Are you ready to see Eddie Redmayne in a role like none before? What about Lashana Lynch in an intense spy thriller catching the bad guy? The Day of the Jackal is coming to Peacock very soon!
We spoke with Eddie Redmayne and Lashana Lynch about the new Peacock series. This is a reboot of the 1973 movie starring Edward Fox and Michael Lonsdale, and that was based on the 1971 novel of the same name by Frederick Forsyth.
How much has changed in the world of spy thrillers? That’s something Redmayne brought up during the interview, as we talked all about what drew the two actors to this series.
Lashana Lynch shares her excitement for her character in The Day of the Jackal
We started with Lynch to talk about her character, Bianca, a British Intelligence officer who is tasked with tracking down an assassin who is a ghost. Bianca is one of those who goes in with full charge. She knows what her task is, and she will carry it out, becoming obsessed over the case.
"When I read the first three episodes, I was excited by how obsessive Bianca is over everything, every single detail—her work…how annoying that can be for her colleagues, but just how far she’s come being that way."
Yes, she is annoying. I think we all know those types of people in work who end up obsessing over details. That’s not too bad in a call center or if you’re working in tech. What’s it like when there’s the need to catch a killer, though? We can see this in TV shows, but the characters often end up being apologetic for their need to catch the assassin. Does Bianca even realize what she’s doing?
It was something else that drew Lynch in to the show and her character.
"Just how much she really has to question her moral compass, question how she balances herself as a persona and the person she’s become off the back of the work that she does. That’s just really intriguing to watch, but to play, you get to unpick and unpack these finer details that just make it really intriguing to women, to be honest."
Lynch has a point. We’re starting to see a turn in female characters. They used to have to be perfect, especially if they were in the lead. They would need to have zero flaws so that people could 100% like them, but that’s not the reality of being a woman. Now we’re seeing more and more female characters who have layers and don’t always make the right choices.
Eddie Redmayne loved the original story
Redmayne talked about the original book, which he loved. There is a lot to delve into within that story. Each page is packed with detail, which makes it a great place to start for a TV series. The best thing about The Day of the Jackal’s reboot is that it hasn’t lost that what made the book and the original movie special.
"Also, that movie was one of those movies that, in my household, it was a battered old VHS. There’s something analog about it. That’s how I describe it. It’s the spy movies of the ‘70s…those thrillers that I adored that were Lo-Fi. It’s not all about tech and computers. It’s about craft and it’s about espionage and the art."
Redmayne went on to talk about how the movie focused on the prosthetics, and that’s something this newer version also includes. Yes, there are some tech elements to it; there’s no way to avoid that in today’s world. But the focus is on movement and languages, allowing Redmayne to really get into playing this character.
"We lent into the meticulousness of prosthetics…these agencies and the Secret Service use prosthetic artists because face recognition technologies is such a thing, that it was kind of weirdly rooted in a reality even though it seems quite extreme."
There was also a lot of fun in using all the prosthetics. There is something physical about the whole process, which is something Redmayne went on to talk about.
"Taking it off at the end of the day, that’s kind of like him literally ripping his mask off and being now back with himself, and then us questioning is himself actually himself. Does he even know that? I think that’s exciting to watch."
Take a look at the full interview with Eddie Redmayne and Lashana Lynch as they share all about the exciting elements of The Day of the Jackal.
The Day of the Jackal premieres on Thursday, Nov. 14 on Peacock.
Stay up to date with all the latest TV crime dramas with Precinct TV.