James Nesbitt and Ruth Jones have been cast in Run Away, the new Netflix collaboration with author Harlan Coben.
The upcoming eight-part series, based on Coben’s 2019 novel, sees Nesbitt play Simon Greene, a father whose world comes crumbling down after his daughter (Ellie de Lange) runs away from home.
Jones, best known for her role in Gavin & Stacey, will play Elena Ravenscroft, with the star being joined by Minnie Driver, Alfred Enoch and Jon Pointing. Danny Brocklehurst, who has adapted several Coben novels, will once again serve as screenwriter.
Related: Harlan Coben shows to watch on Netflix after Missing You
“Run Away is about family — about what we will do to keep our family intact, what secrets we keep within our family, and what secrets we keep as a family,” said Coben of the project (via TUDUM).
“Every time you walk past the house, there’s a whole universe that goes on behind that door and none of us have a clue what it is,” he continued, before explaining how Nesbitt and de Lange were “perfectly cast”.
What to Read Next
“Ellie really captured both the strength and the frailty of this character of Paige - what she’s going through and the secrets that she’s keeping. There’s a lot that she has to evoke here and emote in this character.”
“Jimmy just has so much range. He’s so natural and authentic at all times,” he said of Nesbitt, who had previously starred in Netflix’s adaptations of Stay Close and Missing You. “He’s an empathetic actor in the sense that he feels, and then you feel for him.”
Related: Best film and TV tours for 2025
Run Away is the latest project in a long line of collaborations between Netflix and Coben, with previous shows including Safe, The Stranger and Fool Me Once; other upcoming shows include Caught and I Will Find You.
Filming for Run Away will begin in Manchester later this month, with Coben saying: “When you do as many shows as we’ve done there, you really get the charm. What’s wonderful about the north of England is there’s such variety. There’s a combination of everyday and eccentric about the settings there.”
Run Away has no release date yet.
Reporter, Digital Spy George is a freelance writer who specialises in Movies and TV. After graduating with a degree in Film Studies and Journalism from De Montfort University, in which he analysed the early works of Richard Linklater for his dissertation, he wrote for several websites for GRV Media. His film tastes vary from blockbusters like Mission: Impossible and John Wick to international directors such as Paolo Sorrentino and Hirokazu Kore-eda, and has attended both the London and Berlin film festivals.
