First Look at Next Harlan Coben Netflix Series (Exclusive)

Harlan Coben has always been drawn to telling stories about a father’s love for his child. “I lost my father at a young age, and I miss him greatly. Losing him was probably the most defining moment in my life. He died when he was 59, and I think it’s defining a lot of the work that I do,” Coben tells The Hollywood Reporter over coffee on a warm July morning in Toronto. It’s a theme that the master of mystery novels and suspenseful thrillers — who is a father of four himself — has returned to over and over again in his Myron Bolitar series: No Second Chance, and now with I Will Find You.

One of the most successful authors working today with over 90 million copies in print worldwide, Coben has published 35 novels that have topped the New York Times best-sellers list. His books have been translated into 46 languages and adapted for various international markets — the United Kingdom (Stay Close, Fool Me Once, Missing You), France (Gone for Good, Tell No One), Poland (Just One Look, Hold Tight), Spain (The Innocent) and Argentina (Caught). But for the first time in his seven-year relationship with Netflix, Coben is spearheading a stateside adaptation of one of his books with showrunner Robert Hull (Quantum Leap, Alcatraz).

An eight-part limited series about redemption, I Will Find You stars Sam Worthington as David Burroughs (see photo above), a father serving a life sentence for the murder of his young son Matthew — a crime that he didn’t commit, but a tragedy that he has spent years punishing himself for every day. The loss of their son, paired with the underlying stressors of their relationship, led to the dissolution of David’s marriage to Cheryl Dreason (Erin Richards), a talented and compassionate pediatric surgeon who has worked hard to rebuild her life.

But one day, out of the blue, Cheryl’s sister, Rachel Mills (Britt Lower), decides to visit her former brother-in-law in prison with a photograph that appears to suggest that Matthew is still alive. Suddenly, after previously resigning himself to a lifetime of confinement, David decides to stage an elaborate prison break — with some help — and goes on the run in order to find out what really happened to his only child.

The series is currently in production, with a release date yet to be announced.

“If somebody’s dead, they’re dead and maybe you could find justice and move on. But here, David has a chance to be made fully whole after what he’s been through,” says Coben, who knew he wanted to adapt I Will For You for the screen long before he even finished writing the source material. “I find that super compelling to write about. I write about hope. Hope is the most important thing to me in these stories, because hope can put wings on your heart and let it fly in the air. Hope can also take your heart and crush it like it’s a fucking eggshell.”

David is searching for truths, says Worthington. “Many truths,” the star exclusively tells THR, “and in the melodramatic world of Harlan, he’s going to have to face many twists to get to it. The ugliest truth, in the end, is still better than the prettiest of lies. Harlan said his settings are very placid pools of family life and within that he can make pretty big splashes. I thought that was a very cool way to describe what he creates. With characters, I love men who are stuck between accepting and embracing their true selves, or conforming to the cliches of protector, enforcer or some antiquated idea of what makes you strong and tough. I wanted to explore that with the character of David Burroughs, too.”

While on the run, David finds an ally in Rachel, a formerly decorated reporter whose life fell apart after she was fired from her job at the Boston Globe. Now working as a college professor teaching journalism, Rachel sees the sedulous search for her nephew as a once-in-a-lifetime story that could be her ticket back to her chosen vocation.

Lower, who was looking to tell a self-contained story between making seasons of her hit Apple TV+ workplace drama Severance, says she was most drawn to Rachel’s innate curiosity and fierce love for her family, both biological and otherwise.

“Rachel has always had a suspicion that David was innocent during the trial. There were just certain things that didn’t add up for her. And when she sees who she believes to be her nephew in the background of this photo at Six Flags, her gut instinct just chimes in and she wants to follow that lead,” explains Lower, who was working in Toronto last month when she learned that she had been nominated for her first Emmy. “Her connection with David is kind of this kindred, unspoken thing. I think maybe they were like the black sheep of the family, as extended family, and at the holidays, they just always had this kindred sense of humor. It never sat well with her that he was convicted and sent to prison.”

In an attempt to evade the authorities, David and Rachel will turn to Hayden, played by This Is Us alum Milo Ventimiglia. “I always tell people to put their family tree thinking cap on: Hayden is David’s ex-wife’s sister’s ex-boyfriend,” Ventimiglia says with a laugh. “He is a wealthy philanthropist, who Rachel goes to in a time of need. He’s always been there for her. They dated for a little while, and they had a breakup. But I think when you have a love for someone, you still carry them in your heart. And when they’re going through something, you want to be there to help.

“So Hayden’s place in the story is basically there to help Rachel. He has limited history with David, but he loves Rachel enough to just say, ‘Hey, you need help? Yes, of course, I’m here for you,’” he continues. “He has very deep pockets and very far reach and influence and all of that. He’s able to steer them in a direction that I think, on the surface, is getting them out and away from the law and the trouble that’s coming for them so that David can find his kid.”

Logan Browning and Chi McBride will star as the FBI agents tasked with capturing David (and maybe even Rachel, for aiding and abetting a fugitive). THR can also exclusively announce that Madeleine Stowe and Clancy Brown have joined the cast as recurring guest stars. Stowe will play Gertrude Payne, described as a “wealthy heiress who is harboring a very dark secret.” Brown will play Nicky Fisher, a “semi-retired, old-school mobster who has a startling personal connection to the Burroughs family that threatens to expose long-buried secrets.”

Although he was affectionately known as “America’s dad” for playing the late Jack Pearson on the multi-generational NBC drama, Ventimiglia admits he is just beginning to understand the notion of a parent who will sacrifice their own life for their child’s safety.

“My daughter’s young — she’s only six months — but she and I have already found a connection where I’m like, ‘I will do anything for this child.’ So I understand the standpoint of Sam’s character,” says Ventimiglia, who lost his house in the California wildfires and became a father within a matter of weeks in January. “When that photo is uncovered and given to him, it’s something that just lights this massive inferno inside him to go find 1) his boy and 2) the people responsible. I think there is that side of being a man. Yes, you want to find your child, but you also want to find out what the fuck is going on. You want to find out who did this in a primal way and take revenge.”

Compared to his past adaptations, Coben believes the TV version of I Will Find You does not stray too far from its source material. But, true to form, the author says eagle-eyed readers should still be on the lookout for little twists and turns. For instance, Sgt. Adam Mackenzie (Jonathan Tucker), David’s best friend who facilitates his escape in the book, is more integrated into the rest of the story. And whereas David and Rachel weave in and out of each other’s lives for much of the novel, Hull wanted to make the series more of a two-hander.

“What I like about their relationship, both in the book and the series, is it’s unique because they’re bonded by both individual tragedy as well as a shared tragedy. It’s sort of two people climbing their way back,” Hull says of David and Rachel. “What I really loved about the book was, unlike a classic fugitive story, which the goal is to clear your name, this really has nothing to do with clearing your name. David doesn’t care if he clears his name; David only cares about finding his son.”

He continues, “So I think the payoff is a lot bigger, and I think in addition to redemption and damaged people healing, the story is really about hope. I think what Harlan did great in the book was take this very dark premise and turn it into a story of hope at the end.”