The Jackal was on the loose in London on Tuesday evening. Eddie Redmayne, Lashana Lynch, and Úrsula Corberó, known for her role as Tokyo in Netflix hit Money Heist, were among the stars of the upcoming TV adaptation of The Day of the Jackal for Sky and Peacock who attended the U.K. premiere of the series at Queen Elizabeth Hall at the Southbank Centre in the British capital.
Redmayne plays the famous fictional assassin in the original series based on the Frederick Forsyth novel and award-winning 1973 film adaptation of the same name from Universal Pictures. The star also executive-produced the show.
The series, which recently received a trailer, also features Charles Dance (Game of Thrones, The Crown), Richard Dormer (Fortitude, Game of Thrones), Chukwudi Iwuji (Guardians of the Galaxy, The Split), Lia Williams (The Capture, The Crown), Khalid Abdalla (The Crown, The Kite Runner), Eleanor Matsuura (The Walking Dead, I Used To Be Famous), Jonjo O’Neill (Andor, Bad Sisters), Sule Rimi (Classified, Andor), and Nick Blood (Euphoria).
The Day of the Jackal is being billed by the producers as a “bold, modern reimagining of the beloved and respected novel and film.” While staying true to the DNA of the original story, which was set in 1962 and based on attempts to assassinate French president Charles de Gaulle, the contemporary drama will delve deeper into the chameleon-like “antihero” at the heart of the story in a “high octane, cinematic, globetrotting ‘cat and mouse’ thriller,” set amidst the turbulent geo-political landscape of our time.
Tuesday’s London screening of episode 1 was followed by a Q&A with Redmayne, Lynch, Corberó, screenwriter and producer Ronan Bennett (Top Boy), director Brian Kirk (Game of Thrones) and executive producers and Carnival Films bosses Gareth Neame and Nigel Marchant.
”The original movie and Frederick Forsyth’s books were pretty formative for me,” Redmayne shared, adding he felt “a tremendous amount of trepidation” taking on the iconic role. He said he always enjoyed “the cat and mouse” game, with the 10 episodes of the show allowing to additionally explore more of the “deeply human” aspects and complexities of the characters.
Lynch said Jackal is “a very good example of modernizing IP,” including “humanizing service women.” She said she spoke to many real service women about their work, along with their struggles with work and family life. She loved the chance to bring a complex woman to the screen who doesn’t have all the answers instead of a “stick figure that has to do a lot,” she said. “Sometimes we just don’t know.”
Asked about their chemistry and playing opposite Redmayne, Corberó quipped that “it was horrible” and she was still trying to get over it. After laughing, she said she has been saying only great things about him all day, concluding: “He is the best. He is perfect.”
Redmayne said he felt so fulfilled playing the Jackal taking on various roles and disguises, lauding the great work by the cast, the prosthetics, costumes and other teams, including, he quipped, his “long-suffering German coach.”
Asked about her favorite part of the Jackal experience, Lynch shared that she was proud to “represent West London” as a girl from Shepherd’s Bush whose on-screen character lives on nearby Portobello Road.
Redmayne wrapped up the panel by sharing that he felt “deep humiliation riding on a broken bucking bronco,” or mechanical bull, for a horse riding scene after he had trained for a real horse due to what he described as his “catastrophic” history with horse scenes in the past.
On the red carpet before the screening, Redmayne had said in a chat with the official Sky interviewer that the series is a contemporary take on a story he loved when he was younger and includes digital technology but retains certain “analog” elements and qualities that he enjoyed about the original.
“This show is a big one and you get to travel everywhere,” including Budapest, Vienna and other places, he shared full of excitement but also shared he got a bit home sick and is happy to bring the show back home to London.
Redmayne also highlighted that the show can be enjoyed by people who haven’t seen the original movie or read the book. But those who do know them will have “a lot to chew through,” such as a part where the director recreated one of the scenes from the film shot by shot.
Dormer lauded the show as “quality TV.” He called his character “probably the best gun smith in the world.”
Lynch shared about Redmayne on the carpet that “our friendship really bloomed” as fellow producers on the project even though they didn’t see each other on set as much as is the case with other co-leads.
”I read those first three episodes and was genuinely looking for a reason not to take it” so she wouldn’t play in another project set in the world of MI6 again, the James Bond star also shared. “No, I’m okay. I’ve done this legacy role but actually they completely brought me in.”
Key was the character and story focus. “We immediately dove into the psychology that is behind women in this espionage world, which we don’t get to tackle, we don’t get to discuss,” she emphasized. “I really hope this show turns this on its head for the industry,” she concluded.
”I wasn’t expecting this big event,” Corberó said about her first premiere experience in London. Without providing any spoilers about her character, she said the woman felt “weak” after reading the first three episodes, adding she loves it about a character when “she finds her own strength.”
Blood, arriving on the carpet, shared a funny story about his arrival in Hungary for the shoot. “When I first landed in Budapest, I just got off the plane and these two women said ‘Hi, Nick!, and I went over” and walked with them towards their car, he told a Sky interviewer. “Then they brought out photos for me to sign. They were fans but I nearly got in their car and went home with them.”
Neame said on the red carpet that he and Marchant just love the original Jackal movie, so they would have never simply remade it. “We revere it too much,” so they instead decided to make the story into a contemporary 10-episode series. ”It’s a completely different dramatic form,” he concluded.
Marchant lauded Redmayne for his “meticulousness” and attention to detail across his body of work. “He really had this essence of the Englishman,” he added.
Cécile Frot-Coutaz, the CEO of Sky Studios and chief content officer for Sky, earlier this year called Jackal “a massive show for us,” adding: “This is probably one of the most ambitious or large-scale productions that we’ve mounted. It’s an epic action thriller.”
On Tuesday, she said “this project is really, really close to our hearts” that has been “a huge priority” across the whole Comcast group.
She lauded the three main actors in attendance for bringing such complex and intriguing portrayals to the screen.