The latest Harlan Coben project to hit Netflix will have you on the edge of your seat.
In Netflix’s new limited series “I Will Find You” (all eight episodes streaming now), David Burroughs (Sam Worthington) is serving a jail sentence after he was found guilty of murdering his son, though he did not commit the crime. After receiving evidence that his son is still actually alive, David teams up with his ex-sister-in-law, Rachel Mills (Britt Lower).
What ensues is a prison break and rescue attempt that brings the page-turning Coben novel to the small screen − yet, the two characters at the center of the action have no experience with prison breaks or rescue attempts.
“I said to Britt early on, I didn’t want [the characters] to be like Wonder Twins,” Worthington, 49, jokes to USA TODAY alongside his costar. “I wanted a real relationship between them that felt authentic in this melodramatic world.”
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Achieving that authenticity also meant understanding even the smallest of details. And Worthington and Lower say they didn’t hold back, asking show producers various questions during filming, such as how their characters obtained a phone, changed out of smelly clothes or got something to eat while attempting to escape authorities?
While all of those answers aren’t necessarily in the novel, the actors say those details helped them bring the series to life.
“My character’s a journalist who’s usually on the other side of the notebook, and now she’s all of a sudden in the story,” Lower, 40, explains. “They’re both kind of figuring out how to be inside of this propulsive getaway and mission to find this kid together.”
Lower adds that her portrayal of Rachel was also “anchored” by the character’s relationship with her sister and David’s ex-wife Cheryl (Erin Richards).
“I don’t have a sister in real life, but I’ve always wanted one, and I felt so kindred with Erin,” Lower says. “Erin was actually pregnant while we were filming and her character was pregnant, so there was this real care of like, ‘This is a person stewarding life right now.’”
“I think Harlan’s series go to the core of what you’re willing to do to protect your family,” she adds.
Coben’s personal connection to ‘I Will Find You’
Lower’s summation of Coben’s work is in line with the best-selling author’s thoughts on the series.
Coben, who has had over a dozen of his novels adapted to either film or TV, says that much of his personal life influenced this story. “I Will Find You” is set in New York and Boston; Coben was raised in New Jersey and grew up vacationing at Revere Beach in Massachusetts.
Coben, 64, also highlights the father-son aspect of the series. In addition to Burroughs’ attempt to find his son, the series explores the relationship between two other fathers: mobster Nicky Fisher (Clancy Brown) and prison warden Phillip MacKenzie (Peter Outerbridge) and their respective sons.
It’s a topic Coben can relate to, as he’s a father of four himself. The author also admits that the loss of his own father, who died from heart issues when he was 26, impacts “a lot of the stuff that I do… like it or not.”
Coben wanted to capture an ‘American story,’ inspire hope
“I Will Find You” marks the first Coben Netflix adaptation to originate in the United States.
“I think this is a uniquely American story,” Coben says alongside showrunner Robert Hull, citing the prison break as one of the story’s aspects that lent itself to being more American. “I just think that everybody was sort of captured by this whole idea of this man who starts so broken. I mean, the opening line: ‘I’m serving the fifth year of a life sentence for murdering my own child and spoiler alert: I didn’t do it.’”
Worthington echoes Coben, noting of the opening sequence, “I think Harlan’s idea was that he put the character in the worst situation you could imagine emotionally and physically. The idea is: how do you find hope?”
“That was the drive for the novel and the story,” he continues. “So the glimmer of hope comes in the form of Rachel offering the potential photo of the kid still being alive, and then the hope is what you build on as the series progresses.”
And by the time the ending rolls around, Coben hopes that the audience will be “genuinely moved” by the story.
“I think solving the mystery doesn’t mean much if you don’t care about who’s solving it,” Hull adds. “That’s really what the show’s about.”
