Honestly, the first time you see him in the 2024 series, you don’t even see him. Not really. There’s this older German man, gray-haired and slightly stoic, shuffling through an office building. He looks like a thousand other guys you’d pass on the street and forget instantly. That’s the point. But then the mask comes off. The prosthetics peel away, the contact lenses pop out, and suddenly, those distinct, freckled features of Eddie Redmayne emerge. It’s a literal unboxing of the The Day of the Jackal actor that set the tone for what has become one of the most surprising career pivots in recent memory.
Stepping into a role previously occupied by the legendary Edward Fox is a terrifying prospect. Fox’s 1973 portrayal was "cool as a cucumber in a bowl of hot sauce," as some critics put it. He was a shark in a suit. When the news broke that Redmayne—the guy known for the whimsical Newt Scamander and the heart-wrenching Stephen Hawking—was taking the mantle, people were skeptical. Could the "nice guy" of British cinema actually pull off a cold-blooded sniper?
How Eddie Redmayne Redefined the Professional Assassin
Most people think playing an assassin is just about looking tough in a leather jacket. It's not. For Redmayne, becoming the The Day of the Jackal actor meant six months of phonetic training because, fun fact: he doesn't speak a word of German. He had to learn the language sound by sound so he wouldn't just sound like an Englishman doing a bad accent. He wanted the audience to believe he was an elite linguist, an artist, and a killer all at once.
The 2024 reimagining, written by Ronan Bennett (the mind behind Top Boy), makes a massive departure from the original Frederick Forsyth novel. In the book and the 1973 film, the Jackal is a void. He has no past, no family, no soul. He’s just a mechanism for a bullet. Redmayne’s version? He has a wife, Nuria, played by Úrsula Corberó, and a son. He lives in a stunning villa in Spain. He’s a "family man" with a secret closet full of high-caliber rifles.
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This humanization is where the show gets divisive. Some fans of the original movie hate it. They think it slows down the tension. Others think it’s the only way to make a 10-episode series actually work in 2026. If he’s just a robot, why do we care if he gets caught? By giving him something to lose, the stakes feel physical.
The Cat-and-Mouse Game with Lashana Lynch
You can't talk about the Jackal without talking about the person hunting him. Lashana Lynch plays Bianca Pullman, an MI6 firearms expert who becomes obsessed with the Jackal after he pulls off a "record-breaking" shot in Munich.
Their dynamic isn't the usual hero-versus-villain trope. They’re basically mirrors of each other. Both are workaholics. Both are slightly terrible at balancing their domestic lives with their high-stakes careers. Bianca’s hunt for the The Day of the Jackal actor's character starts to look less like justice and more like an addiction.
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- The Sniper Shot: The series opens with a hit on a far-right politician that is so far away MI6 doesn't even think it's possible.
- The Disguises: Redmayne spent hours in the makeup chair for every episode. He’s a sleazy Italian waiter one day and a tech mogul the next.
- The Gear: The show leans hard into "gun porn" for the enthusiasts. The custom-built rifles aren't just props; they’re central characters.
Why This Version Still Matters in 2026
We’re currently living in an era where "prestige TV" can feel a bit bloated. The Day of the Jackal didn't escape that criticism. Some critics felt the 10-episode run was a bit too long and that the "family drama" subplots occasionally dragged. But the numbers don't lie. It became the most-watched original series on both Peacock and Sky.
What really worked was the sheer craftsmanship. Redmayne didn't just show up and read lines. He’s an executive producer on the show. He was involved in the nitty-gritty of the spycraft. He even mentioned in interviews that it was "the hardest job" he’s ever done because of the physical and mental stamina required to play a character who is constantly performing as someone else.
The Legacy of the Jackal
Before Redmayne and before the 1997 Bruce Willis remake (which we mostly try to forget), there was the real-world impact of the name. The Venezuelan militant Ilich Ramírez Sánchez was nicknamed "Carlos the Jackal" because a copy of Forsyth’s book was found in one of his safe houses. The character has always sat at this weird intersection of fiction and terrifying reality.
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Redmayne’s portrayal leans into the "artist" side of the assassin. He treats a hit like a sculpture. There’s a scene where he’s assembling a weapon, and it’s shot with the same reverence you’d see in a cooking show or a high-end watch commercial. It’s clinical. It’s beautiful. It’s deeply unsettling.
The Future of the Series
If you finished the first season, you know the ending was... complicated. It wasn't the clean "gotcha" moment some people expected. It left things messy.
The good news? A second season is already in the works. Redmayne confirmed in mid-2025 that scripts were being written, and the plot is expected to follow the Jackal as he pivots from being the hunter to the one protecting his family from the very people who hired him. The billionaire tech-bro storyline involving "River"—the software designed to expose illicit financial transactions—is likely to play a huge role in the upcoming episodes.
Key takeaways for fans and aspiring actors:
- Preparation is everything: Redmayne’s commitment to phonetic language learning and prosthetic work is what separates a "star" from an "actor."
- Character over Caricature: Don't just play a "killer." Find out what the killer does when they're at home eating breakfast.
- Respect the Source, but Innovate: You can't out-Edward Fox Edward Fox. You have to do something new, even if it risks annoying the purists.
If you’re looking to dive deeper into the world of high-stakes espionage, the best next step is to re-watch the 1973 original film. It’s a masterclass in pacing. Comparing Fox’s silence to Redmayne’s calculated dialogue is the quickest way to understand how much the "assassin" archetype has evolved over the last fifty years.