From the opening minute when Radiohead’s Everything in Its Right Place begins, Peacock’s The Day of the Jackal plants the audience into an ominous world of international espionage and political intrigue. The titular assassin, “The Jackal,” is played by Oscar winner Eddie Redmayne. The Jackal is a highly skilled killer with more disguises than a chameleon. His aim is straight and, most importantly, he remains anonymous to protect the ones he loves.
After Jackal kills a politician in Munich, it garners the attention of Bianca Pullman (Lashana Lynch), an MI6 agent determined to catch the assassin. Based on Frederick Forsyth’s 1971 novel, The Day of the Jackal is a high-stakes cat-and-mouse thriller featuring two gripping performances from Redmayne and Lynch.
In an interview with Digital Trends, Redmayne and Lynch spoke about their relationship to music and how they applied it to their acting on The Day of the Jackal. The duo also explained how they separate work from their personal lives.
Note: This article has been edited for length and clarity.
Digital Trends: When I watched this trailer, what sucked me in was that Radiohead song. It heightened the suspense. What is your relationship to that [music] with your characters, and what’s it like seeing your performance set to a score for the first time?
Lashana Lynch: That’s always lovely. It’s always lovely to see it, in general. When you are one of the executive producers, you get to be in those conversations. And I was so looking forward to seeing the story that we were telling musically in the show. I had really great conversations with our music supervisor about how we’re representing these two characters in different spaces. You put those two languages together to ensure that there’s a throughline for the show and that the show has its own musical identity.
Sometime, they don’t, and that can look a little strange. Here, it was fascinating, considering I was into music when I was younger, to be able to create lists of artists and really dive into the feel of music. For me, it affects my mood, and it affects how I approach a scene. And I was excited to choose the people that we were going to have for the theme song, for example. Those were really important conversations for me.
And now, we have a potentially iconic moment every single time you watch these episodes. I do not think that I would see this, if I wasn’t involved, and skip the beginning. I would want to watch our opening title sequence every time because it’s a story of its own, which is exactly what it should be.
Eddie Redmayne: Lashana’s instincts for music are beyond. As a producer, like those thoughts and suggestions, it was she who thought of Celeste as the singer for the title sequence. For the Jackal, one of the things that I found most challenging playing him was that he has this quiet refinement and kind of economic way through the world. And I don’t have that. I am a flusterer.
I remember one of the things in an early episode was constructing his rifle, and I wanted it to be like a dance. Everything had to be completely elegant, and yet, I don’t have that capability. So I spent a week or two in my hotel room with this case that transforms into a gun, and I put on this piece [of music]. I would do it [build the gun] to that to try and zen me out. I’ll never forget [director] Brian [Kirk]. When we got to actually doing a take, I was getting a bit sort of fiddly, and I said to Brian, “Could I play that music?” And he played the music … So music, in the way that the Jackal moves, felt pretty important to me.
You both are precise with attention to detail in your characters. At the end of the day, they [the characters] both have jobs, and they try to separate from them. They have families, even though they often bring their work home with them. I was wondering, as actors, do you ever get so lost in a role where you bring it home with you? Do you struggle to separate work from your personal life?
Redmayne: We’re the wrong people to ask. Ask our partners. [laughs] I remember once saying, “I’m not that actor. I’m not method. I’m fine.” I come home, and I’m fine, and my wife is like, “Really?”
Lynch: You’re not the same person that you were yesterday, or this morning, or even this afternoon. …We were based out of Budapest for a huge chunk of the year. I do struggle to learn about where I’m at. I don’t know if you’re the same [to Eddie]. I went to a few restaurants and things like that, but I was in the house. I was doing the same, you know, the rehearsing of putting the gun together and going through lines and thinking about the narratives. Questioning things and just dissecting everything to do with the show. I know I don’t give myself a chance to relax. [laughs]
Redmayne: It’s all-encompassing, particularly when you’re producing. It’s like there’s never a moment where you couldn’t be working.
Lynch: No.
Redmayne: What I try and do now when I come back from work when I’m shooting is the last five minutes before getting home, you have to consciously turn off and [get] back into a different mode.
Lynch: Yeah. It’s necessary to do that when you’re at home. When you’re not at home, you’re on location, you’re by yourself. … I cook. I like to cook at the end of the day.
Redmayne: That’s great.
Lynch: That’s a nice, unwinding thing.
The Day of the Jackal streams on Peacock, with the first five episodes premiering on November 14, 2024. Episodes will then launch weekly on Thursdays until a double-episode finale (episodes 9-10) on December 12, 2024.
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