'I don’t normally like other people’s ideas': Harlan Coben on collaborating with Reese Witherspoon
Harlan Coben recently published his latest thriller, Nobody's Fool. Picture : Pip Cowley/PA
Bestselling thriller-writer and Netflix supremo Harlan Coben never wanted to collaborate with anyone else on a book – until Hollywood star Reese Witherspoon changed his mind.
The novelist, whose hit novels include , , and , as well as the Myron Bolitar series, had previously rejected approaches from other budding authors to join forces to write thrillers, he reveals, speaking from New York.
“I know Reese a little bit and she contacted me a while ago asking to meet and said she had an idea. It’s kind of funny. I don’t collaborate – it’s not what I do. I’ve always written my books. No one else could help me.
“I don’t normally like other people’s ideas. It’s not that they’re not good ideas, but unfortunately if it’s not an idea that I’ve originated it’s just never worked for me,” says the writer, whose string of Netflix hits includes , and , and who acts as executive producer and is involved in writing, casting and watching rough cuts of scenes.
“So when she came I thought, ‘How do I nicely tell Reese Witherspoon…?’ and then she pitched me the idea and I was like, ‘Huh, that’s really interesting’.
"We went back and forth and the next thing I know, we decided to write it as a novel together. I love Reese. She’s a wonderful, creative force, a very giving partner, so smart, knows so much about story and is a pleasure and just fun to hang out with.”
She had read his books, he had admired her films, both as an actor and producer. Soon they became friends. The storyline and title of the book, due to be published this autumn, are currently under wraps.
“We text or talk almost every day. We’ll sit here when she’s in New York either in person, or do it by phone call or Zoom. We’ve outlined a lot of it. I’ll probably do the majority of the actual physical writing. It’s been a wonderful collaboration. I don’t know if I’d be able to do it with anybody else.”
He’s not thinking about adaptations at the moment, although he certainly knows a lot of people who can produce TV shows. Coben, 63, who lives in New Jersey with his wife, Anne Armstrong-Coben, a paediatrician, revisits the character of DS Sami Kierce, played by Adeel Akhtar in the TV adaptation of , in his latest thriller, .
It flashes back to Sami Kierce, then a young college graduate backpacking in Spain who wakes up one morning covered in blood with a knife in his hand and the body of his girlfriend, Anna, beside him.
He screams, runs away and the secret remains with him for 22 years until, while working as a private investigator teaching wannabe sleuths at a night school in his spare time, he sees Anna at the back of the classroom. When he makes eye contact, she bolts, and he sets out to discover the truth behind what happened that terrible day.
“I don’t know if it’ll be adapted. I did think of Adeel with this character. He’s a marvellous actor, one I wanted to work with for many years.
“I said to myself, I want to know what else this guy can do and what’s going to happen to him in his life. He reminded me a little bit of a modern day Columbo and I thought it would be fun to stay with him a bit. I also wanted to make it a little funnier than some of the other ones I’ve written. This one has more humour.”
With more than 80 million books in print worldwide, his novels are published in 46 languages, while the TV adaptations, often set in Britain, have featured stars including Michelle Keegan, Joanna Lumley, Jennifer Saunders and James Nesbitt.
Now he’s got star Ruth Jones on board, playing a private detective opposite Nesbitt in the eight-part series adaptation of Coben’s book , which also co-stars Minnie Driver and Alfred Enoch, who played Dean Thomas in the Harry Potter series.
It follows a man (Nesbitt) whose life falls apart after his daughter goes missing, and is being filmed in Manchester and north-west England.
“I can’t wait,” he enthuses of Jones’ involvement. “She’s already filmed a little bit, so I’ve seen a lot of what she’s doing. She’s just an incredible talent and I can’t wait for people to see her in something quite different to what she normally does.”
He was instrumental in the casting. “Somebody suggested we had a chance with Ruth and it was all systems go. We talked to her. She was on a cruise with her mum at the time, we had a Zoom meeting and she just got the character.”
Coben, who has four grown-up children, is drawn to filming in the UK because of his team, he says. He’s had the same team, including Nicola Shindler, Richard Fee and Danny Brocklehurst, for seven series.
“It’s corny to say that we share a vision, but we do. They make it very pleasant to work – there’s not the high drama that you sometimes find in the United States. We are a bigger fish in a smaller pond, able to get the absolute top talent.
“And I think that the hybrid of this American novel with the British sensibilities has made us better.”
He’s even rubbed shoulders with the UK's royal family, meeting Camilla at receptions for the Queen’s Reading Room, promoting the power and benefits of reading.
He has spent much of his career penning his novels outside the house, in coffee shops and libraries.
“The most extreme example was that I finished in the back of an Uber. The first time I ever took an Uber, around 15 years ago, I felt guilty about spending the money. So I started to write in the back of it and I wrote really well. So for three weeks I took Ubers all day long and finished the book.”
His eldest daughter, Charlotte, is following in her father’s footsteps. She contributed to the writing on and an episode of , and is also contributing to . She is also the writer on the comedy series on Amazon Prime.
There’s no hint of slowing down. He has two new Netflix shows coming out – one made in Poland, the other Argentina – and will be promoting both shows in those countries, as well as Nobody’s Fool over here. He’s also written and is executive producer of a new crime thriller, , starring Bill Nighy and Sam Claflin, due out this year.
But keeping busy is the best thing for his mental health, he insists. “Being idle is an issue for a lot of people. If you have too much time to think and worry about yourself, it’s not necessarily a healthy thing. I joke that I have no other interests and it’s sort of true. My hobby is my work. And writing is the only thing I happen to have any aptitude for.”
- by Harlan Coben is published by Century. Available now.
