Harlan Coben reveals which Hollywood stars he didn't want to play beloved character
The US author has been writing about character Myron Bolitar for almost 30 years
What did you miss?
Writer Harlan Coben has admitted he didn't want Adam Sandler or George Clooney to play his beloved character Myron Bolitar.
The mystery and thriller author has penned several books about the basketball player turned sports agent. As many of his tales have been adapted for TV, fans now want to see Bolitar on the small screen.
However, appearing on The One Show, Coben admitted he was a bit picky about who might play the character - and confirmed there were a few A-listers he didn't think were right for it.
What, how and why?
The One Show host Alex Jones asked if Bolitar would "come to life in a TV adaptation", saying she had heard that Coben was "fussy" about his favourite character and asking which actor he would like to see play him.
"That's the problem!" said the writer. "He has been with me since 1995 I've been writing him. Before many of you were born. But I just, no actor ever does it for me!"
He went on: "I have sold them before and I remember one time they said, 'Oh, maybe Adam Sandler?' 'No!' 'Maybe George Clooney?' 'No!'
"Everybody is a no for me. So I have to just sort of let go eventually but it's one of the reasons why... I have made a lot of shows here, especially here in England, but I am a little more nervous about it, I know I won't like it. Is that fair to say?"
Jones suggested that they could cast somebody brand new as the character, and the author agreed: "That's the whole idea I think." Then he joked: "Do you guys have any suggestions?"
Which Harlan Coben books have been adapted for TV?
Several of Coben's books have been given the television treatment, with Fool Me Once starring Michelle Keegan and Joanna Lumley proving to be a massive hit when it was unveiled on Netflix earlier this year.
Viewers have also been gripped by mystery Stay Close, starring Cush Jumbo, Richard Armitage and James Nesbitt, and The Stranger, which starred Jennifer Saunders and followed a mysterious woman who kept popping up and giving people secret information. Other adaptations include Safe, The Woods and The Innocent.
Netflix is next set to adapt Coben's mystery thriller Missing You, about a detective whose fiance vanishes, only to reappear a decade later.
