Eddie Redmayne’s Response to James Bond Comparisons in ’70s Reboot

Eddie Redmayne has responded to comparisons fans have made between James Bond and his character in his new TV series The Day of the Jackal.

In his new show, which launches next month on Sky, the actor takes on one of his most sinister roles – a professional assassin with lethal skills known by the codename Jackal.

Originally created by Frederick Forsyth in his 1971 novel of the same name, the Jackal was notably portrayed in Edward Fox’s 1973 film adaptation, which is widely considered one of cinema’s greatest political thrillers.

Last night, Subway attended the London premiere of the latest iteration of The Day of the Jackal, chatting with several stars, including Eddie, who not only leads the cast as the chameleonic killer but is also an executive producer on the project.

When the drama’s trailer was released, several people instantly drew parallels between the Jackal and James Bond, after seeing Eddie’s rugged physique and witnessing him in action as a deadly sniper.

The 42-year-old told us that while he’s ‘flattered’ to be mentioned alongside 007 – who will soon be played by a new actor following Daniel Craig’s departure – it’s not a role he would personally consider.

“Whenever someone brings up the James Bond thing, it’s deeply flattering, but I love watching Bond movies and I don’t want to see myself in Bond movies,” he said.

“I want to see someone else in the Bond films,” added the actor.

Eddie continued, explaining how he grew up listening to Jackal stories, feeling inspired by Edward’s performance in the 1973 film.

‘I grew up on it. I grew up on the original Day of the Jackal, Edward Fox,’ he said.

“There was a kind of casual, relentless, jovial quality to him, the kind of peacock that I loved, and also the shape-shifting quality that kind of defines him as a character. So I’m really thrilled to be playing this guy.

Ronan Bennett, who wrote the script for the latest TV adaptation of Day of the Jackal, has described how, in his opinion, one of the biggest differences between the show and James Bond is the fact that the latter is about ‘escapism’.

“We all love Bond, but he has escalated. It’s not really real,” the 68-year-old said.

“What I tried to do here, and I think Eddie excelled, was portray a real person with a real inside, a real backstory, and keep the character grounded in reality.

‘Bond is escapism, and it has thrilling elements and everything, but it’s based in reality. So that I would say would be the difference. Eddie would be a great Bond, I have no doubt.

Executive producers Gareth Neame and Nigel Marchant admitted they were initially reluctant to adapt The Day of the Jackal for a modern audience, due to how revered the original novel and 1970s film adaptation are to this day.

Addressing the James Bond comparisons, Gareth added: “I don’t think we think the series is very James Bond, it’s not really.

“I mean, I can see that it might look a little like that in a little trailer, but I think viewers will see that it’s very different from that. That said, there are probably other film franchises that it’s a little more similar to, perhaps.

Nigel emphasized how “meticulous” Eddie is as an actor, doing “an enormous amount of homework” to “learn languages, body movements” and transforming himself using a large amount of prosthetics when the Jackal dons his various guises.

“So he was the perfect Jackal for us”, he summarized.

Gareth continued: “In fact, I think what we see in the final work is everything we hoped Eddie would be, a chameleon. There are many disguises, there is a lot of language work, different languages, the disguises, the prosthetics, it is a very physical performance.

“So all the things that we expected him to deliver really well, he absolutely did.”

The original novel, The Day of the Jackal, centered on the titular character being hired to assassinate Charles de Gaulle, the president of France who was in office for a decade until 1969.

In this latest contemporary retelling of the story, Eddie’s Jackal has been offered an unusually high bidder to carry out a coup, but MI6 agent Bianca (Lashana Lynch) stands in his way, chasing every clue she can find to try and discover his identity.

The Day of the Jackal launches on Thursday 7th November on Sky Atlantic and NOW.

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