Harlan Coben and I Will Find You showrunner Robert Hull break down why the Netflix thriller leans on real prisons, real rooftops, and high-stakes performances. Coben also shares an update on his Myron Bolitar series for Netflix with David E. Kelley—plus a prom
A rooftop scene that feels inches away from disaster. A prison photograph that lands like a gut punch. And cliffhangers designed not just to shock, but to move you—beat by beat—into the next answer.
Those are the images driving the conversation around Netflix’s I Will Find You. where Harlan Coben and showrunner Robert Hull talk like people who know exactly what keeps audiences watching. The series follows David Burroughs (Sam Worthington), convicted of killing his young son, Matthew. Rachel (Britt Lower). David’s sister-in-law. visits him in prison to show a photograph of a child who looks exactly like Matthew—and from there. the story spirals into a quest for the truth packed with tense action. wild twists. and shocking conspiracies.
Hull’s biggest point is also the show’s most practical choice: filming “out and about in the real world almost all the time.” He says they used real locations—real houses. real prisons. real rooftops—because “there’s nothing that can substitute putting an incredible actor in a real location.” For him. the payoff is clear: even with visual effects available. the show’s grounded feel comes from authenticity. the kind you can sense when the cameras aren’t hiding behind greenscreen or fake sets.
Coben ties that realism to why the performances hit. He describes Sam Worthington as a discovery made early on and calls the casting choice a “linchpin.” He says Worthington can “do so much with so little. ” and that at times they discussed not even writing him a line—just getting a close-up of his face because it would convey so much. Britt Lower’s involvement came next. with Coben saying they heard she wanted to work on this series. turning it into “a two-hander.”.
From there. the casting story becomes almost a pattern of alignment—names landing on the exact roles they were imagined for. Coben says Milo came to them with Hayden. “which was really nice.” He also credits their approach to how they handled bigger parts like Madeleine Stowe. describing her as “a legend” and saying the challenge was figuring out how to give every actor “what they want to give them.” The same goes for Chi McBride: Coben says they wanted a “Chi McBride type. ” and they ended up with Chi McBride. Hull supports the idea that Coben’s writing makes the caliber of the cast feel worth the wait. pointing to Milo as an example of someone who might not normally be number three on a call sheet—but once presented with the material. “a good actor doesn’t care.”.
If the show’s physical locations raise the tension, its narrative mechanics keep it sharp. Coben says he wouldn’t be telling the “true” Coben story without cliffhangers and plot twists—and he names a few he considers especially effective. One is the episode where Matthew appears at the very, very end of an episode. Another is the episode involving Adam digging a hole and digging into a grave. He also calls out the moment when Sam’s character leaves prison. gets out. and puts the gun against the warden’s head.
Hull draws a specific distinction about what makes cliffhangers work. He believes it’s easy to build a cliffhanger that keeps you watching—the harder part is the answer. He says the team spent a lot of time not just on the cliffhanger itself. but on what comes next: “What’s the next beat in the story?” He adds that there’s no bait-and-switch. and goes further—“Every red herring actually is a story in and of itself.”.
That craft talk sits beside the show’s emotional planning. When asked about a moment he’s most proud of, Coben points to two scenes, spanning Episode 1 through Episode 8. First. in Episode 1. he says the moment where Britt Lower shows Sam Worthington the photograph in the prison is the scene that made him think the show “was going to work.” He describes being nervous about getting the camera angle and the photograph right. saying he “probably drove him crazy.” The second is the last scene in Episode 8. Coben doesn’t spell it out, but he says it gets him “choked up even talking about it.”.
Hull answers the “middle” request with the way he thinks the ending is structured: he says it’s left open to interpretation about what a happy ending means and where the characters go next. To him. that openness is exactly what keeps viewers engaged—because you want to find out what happens after. and that’s part of what makes the ending feel satisfying.
The conversation moves naturally from I Will Find You into what Coben is working on next. Last month, Netflix greenlit the Myron Bolitar series, a project audiences are excited about. Coben says they are “pretty close to starting to film” and that announcements will come “fairly soon.” He discusses working with David E. Kelley by describing how long he’s admired Kelley’s work and saying that when they first asked. “How about you and David E. Kelley trying to do this?” he responded, “Let me in.”.
He admits to nerves even as he frames them as part of the process. calling “Pressure” “a privilege.” He says he’s been writing about Myron. Win. and Esperanza for years. and that he wants the adaptation to go well. When asked about directing. Coben says he “never say[s] never anymore” because he keeps changing his mind. pointing out he once said he would never write a memoir or a play. and then did. He adds that he can’t imagine directing unless he has a “really great DP. ” and he doesn’t see it happening—but “who knows?”.
Hull jokes that he would encourage Coben to do anything but write television, because then his job would be gone. Coben laughs it off. saying Hull keeps trying to picture him directing on set—and that he’s “annoying enough now.” Hull responds with his own plea: most of his calls to Harlan. he says. are “Write your novels faster. because I’m here waiting. Please write faster.”.
For the record, I Will Find You has a release date: June 18, 2026—and it’s now streaming on Netflix. Hull is credited as showrunner, with directors Adam Davidson, Maggie Kiley, Maja Vrvilo, and Brad Anderson. Writers are Robert Hull and Harlan Coben.
The whole pitch—real prisons, real rooftops, and cliffhangers built around the answers—lands as more than style. It’s a method: trust the setting, trust the actor, and make sure the next beat delivers what the last one promised.
Harlan Coben Robert Hull I Will Find You Netflix Sam Worthington Britt Lower Myron Bolitar David E. Kelley Chi McBride Madeleine Stowe Hayden Matthew David Burroughs Rachel