Eddie Redmayne says he’s under strict instructions from his dad not to “screw up” his TV reboot of The Day Of The Jackal.
At the London premiere for his new Sky Atlantic show, the actor told Sky News how the 1973 movie version of the Frederick Forsyth cat and mouse thriller “was one of my family’s favourite films” which he watched “from maybe quite an inappropriately young age”.
“We watched it again and again,” he explained. “So when these scripts arrived in my inbox I had some trepidation that I didn’t want to butcher this character.”
While the target of Redmayne’s assassin character is being kept under wraps, the 10-part drama takes in modern themes, including right-wing radicalism and megalomaniac social media gurus.
Speaking on the red carpet, Redmayne said when he read the contemporary episodes it was “basically the kind of TV that I wanted to see”.
In episode one his character has very few lines, but this is a role that required a huge amount of advance preparation from the Oscar-winner who had to have weapons training and help from dialect and movement instructors to seamlessly assume different identities.
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“The Jackal is an actor, he shapeshifts and is always taking on these different guises, and I love that stuff,” he said.
Joking, he said he required “all the coaches” adding, “you know me, I need a lot of help!”
While he teased his dad had told him “don’t screw it up”, he admitted he isn’t sure if he will show it to his own children.
“My kids have seen the trailer,” he said. “They are eight and six and they are determined that I should play a goodie next time.”
“The Jackal is a bit, well, morally ambiguous,” he laughed.
The Day Of The Jackal is out on Sky Atlantic and Now from 7 November.