Harlan Coben is bringing his beloved Mickey Bolitar series to television with Harlan Coben’s Shelter, premiering August 18 on Prime Video. Constance Zimmer stars as Shira Bolitar, Mickey’s aunt and a new character created for the series. HollywoodLife spoke EXCLUSIVELY with Constance about how Shira fits into Shelter having not originated in that world to begin with. Note: This interview took place prior to the SAG-AFTRA strike.
“She’s definitely on a journey. What I can say about her is that I think she believed that her journey was only going to have to do with Mickey, and when we realize that the journey has to do with her own self facing her fears, facing her secrets, it becomes a coming of age story for a woman in her 50s just as much as it becomes a coming of age story for all the kids on the show,” she said.
When it comes to Shira and Mickey’s relationship, it’s not necessarily on the best terms when the show begins. As the truth comes to light, their relationship will evolve.
“It’s a little conflicted and a little complicated because I think some words have been said, and I think that Mickey has only heard one side of the story, if he’s heard anything coming from a family that didn’t communicate or share very much,” the Good Trouble alum revealed. “I think Mickey is now the result of someone who doesn’t have all the facts and thinks that he knows things and they’re not true, and they’re not real. So kind of uncovering all of these secrets that are of his dad’s childhood, which then is in reference to Shira and the parents and all that kind of stuff, they’re gonna need some time to work through it besides their own grief and their own stuff they’re dealing with.”
The series follows Mickey Bolitar, played by Jaden Michael, who movies to Kasselton, New Jersey, in the wake of his father’s death. He becomes intertwined with the disappearance of Ashley Kent, a fellow student at his school.
Despite Harlan’s books being bestsellers, Constance wasn’t initially “familiar” with his titles. After “being so impressed” by the script, Constance went back and read the first book. “Because my character is not in the books, I just wanted to know what the world was and understand what I was entering into, and then I wanted to keep the rest of it secret. I wanted it to be revealed to me as it was going to be revealed to you,” the actress told HollywoodLife.
Constance also got the opportunity to help create this character from the ground up. “I think it was fun for Harlan to kind of be able to create an all-new character but within a world that is such a known world for his fans,” she admitted.