Eddie Redmayne reveals 'intriguing' way he related to The Day of the Jackal villain

Watch: Eddie Redmayne discusses getting into the mind of The Jackal

The Jackal is an iconic figure in cinema history, and he proved an "intriguing" and "complex" character for star Eddie Redmayne to get stuck into in the forthcoming Sky remake, and he tells Yahoo UK how there was certain aspects of the villain that he found surprisingly relatable.

In the modern take on Frederick Forsyth's novel The Jackal is a ruthless assassin whose meticulously hidden personal life is put on the line when he is commissioned for his biggest job yet, and comes to the attention of MI6 agent Bianca (Lashana Lynch) as a result. What follows is an intense cat-and-mouse game that spans the globe as the Jackal races to complete his new job with Bianca on his tail.

Redmayne, who is a self-professed fan of The Day of the Jackal book and 1973 Edward Fox film, found it an interesting prospect to get into the mind of a character as dark and chilling as The Jackal: "The book actually, I would say, was pretty helpful for that even though it is a different story. In Forsyth's book you get a lot more of his psychology, but there's a level —which both of the characters share— of obsession, really.

"They're addicted to what they do, and that meticulousness that he has, that I found kind of intriguing and I think I share in elements of my life.

"But there's a bipolarity to him, that he feels that he is able to juggle this genuine, loving and passionate home life, but they're on two different tracks. And yet I don't think he's ever considered how those things will marry, ultimately. I found that was kind of the complexity and the intrigue of the character."

Redmayne admits he felt "serious trepidation" about trying to follow Fox's beloved take on the character, because he "grew up watching the movie and loving the book" but he couldn't say no when he read the way in which Top Boy's Ronan Bennett had reimagined the story.

"When I read the first three scripts, not only is it updated so it's contemporary, which feels like a completely different world, but it retains some of the DNA of that old school spy craft. The chess playing, and the actual craftsmanship of it that I love from the original, I describe it as being quite analogue rather than so many espionage movies now are all computers and all that zappy screen stuff.

"And I loved the old school cat-and-mouse-ness of it, and in those first three episodes I just thought that Bianca was such a knotty, complicated figure that — rather than in the original film, it's good and evil — it's like both characters have serious moral dubiousness."

Lynch found Bianca to be "brilliant on the page" when she was first given the scripts, especially because she had to balance her home life with the challenges of proving herself as an MI6 agent: "It's really hard, especially in film, in this world to dive into the psychology behind why women get into this field, the struggles they may come up against and the challenges.

"And here I really heard her voice, and that was important for me to feel as though her narrative was threaded throughout. It felt really important to her environment and that she really affected things, it affected her workplace, she affected her home space, and she's affected by everything.

"She's so porous and I really like her. She doesn't know how to do certain things despite being an expert, she also completely fails at the most basic of tasks, and I find that really strange when I read it on paper. I like that I wasn't able to judge her for that, I had to stand by her and and really protect her during that process."

The other woman in The Jackal's life is Nuria (Úrsula Corberó), his wife, who he has managed to keep in the dark for years about what he really does when he travels abroad for work, and how he pays for their lavish lifestyle in Spain.

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The Money Heist star enjoyed getting to portray a character like Nuria who was more than just a two-dimensional character because she had her own challenges and narrative arc to explore.

"I was afraid about playing a trophy wife for the whole season," Corberó admits. "But then I realised there's a huge arc for Nuria. When we first see her she's just living a good life, she is not ambitious, she just wants to enjoy life, to be happy. She's in love with her husband and that's it, but by the time she notices that something's wrong she realises that her husband is hiding something from her.

"She really wants to know the truth. She's just like, 'Okay, I've been trusting you but now I know something's wrong. So you have to tell me. I really want to know the truth'. And I think that was very inspiring, I think that through the drama she finds her strength."

What made the experience all the more joyful was working with Redmayne, the Money Heist star goes on: "Eddie is the best, Eddie is the best. I learned so much working with him, I think he made me a better actress to be honest.

"He's a very caring person, he's such a good actor, but he doesn't care just about his character, you know? So, for me, it was a learning [experience] and he's full of joy, it was a real pleasure."

"It was intense too," Corberó adds. "I think this twist about having The Jackal with a personal life, that humanised the character but also there is more conflict because he has a lot of things to lose and that was one of the things that I really liked... I had the feeling that it was part of the magic."

When The Day of the Jackal comes out there will be a fair few who compare it to another British icon of the espionage genre: James Bond. Not just because Redmayne has been tipped to play the spy in the past and Lynch has already appeared in the franchise, but because the two share a similar tone and visuals — even critics have pointed it out.

Lynch admits she rather not to make a "direct comparison" between the two, saying: "But I also do feel like because we are in that world it's quite difficult not to discuss it and compare, and I think that there may be some comfort in people who like this genre to know that there are things that you recognise.

"However, there are things that pull you right out of that and take you into this really fresh, dark, complex world with these characters that are very far removed from the worldbuild that Bond has. It's a very natural, psychological, deep thriller, and there's truth and light to that.

"There's nothing in this show that makes me feel like 'ohh that wouldn't happen' —unfortunately there's a lot that I think would happen— and I think it's that darkness with the truth married together that takes it away from a world where you feel like, 'ah, that's entertainment'."

"It's a special experience for me knowing that it's not the same thing," Lynch adds. "And you can have two products from the same genre and feel completely different feelings from it as an audience member. I think that's hopefully what people are going to take from this."

The Day of the Jackal premieres on Sky Atlantic on Thursday, 7 November, with the first five episodes available to stream straight away.