[Editor's note: The following contains major spoilers for Harlan Coben's Lazarus.]
Summary
- In the mystery thriller 'Lazarus,' Laz is a haunted, complicated man wrestling with buried trauma.
- Relentless twists build to a gut-punch finale that reconnects forgotten threads.
- Sam Claflin leans into the complexity of characters, exploring Laz's grief, guilt and memory lapses.
In Harlan Coben’s Lazarus, a mystery thriller with supernatural flare that’s based on an original story idea, Joel “Laz” Lazarus (Sam Claflin) returns home after the supposed suicide of his father, Dr. Jonathan Lazarus (Bill Nighy). As Laz spends time in his psychiatrist father’s office, he starts to be haunted by his old clients and finds himself entangled in cold murders that he feels compelled to solve. While trying to make sense of his father’s death, Laz is reminded of his sister’s murder 25 years earlier, but pulling at so many different threads unravels the truth in shocking ways Laz never could have seen coming.
During this one-on-one interview with Collider, Claflin discussed the appeal of complex and flawed characters, what hooked him with this story, the revelations and twists that just keep coming, the heartbreak of Laz not being able to stop his sister’s murder, the dynamic between Laz and his other sister Jenna, finding the father-son relationship, the shocking ending, and what they could explore if there were ever a Season 2. He also talked about what made him want to sign on for the action thriller F.A.S.T., written by Taylor Sheridan, and his desire to always do something new.
Sam Claflin Could Relate to His ‘Lazarus’ Character
"It's a testament to where I'm at in my life."
Collider: The last time we spoke was for Daisy Jones and The Six, which got me to thinking about how you’ve played heroes and villains. The thing that series and this one have in common is that you’re playing a lead that isn’t what we would consider a hero or a villain. Whether it’s Billy Dunne or Joel Lazarus, you’re playing someone who’s complicated, who isn’t just one thing, who experiences challenges, and who’s trying to figure out what the right thing is. Are you finding yourself more drawn to roles like that these days, that don’t really fit into a box and are really a bit more of an exploration?
SAM CLAFLIN: Yeah. I feel like it’s a testament to where I’m at in my life, in the real world. I feel I now understand that people are complicated and complex and have many flaws, and there’s something to be said about those types of roles. I think the realization that my journey to finding perfection within myself is unobtainable made me lean into feeling like it’s okay to not have it all figured out yet. I’m reaching 40 next year, and for me, I’m definitely starting to experience flashbacks and nostalgic moments where I’m looking back at my past and going, “Why have I never addressed this before? Why have I been suppressing all these things and hiding from the world and myself?” I’d say it’s because of where I find myself. I’m leaning more into roles that are similar to me or are going through similar experiences where I can bring a level of authenticity to that. Joel definitely was someone who I could relate to a lot. I think most men who have spent their entire lives hiding how they really feel will agree with me that it’s easily relatable and resonant in today’s society.
I read that you had only read a couple of scripts for this before you decided that you were going to get involved. What had you been told, going into reading those scripts and what was the moment that you were really hooked on it?
CLAFLIN: I was hooked from episode one. Initially, they only sent me episode one with a brief overview of what would happen in episode two. I said, “Well, I have to red it now. You have to send it to me right now.” They sent me an early draft, and I got to the end of episode two and was like, “You have to give me episode three. I have to know what happens.” That is truly a hat tip to Harlan Coben. He has this ability to write these very complicated and complex characters within this incredibly well-structured world and make it addictive. There’s no one better. I was hooked from the get-go. What makes it exciting, as an actor and also, hopefully, as an audience member, is not knowing what’s going to happen next and just playing everything honestly and as truthfully as possible. Joel genuinely believes he’s seeing dead people. Not knowing who the killer was going to be, I was really playing that because I didn’t have a clue, but it was a blessing. They obviously gave me enough information. I remember the day that they told me the ending, to which I was completely flabbergasted and very overwhelmed and excited because I didn’t see it coming.
It feels like any one of these twists would have been a great ending, but then there’s another one. The revelations and twists just keep coming until the very end.
CLAFLIN: There’s so much going on. There are so many characters and so many storylines, and they all interconnect. In the very final moment, when you’ve completely forgotten about what happened to Margot, that’s what makes Harlan such an incredible mastermind. I got to that point and had completely forgot about that death because you’re so hyper-focused on his father and that storyline. It really leaves you on the edge of your seat in a good way.
Sam Claflin Found the Relationship Between Laz and Sutton Heartbreaking
"Nothing can be changed."
Episode 3 is so heartbreaking, watching Laz want to keep his sister, Sutton, from being murdered, but not be able to do anything different from that night. How was it to find and explore that moment?
CLAFLIN: Grief is a crazy thing and does crazy things and makes people crazy. Exploring that was exhausting, in all honesty, emotionally and mentally. There were so many peaks and troughs in the joy that he finds in that moment. The heartbreak is realizing that nothing can be done and nothing can be changed. Every person he meets up to that point, he believes that he’s influencing their decisions. The realization is that he’s not doing anything. He’s a passenger and he’s observing these moments. It’s heartbreaking. It was really, really difficult. Eloise [Little] was so wonderful, playing young Sutton. It made it all the more difficult with someone as talented as her.
Laz doesn’t have it easy with his other sister, Jenna, either. He realizes that she was with Billy, Sutton caught them, and she had to be home when Sutton was murdered. What was that moment like to figure out? How have these two different relationships with his sisters really shaped who he is?
CLAFLIN: Those sorts of traumatic events completely change everybody. That’s what’s so heartbreaking about those things happening, especially at such a young age. Your brain hasn’t formed. It’s mentioned a few times that Laz had a breakdown in his younger years and everyone’s worried that he’s going through the same thing again, but actually so many people were hiding the truth from each other. That’s why it’s so relatable to today’s society. Especially my generation, so many people are so afraid of showing emotion and speaking about how they feel. I’ve definitely had an opening in my life and in my heart over the last year and a half, where I’ve started being able and not afraid to express my feelings, but I’ve spent 38 years hiding, in many ways. With Laz, when you tell yourself a lie enough, you will start to believe that to be the truth because it’s easier. I can resonate so much with those moments. The strain in the relationship between him and his sister is so difficult because they’re both lying to each other. The guilt and shame is so much that it’s easier to bury it rather than face it. That’s why this story and this series will hopefully resonate with so many people.
When Laz finds out that Bella’s son is actually also his son, I really appreciated his reaction and what he said to his son. Was it important to have him react that way in that moment?
CLAFLIN: Yeah. The one thing that I was really keen to explore was how Laz is different with different people. A lot of people probably won’t notice it and it’s very subtle, but the difference in who he is when he’s with his best friend Seth, even with the way that he talks. My accent changes ever so slightly. I don’t know that Americans necessarily will notice the difference, but there is a nuanced, more street, edgy rawness to his demeanor when he’s with his friends. But then, when he’s talking to his dad or his patients, there’s a more formal behavior that he adopts. With his son, that’s one of those moments where he flits in between. He can’t quite decide who he needs to be. He’s like, “Do I need to be his doctor? Do I need to be his dad? Should I be his friend?” He gets lost within it. His reaction changes. Initially, he was shocked. And then, he was like, “No. I need to be a doctor.” And then, he becomes a dad. He explores all three parts of himself. Again, that is a testament to Harlan’s writing, but it was something we were able to explore and collaborate on together. Aidan is such a complex character, in and of himself. Having the opportunity to portray the father to the weird kid was enjoyable, in many ways.
Sam Claflin Wondered if His ‘Lazarus’ Character Could Be the Killer
"I think the audience will have moments like that."
I find the very end of this series so interesting because your character goes to see this woman he’s started spending time with and finds his son there, holding a pretty nasty weapon. What is your reaction to that moment? What do you think happened after that moment?
CLAFLIN: I don’t want to speak about what I think might happen. What I think might happen is probably not what would happen. It’s heartbreaking. My assumption is that it feels, to Laz, like it’s his fault. Aidan had no choice. It was in his dad, it missed a generation, and now it’s been handed to his son. Laz feels responsible for that, in many ways. But I’d like to think that he can persuade Aidan to hand himself in and everything will be hunky-dory. I have a feeling that with the mental gymnastics that we explored in this [season], if there was to be a second [season], it would be [multiplied] times ten. It would be more complicated and more complex. It wouldn’t be as easy as Aidan going, “I’m so sorry that I did this bad thing. Here I am.”
There’s a great moment that will probably be overlooked by so many people. There were moments where I thought Laz was the killer. I think the audience will have moments like that. Even the police think that. There’s a moment when Father Brown is on top of the building and Laz goes to the psychiatric ward, and he’s watching the video of Father Brown jumping off the building, he’s talking to another doctor and the doctor says, “Oh, you met him.” Laz can’t remember that he met him. He’s like, “Yeah, you met him more than once.” And Laz is like, “I don’t remember.” There was a part of me going, “Oh, my God, he has these memory lapses.” It’s never touched on again and it’s never spoken of again, but there was an element of me going, “Oh, maybe there’s more to this than meets the eye.” I feel like there’s definitely an opportunity to explore that, going forward. Whatever happens between him and Aidan, maybe there are moments when Laz has already been helping him. Who knows? I don’t know.
You’ve also got F.A.S.T., from a script by Taylor Sheridan. Knowing how demanding his projects can be, when you read that script, did you immediately get a sense of how challenging it would be and has it been living up to what you thought or hoped?
CLAFLIN: I can’t speak too much about F.A.S.T. yet, but for me, it’s been a joy. It’s a very, very different character to any of the roles I’ve played before. I’m playing a Southern American hillbilly almost. It’s a departure for me, and people will see a very different side of me. It’s action-packed, as Taylor does so brilliantly. There’s so much depth to the characters, despite being in this action movie or this action genre. I can’t wait to talk about it more openly. It’s definitely been a wild ride. It’s demanding, but I relish a challenge. I relish discipline and the opportunity to try something new.
His stuff is exhausting to watch, so it feels like it would be exhausting to read and to do.
CLAFLIN: We have a support network aiding us through it, so I can’t complain.
- Release Date
- October 22, 2025
- Network
- Prime Video
- Directors
- Wayne Che Yip
Cast
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Sam ClaflinLaz -
Doctor Lazarus ' Dr L'
- Creator(s)
- Harlan Coben, Danny Brocklehurst
- Seasons
- 1
Harlan Coben’s Lazarus is available to stream on Prime Video. Check out the trailer: