The Netflix show marks Armitage’s third appearance in a Coben series.
The new year has certainly kicked off with a bang in the TV thriller stakes – with the arrival of Harlan Coben’s Fool Me Once on Netflix.
The new eight-part series has already been binge-watched by many, rocketing to the number one spot on the streamer and becoming much talked about for its many twists and turns.
It follows Michelle Keegan as Maya Stern, a former military helicopter pilot who is struggling in the wake of her husband Joe’s death.
But when her friend gifts her a discreet nanny cam to keep an eye on her daughter while she’s away, Maya gets the shock of her life when she sees Joe.
As well as an ongoing murder investigation into Joe’s death, over the course of the eight episodes, we learn more about Maya’s own past, her family, the death of her sister and more. Like we said, many a twist in store for viewers.
Alongside Keegan, Richard Armitage returns to the Harlan Coben universe as Joe in Fool Me Once, in what is his third appearance in a Coben series – but this time in a slightly more reduced role as a supposedly dead husband.
Well, despite this, Coben assures us that he thinks the performance is actually one of Armitage’s best in any of his shows.
Chatting exclusively to RadioTimes.com, Coben said: “It’s become a thing now that this is the third time that Richard’s worked with us, it’s become kind of a fun thing, but we’re really conscious of it not being a device or for the sake of doing it.
“It only works if we can find a role for Richard that’s going to be… I don’t like when I watch a show and I see the same actor, and so I’m thinking of him in the other role. So if you thought as you’re watching him, ‘Oh that’s Adam Price from The Stranger,’ it wouldn’t work.”
He continued: “But Richard’s such a terrific actor, and the roles he’s playing on these shows are so different, the three he’s now played on Stay Close, The Stranger and now Fool Me Once. I think it works.
“This might be, even though it’s his smallest role in terms of screen time, it might be his best job. He’s really good, that last episode, without giving anything away, the scene in the park is just great.
“I was like, ‘Richard, you’re going somewhere on that,’ but he’s such a hard-working actor, we’ve all become friends with him, but that’s sort of what we do.”
Coben added: “We want to make sure it’s not being cute, having him on in a cameo or whatever. The universe of our shows really loves Richard, he’s got a great fan following that loves him.”
Read more:
- Fool Me Once stars reveal “unputdownable” changes from the book
- Fool Me Once viewers spot Tommy Shelby’s Peaky Blinders house in series
Fans of Harlan Coben book will know there’s plenty to find out about the characters as the episodes unfold, but Armitage had previously revealed to RadioTimes.com and other press at a screening that he isn’t as “self-assured” as his Fool Me Once character.
He said: “Seeing that level of wealth, which is often accompanied with extreme power, the kind of education he would’ve had – what does that do to a person in terms of his entitlement and self-assuredness?
“You see a glimpse of it in the first scene, when they get together […] In reality, someone like him would’ve gone up to somebody like her at a party and said, ‘I am buying you a drink and we’re then going to get married.’ That kind of self-assuredness, which I don’t carry at all.”
Fool Me Once is available to stream on Netflix. Sign up for Netflix from £6.99 a month. Netflix is also available on Sky Glass and Virgin Media Stream.
Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what’s on.
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