and Safe, featuring the likes of Richard Armitage, Ashley Walters, Cush Jumbo, Jo Joyner, Michael C. Hall and plenty more. But if Coben were to have anyone from any of his previous show's casts back for another adaptation of his, who would it be?
We posed that exact question to Coben at the Run Away screening held at BFI Southbank and Coben told RadioTimes.com exclusively: “Everybody! I mean, we’ve been so lucky – we’d love to work with Michelle Keegan again, we’d love to work with Joanna Lumley again."
Absolutely Fabulous legend Lumley starred alongside Keegan in Fool Me Once, which went on to become a global hit for Netflix, topping the streamer's charts and going on to become one of the top most-watched series of all time on Netflix.
Coben did add: "We’ve worked with Richard Armitage four times, of course."
As Coben says, Armitage has starred in four of his shows now (The Stranger, Fool Me Once, Stay Close, Missing You) but Run Away doesn't feature the actor. Series writer Danny Brocklehurst also joked, saying: "Why isn’t Richard in this?"
Coben added: “I know! We’ve been so lucky. Rosalind Eleazar as well. We’ve been so lucky with all the people we’ve worked with over the years and we try to make it a happy place to work.”
Brocklehurst also said: “Paul Kaye – I’d love to get Paul Kaye back. Paul’s such a versatile actor. He can do just terrifying and comedy. I’d have Paul back … like Harlan says, we’d have most people back. But yeah, Paul I love.”
Of course, Kaye is known for his roles in Game of Thrones, After Life and Vera but did also star in The Stranger back in 2020.
As for Run Away, it does star a returning Coben cast member in the form of James Nesbitt, who has previously starred in Stay Close and Missing You. In the new series though, there's a subtle nod to an actor that both Coben and Brocklehurst have worked to, in the form of Alfred Enoch's character, Detective Isaac Fagbenle.
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Having worked with actor O-T Fagbenle on Coben's original drama, The Five, back in 2016, we asked Coben whether the inclusion of Fagbenle's name in the series was simply a nod to him or Coben sending a message that he'd want to work with the actor again.
“Both," he told us. "We love OT, both of us."
"When I was writing the book, I remember calling them saying, ‘I’m naming the character Fagbenle in the book’. And then of course he wanted to play him but it’s like, ‘You can’t play Fagbenle, you are Fagbenle!’. Alfred Enoch was a great substitute for O-T. But we love him, we’d love to work with him again."
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Authors
Morgan Cormack is a Drama Writer for Radio Times, covering everything drama-related on TV and streaming. She previously worked at Stylist as an Entertainment Writer. Alongside her past work in content marketing and as a freelancer, she possesses a BA in English Literature.
