An unrivaled and highly elusive lone assassin, the Jackal, [Eddie Redmayne] makes his living carrying out hits for the highest fee. But following his latest kill, he meets his match in a tenacious British intelligence officer [Lashana Lynch] who starts to track down the Jackal in a thrilling cat-and-mouse chase across Europe, leaving destruction in its wake. -- Peacock
Oscar, BAFTA and multi-Award-winner Victor J. Zolfo SDSA had a fascinating conversation with Set Decorator Claire Levinson-Gendler SDSA and Production Designer Richard Bullock, who set the tone, along with Director of Photography Christopher Ross, for Writer/Producer Ronan Bennett’s paean to Frederick Forsyth’s novel and the 1970's hit thriller film that followed. The current iteration is in series format, which allows it to equal the quality of presentation, with a wider scope and more opportunity for the master of disguise and killing to do so.
Click on the video for this absorbing, behind-the-scenes conversation!
A few excerpts and images below of the personal side of the two adversaries...
“The vision was very much inspired by the original film and the connection to that era by those amazing paranoid thrillers of the 1970s,” Richard imparts. “When Claire came in, she bought a whole new level of detail and richness that was another layer on top of that. So, for me, it was like making a film that was in the spirit of those ‘70s paranoid thrillers, but with modern filming techniques and a modern kind of sensibility, a modern take on it.”
[See video for more on this!]
Jackal’s home in Cadiz, Spain...
Victor notes, “The Cadiz house, the Jackal's home/work environment is so secretive, even hidden from his family, and yet there's a warmth and a tenderness to the environment. How did you approach the character in this respect?”
Jackal’s home in Cadiz, Spain, where he is known as Charles Cathrop, no one in his family is aware of his secret dangerous occupation, just that he travels often as a “consultant”. Courtesy of Peacock.
“It was quite difficult,” Claire responds. “Because we often talked about how committed the Jackal was to his whole family life, and how he's a ghost everywhere. So, it was always questionable how much of him you would see in this world...It was quite tricky. “When you talk about the warmth in the house...the bedroom and the kitchen...I feel like those spaces are very much defined by his wife's character.”
Jackal’s home in Cadiz, Spain. Note the masks at the end of the hallway, symbolic of the master of disguises. Courtesy of Peacock.
“Obviously, he's a man of great taste, and he has his own interests...bird watching, a collection of chess sets. I talked to Eddie quite a bit about it, and we put symbolic things like masks, and different kinds of books, and secretly, always a jackal of some sort.”
Jackal’s home in Cadiz, Spain. Courtesy of Peacock.
[Of course, you’ll discover more in the video!]
Bianca’s home, London...
[MI6 agent Bianca Pullman is conducting a manhunt in deep pursuit of the Jackal]
“I like to do a kind of separate bio, beyond what is revealed in the script of the characters, of what I think they're interested in,” Claire explains. “We already knew that Bianca’s husband, Paul, is an academic and that he was interested in activism. I decided he obviously really loved music, but it had to be vinyl.”
Bianca’s home, London. Courtesy of Peacock.
“I also thought Bianca would be interested in art, which gave me a really amazing opportunity to look at London artists, like young black artists doing well, who are just coming on board. I thought that would go very well with her esthetic and her vibe...There are a lot of levels of things that I thought they were interested in, which I've incorporated into their world.”
Bianca’s home, London. Courtesy of Peacock.
See the video to hear about the actor's reactions! Bianca’s other home,MI6, London...
