‘Small Axe’ Star Daniel Francis Joins Netflix’s Harlan Coben Thriller ‘Stay Close’ (Exclusive)

‘Small Axe’ star Daniel Francis is set to join Netflix’s eight-part Harlan Coben thriller ‘Stay Close’

Daniel Francis, the British actor who recently starred in Education, the fifth and final film of Steve McQueen’s hugely-celebrated Small Axe anthology series, has landed a recurring role in upcoming Netflix drama Stay Close, based on Harlan Coben’s bestselling novel.

A new eight-part thriller from the same team behind the Netflix series The Stranger — also from Coben and released in early 2020 — the drama will co-star Cush Jumbo (The Good Wife, Vera ), Richard Armitage (The Hobbit, The Stranger), James Nesbitt (Cold Feet, The Hobbit) and Sarah Parish (Industry, Broadchurch). Adapted by Danny Brocklehurst, Stay Close, flipping the book’s location from the U.S. to the U.K., will follow three people whose dark secrets resurface, threatening to rip their lives apart.

The Hollywood Reporter understands that Francis — also known for the Disney/ABC series Once Upon a Time — is set to play the husband of Jumbo’s character, Megan, a working mother of three.

Stay Close will mark the fourth collaboration, after The Stranger, The Woods and Safe, between Coben, Brocklehurst, executive producers Nicola Shindler and Richard Fee, and Manchester-based production company Red, which is owned by StudioCanal.

Coben has a five-year deal with Netflix to turn 14 of his titles into film and TV dramas.

Francis is repped by the Identity Agency Group.