Michelle Keegan replacement shows true colours over taking leading role after Fool Me Once

Brassic's Michelle Keegan hit the headlines after appearing in Fool Me Once last New Year, and now Rosalind Eleazar is taking the reigns in the next Harlan Coben drama

Last New Year, Fool Me Once starring Brassic’s Michelle Keegan became one of the biggest Netflix shows of all time. Now, another of Harlan Coben’s novels has been adapted for the screen, and it promises to be just as thrilling. In Missing You, the leading lady is Slow Horses star who reveals the reason why she didn’t feel any pressure despite Fool Me Once being streamed by almost 100 million viewers.

“Hilariously, I got this job before Fool Me Once even came out,” laughs Rosalind, 36. “Then when it did air, it was watched by everyone! The numbers are ridiculous, it was such a huge success. So there was a part of me that went ‘oh no’. But that quickly went away, and I hope that Missing You will be just as successful. It’s a completely different story – this one feels smaller in a way and more intense.”

Rosalind plays Detective Kat Donovan who leads a missing persons unit. In the very first scene, where she’s on a date with a new man – played by none other than Busted’s Matt Willis – Kat shows off her impressive fighting skills.

“I don’t think I’m like Kat at all, she’s far braver than I am!” confesses Rosalind. “But I did love all the stunts! I got very bruised after being shoved in that opening scene which I had to do in six-inch heels while the sprinklers were going off. As the show goes on, there’s so much sprinting, and it was quite funny because I’d end up outrunning the camera.”

Kat’s life is rocked when her fiancé Josh (Ashley Walters), who vanished 11 years ago, suddenly reappears on a dating app. But that’s not all, as Kat investigates the case of a missing person she also dives back into the mystery surrounding her dad’s murder and uncovers long-buried secrets from her past.

Comedy legend Sir Lenny Henry plays Kat’s father, Clint Donovan, in the five-part series, and he couldn’t speak more highly of the show. “It’s a twisty-turny procedural drama with a big, big heart,” he says. “And can I just say, Ros, oh my God, she’s like Clint Eastwood with an afro – she’s legendary as Kat!”

In the present day, Clint has passed, having been brutally killed, but he does appear in flashback scenes, one of which was a celebration and, according to Lenny, it was a ball to film.

“There is a legendary dancing scene in the show,” says Lenny. “Every wedding and birthday, people get up to do the candy dance, right? Well, I can’t dance at all, they keep asking me to do Strictly but I would let every Black person in Britain down. At the end of the take, we got the crew to do it too, there is a video!”

Fans of Harlan’s previous shows, The Stranger, Stay Close and Fool Me Once will be glad to learn that Richard Armitage is again returning, but in a very different role.

“I’ve never played a detective before,” says Richard, who plays Kat’s boss Ellis Stagger. “I did get a few people on set asking me about the Harlan Coben thing because I’ve been in four of the shows now. At the end of The Stranger, I was begging them to do a second season. I wanted to do another show, and the second adaptation was Stay Close, and I said, ‘Well, I’ll read the script and make a decision’ by number four, I just go, ‘Yes!’. I don’t need to read them, the thing about Harlan’s writing is that he never ever lets you down.”

It’s not the first time Richard and Rosalind have worked together, but their characters are not quite as close in the series. “I worked with Richard in a play called Uncle Vanya where our characters had this very intense, passionate relationship – which we had to play out for 60 performances,” says Rosalind. “So when we sat down for the read-through of Missing You, Richard and I couldn’t quite figure out how to respond to each other because we started bringing a bit of our old spice! We had to recalibrate, but we ended up with a wonderful shorthand.”

US-born writer Harlan loves that he’s now part of a New Year’s Day tradition, but he issues a warning to those hoping to binge the show. “While there are twists and turns and suspense, this is also a love story,” he explains.

“The story between Kat and Josh is central here, but there’s also Kat’s friendship with Stacey (played by ex-EastEnders star Jessica Plummer) and Aqua (Mary Malone). We’re combining all of these things into an even shorter series. But I think this is the most emotional ending I’ve ever experienced, when I watched the end of episode five I actually cried.”

Watch Missing You on New Year’s Day, Netflix