‘Harlan Coben’s Shelter’ Interview: Constance Zimmer

Premiering on Prime Video beginning August 18th is the new series ‘Harlan Coben’s Shelter,’ which is based on the author’s 2011 novel.

What is the plot of ‘Harlan Coben’s Shelter’?

After his father’s sudden death, Mickey Bolitar (Jaden Michael) starts a new life in Kasselton, New Jersey, where he becomes entangled in the mysterious disappearance of Ashley Kent (Samantha Bugliaro), a student at his school, leading him to discover a dark underworld in the quiet suburban community.

Who is in the cast of ‘Harlan Coben’s Shelter’?

Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with veteran actress Constance Zimmer about her work on ‘Harlan Coben’s Shelter,’ if she was familiar with Coben’s books, preparing for her role, Shira and Mickey’s relationship, and the themes of the series.

You can read the full interview below or click on the video player above to watch our interviews with Zimmer, Jaden Michael, Adrian Greensmith, and Abby Corrigan.

Moviefone: To begin with, were you familiar with Harlan Coben’s novels before shooting the series?

Constance Zimmer: I actually was not, but I read the script, and I loved the script so much that I went and I read the book in two days, but I stopped after the first book because I realized that I didn’t want to know anymore. I wanted to be trapped in the mystery and the secrets because my character isn’t in the books, I’m like an amalgamation of a character. So there was something fun about me not wanting to know what the end result was and just letting Harlan tell me the things that I needed to know and keep the things secret that I shouldn’t know.

MF: When you started shooting did you know how season one would end?

CZ: I didn’t. I had a long talk with Harlan, and he told me what the arc was going to be for the first season, and this’ll happen and that’ll happen, but we haven’t figured out yet how, where, when, why, or by whom, all of that kind of stuff. So I had ideas, but definitely reading the scripts, there were surprises and things that he did not tell us. Then all of a sudden you’re like, “Wait, what?” And it changes everything. What’s fun is when it’s something that you’re not supposed to know, and then you find out as the actor and the character at the same time. It makes for fun performances.

(L to R) Constance Zimmer as Shira Bolitar, Jaden Michael as Mickey Bolitar in ‘Harlan Coben’s Shelter.’ Credit: Michael Parmelee/Prime Video Video. Copyright: Amazon Studios.

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MF: Is it difficult to prepare for a role when you don’t know your character’s full arc?

CZ: Not necessarily. It’s funny because, actually, there are certain actors that never want to know. They just want to read the scripts and find out. Then there’s other actors that want to know everything. I am in between. I like knowing the arc. I like knowing the beginning, middle, and the end because I just like to understand where I want to hold my emotions and when I want to let them go. That for me is the biggest prep as far as what I think allows you to go, “Oh, I can let loose in this emotion because this is the biggest thing that’s going to happen to me.” Where if I knew that it wasn’t and it was a tiny little blip on the radar, then I could hone that in and save it for later.

MF: Can you talk about Shira and Mickey’s relationship and where they are at this point in their lives?

CZ: So they’ve come together because Mickey’s father died in a car accident, and his mother is in rehab because of the tragedy. So I, being the sister and the only responsible adult, apparently, he’s put in my care. So I moved back to Castleton to our childhood home to take care of Mickey and help him get through this new school that he’s now in. So I’m coming back into my childhood, that I ran away from. Mickey and Shira are oddly very similar in what they are going through and struggling with, but in a different way. Obviously, they both lost somebody incredibly important to them. But then there’s the underlying of Castleton and what it’s going to bring up for Mickey and what it’s going to bring up for Shira that makes them need to come together, whether they want to or not. But it’s going to take a while. I have to earn his trust.

Jaden Michael as Mickey Bolitar in ‘Harlan Coben’s Shelter.’ Credit: Michael Parmelee/Prime Video. Copyright: Amazon Studios.

MF: Finally, from a parental point of view, what do you think are the themes of this series that will resonated with kids?

CZ: I like when unlikely friends come together and form bonds that are stronger than family. For me, it’s the chosen family. When you’re young, such an incredibly important part of growing older is who you are surrounded by. I think for me, the fact that you can see how one person can make a difference and how, together as a group, they can do anything, is like the power of young minds coming together for a common good. There’s nothing better than that. They don’t accept no as an answer, and that to me, I love, and that is what the generation of today should be doing. We shouldn’t be sitting down and accepting things for how they are anymore because we can change it, but we have to do it together. So I think seeing them come together as unlikely characters, their bond is going to be stronger than any bond they’ve had in their life. I love that. I see that my daughter’s 15, and I see her forming relationships with people that she just met six months ago, and they are now the strongest, most beautiful relationships that she may have in her whole life. So that to me is really nice about the story. You wouldn’t think that they would all be friends, but they are because they have a common goal, which is to solve this problem, and then how they all do it together. I love all that. I love those kinds of shows where you see everybody uses what they’re good at and then they put it all together.

(L to R) Adrian Greensmith as Arthur “Spoon” Spindell, Jaden Michael as Mickey Bolitar, Abby Corrigan as Ema Winslow in ‘Harlan Coben’s Shelter.’ Credit: Michael Parmelee/Prime Video. Copyright: Amazon Studios.

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