‘Missing You,’ ‘Fool Me Once’ Exec Producers on the Tonal “Warmth” in Harlan Coben’s Netflix Series
What makes a series based on a Harlan Coben novel so appealing to audiences? The producers behind streaming giant Netflix‘s hit show Fool Me Once, which they are following up with Missing You, which hit the streamer on Jan. 1, shared their take with The Hollywood Reporter.
“It comes from the very twisted brain of Harlan Coben. I mean twisted as in telling stories that are twisted and twisting,” said executive producer Nicola Shindler, whose Quay Street Productions, part of ITV Studios, is behind both shows. “And you always know from the start that Harlan has got a brilliant ending, and then you know that there are just going to be so many surprises along the way.”
“Also, the are likable people in the shows and in the books as well,” Shindler emphasizes.
“Tonally, there’s a warmth, a heart and a human (touch) to the way that Harlan writes,” echoes fellow executive producer Richard Fee of Quay Street Productions. “We’re not dark, bleak throughout. There’s always fun to be had.”
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“I like those answers,” Coben says with a smile. “I do think that there’s something special about wanting warmth. Yeah, we have the thrills. We can stir your pulse, we can even stir your mind. But the key, I think, is stirring the heart.”
What does this mean in the case of Missing You specifically? “Hopefully, even in those first few moments, you care about (protagonist) Kat,” Coben tells THR. “And so that’s what makes the engine really kind of go.”
Missing You stars Rosalind Eleazar (Slow Horses) as Kat Donovan, a detective specializing in Missing Persons whose fiancé Josh (Ashley Walters) disappeared 11 years ago. Now, she comes across his face when swiping through profiles on a dating app, forcing her to reevaluate the murder of her father (Lenny Henry). Armitage plays Kat’s boss, while Jessica Plummer portrays one of her best friends. Steve Pemberton, Mary Malone, Lisa Faulkner, and James Nesbitt are among the other cast members. Writer Victoria Asare-Archer adapted the novel for the screen.
Shindler concludes by promising escapist entertainment. “That’s always our responsibility,” she tells THR. “It is to take people out of their lives and have fun. You can still say something important, but you can make it fun as well.”
