James Nesbitt says Netflix's Stay Close will live with him “for a very long time”
The Harlan Coben series premieres on New Year's Eve.
Harlan Coben fans don't have long to wait until the author's latest adaptation, Stay Close, arrives on Netflix.
The eight-part series revolves around three people who, on the surface, appear to be leading regular lives, but are all hiding "dark secrets" that no one, not even those closest to them, would ever suspect – that is until an individual from one of their pasts arrives to share some shocking news, which changes everything.
James Nesbitt (Bloodlands, The Missing, Cold Feet) stars as Jack Broome, a detective who remains fixated on a case that he hasn't been able to solve.
Speaking to RadioTimes.com and other press about the experience of working on the show, he said: "I didn't know what to expect at all with this job, to tell you the truth, because there's at least three different stories going on; three, four or five stories.
"The opportunity to work with interwoven stories, the opportunity to work with so many different characters was what was really interesting. And of course to play a love story in such extraordinary circumstances with Sarah [Parish], which is at the heart of Broome’s story in a sense. And that turned out to be something that will really live with me for a very long time because it was quite a journey for the pair of us, I think actually. It was a real joy.
"And also a chance to go back to Manchester [where Cold Feet was filmed]. Manchester has underscored so much of my life."
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Nesbitt also expanded on how Broome contrasts with characters he's played previously: "It was nice to play someone with a bit of optimism about him, someone who wasn't either in his own personal kind of hell, or creating hell for others. I love the honesty of him, although there's a lot he keeps to himself, and I love the decency and warmth of him. And I just loved the dogged determination of a guy determined to find some sort of redemption, not just for this case that went wrong, but also for life.
"You do get to a stage, I suppose, when you don't know how big the canvas is, how much more you’ve got to put on your own personal canvas, as well as your professional one. And this was maybe an opportunity for me to explore bits of myself through another character."
Other Stay Close cast members include Cush Jumbo (Deadwater Fell), Richard Armitage (The Stranger), comedian Eddie Izzard and Jo Joyner (EastEnders).
You can watch the trailer below.
Stay Close arrives on Netflix on Friday 31st December. Read our guide to the best series on Netflix, visit our Drama hub for more news, interviews and features, or find something to watch with our TV Guide.
Authors
Abby Robinson is the Drama Editor for Radio Times, covering TV drama and comedy titles. She previously worked at Digital Spy as a TV writer, and as a content writer at Mumsnet. She possesses a postgraduate diploma and a degree in English Studies.
