Cliff Notes – TV fans will feel paranoid watching my new Harlan Coben Amazon thriller

Alexandra Roach expresses her excitement about portraying a character from Harlan Coben’s psychological drama Lazarus, highlighting the series’ unexpected twists and emotional depth.
The six-part series follows Lazarus, played by Sam Claflin, as he navigates the mysteries surrounding his father’s suicide and his sister’s long-unsolved murder.
Roach prepared for her role by exploring spirituality, even participating in workshops in Glastonbury, to authentically embody her character, Jenna.

TV fans will feel paranoid watching my new Harlan Coben Amazon thriller

It didn’t take long for Alexandra Roach to decide that she wanted to be involved in Harlan Coben’s latest Amazon Prime thriller.

The Nightsleeper and Black Mirror star, 38, was ‘instantly curious’ when she first started reading the bestselling author’s psychological drama Lazarus.

Speaking to Metro ahead of the release of the show on October 22, Alexandra explained what a joy it was to ‘bring a character to life that came from inside of his mind’.

‘I had a very visceral reaction to get to the end of the script and see that twist play out,’ she tells me.

‘It just piqued my interest because I thought I knew what it was, and what this world was, then all of a sudden it just became something else and completely turned.’

The six-part series follows Lazarus (Sam Claflin) who returns home after his father’s (Bill Nighy) suicide and begins to have disturbing experiences that can’t be explained.

Alexandra Roach and Sam Claflin star as siblings in Harlan Coben’s new series Lazarus (Picture: Ben Blackall/Prime)

The Welsh actress joined Harlan and Bill Nighy at the premiere of Lazarus (Picture: Getty)

Relying upon the help of his sister, Jenna (Alexandra), Lazarus becomes entangled in a series of cold-case murders as he grapples with the mystery of his father’s death and his sister’s murder 25 years ago.

The Welsh actress, who played the lead role in Nightsleeper – a real-time thriller about a train hacking incident – is best known for her performances as Becky in Utopia and DS Joy Freers in No Offence.

But in a career dating back to 2001, she has also made appearances in series including Being Human, Inside No. 9, Black Mirror, and Killing Eve as well as the 2011 film The Iron Lady, where she played a younger Margaret Thatcher.

Asked what she wants fans to take away from the series, she answers: ‘I want them to lean in to the unknown where the lines between what’s reality and what’s not are blurred, and it makes you second-guess yourself.

7 of the best Harlan Coben TV dramas you need to watch

‘You pick up on Lazarus’s paranoia, and everything’s just a bit tilted in this world and a bit uneasy. I think that’s what audiences are going to feel when they watch it.

‘There’s so many twists and turns that you really don’t know where you’re going to go next, and I think they’re going to really want to binge it to get some answers.’

Asked about Harlan, who spoke to Metro last week about how quickly he came up with the plot of Lazarus, Alexandra adds: ‘He’s such a prolific storyteller and he’s really at the top of his game.

‘So to bring a character to life that came from inside of his mind, was something that I was really excited about.

‘There was just so much to get my teeth into. The family dynamic, the dark web of secrets that starts to unravel. He’s just so good at bringing those stories to life.’

Despite it being ‘nerve-racking the first time she met Harlan, she says: ‘I didn’t feel any pressure from Harlan at all.

Alexandra revealed how she was ‘instantly curious’ about the programme (Picture: Shutterstock)

The actress’s career dates back to 2001 (Picture: Sue Moore/Hogan Media/Shutterstock)

‘He gave me complete freedom to bring this character to life. He was there on set sometimes when he was over, and we went for dinners.

‘We sat next to each other and got to know each other and but he was quite hands off, to be honest, and just let me be, and there’s something lovely about that.’

Another star whom Alexandra bonded with was Daisy Jones and the Six star Sam, who plays Bill Nighy’s son, Lazarus.

‘I loved working with Sam,’ she says. ‘He’s such an open and generous actor. We had these quiet meaty scenes and quite long scenes, but he was just so committed.’

Delving into her preparation for the character of Jenna, Alexandra surprises me, however.

Alexandra’s first movie role came when she played the young Margaret Thatcher in 2011’s The Iron Lady (Picture: Ian West/PA Wire)

Bill Nighy stars in Harlan Coben’s latest series Lazarus (Picture: Ben Blackall/Prime)

After I expected a fairly routine answer about the character’s backstory, Alexandra tells me that she used Glastonbury for inspiration.

‘For me, I had to really think about Jenna’s journey throughout,’ she says.

‘I had to delve into what Jenna’s interests were and her identity, which is her spirituality. So for me, I went down a path of being curious into that world, and I learned so much about all of that.

‘I’ve always been interested in spirituality, so when I learned I was playing Jenna I went down to Glastonbury and took workshops and got my tarot read.’

For my next article, I think a trip to the Maldives might give me some inspiration…