Logan Browning, of Dear White People and Bratz: The Movie fame, is treading into uncharted territory in Netflix’s new mystery miniseries I Will Find You, taking on her first-ever law enforcement role as FBI agent Sarah Greer.
“This was new for me. This was a new lane,” Browning told DECIDER when she stopped by our studio ahead of the show’s release.
Based on Harlan Coben‘s novel of the same name, I Will Find You follows David Burroughs (Sam Worthington), a man who is serving a life sentence for the murder of his young son. When his ex-sister-in-law Rachel Mills (Britt Lower) provides information proving David’s son might still be alive, he breaks out of prison and they work together to clear his name, all while the FBI is trailing close behind with direct orders to send David, now a fugitive, back to prison.
Browning plays Sarah Greer, a member of the FBI’s Fugitive Task Force who works on a team with her father, Max Williams (played by Chi McBride). While these characters could have been written as one-dimensional agents with a sole purpose to capture and lock up David Burroughs, Sarah and Max are instead written with a layered backstory, much of which revolves around Max’s absence through Sarah’s childhood, deepening her desire to work closely with her dad as an adult.
“It’s the dream, and it means that when I work with directors, I get to have really interesting conversations,” Browning said of her character’s backstory, part of which is what helps Sarah realize that David might be innocent after all. While Sarah might be doing her job when it comes to chasing down a fugitive, Browning knew how important it was to put her character’s desire for truth above all else, especially against the backdrop of America’s flawed prison system.
“There’s a moment when Sarah and Max are in the car, and she asks him, ‘Have you ever been chasing someone you thought might be innocent?’” Browning recalled. “That’s such a good question for us to be asking, especially when you consider the prison system in America, and how and why and who is incarcerated for what reasons.”
“It’s funny, as Sarah, I believe my job is not just what’s on the page. My job is to find the truth,” she continued. “My job is to be a warrior for justice, and that’s how I feel as Logan, too. The truth is the truth, and I would always go for that.”
Like any dedicated actress, Browning did a lot of research going into this role, and made many calls to her close friend who works as an FBI agent IRL.
“I was asking, ‘What do you think of this?’ She’s like, ‘Okay, now listen, it’s the movies, right? They might not be doing things the way I do it, but this is how I would do it,’” Browning said. “I would ask her, ‘When you’re leaving the house to go to someone’s house, what are you bringing in the car? Do you have snacks? Do you have water? What’s in your trunk? What do you pack? Do you wear sneakers? Do you wear dress shoes?’ I was so curious.”
The one thing Browning didn’t do? Read Coben’s book on which the series is based. But she had a perfectly reasonable explanation as to why.
“I’m going to be honest. I didn’t read the book,” she admitted. “I didn’t read the book, because everyone kept saying that my character was so different from the book. Maybe now I’ll do it. But I really wanted to honor what was on the page in front of me.”
I Will Find You is currently streaming on Netflix.