Matt Smith: ‘Bunny Munro is an appalling character to play – but I loved it’

He’s played foreboding royals, a Time Lord filled with fury, a bloodthirsty vampire – but Matt Smith’s latest role may be his most challenging yet.

The Death of Bunny Munro is a six-part drama set in Brighton, based on music artist Nick Cave’s 2009 book of the same name – and it packs a powerful punch.

The TV adaptation, executive produced by Nick and Matt, follows the titular Bunny, a sleazy, sex-addicted salesman who brings his young son, Bunny Jr (Rafael Mathe), on his travels around the country pawning off fad beauty items, after his mother, Libby (Sarah Greene), takes her own life.

It’s a dark, gritty, sordid tale that leans into the most disturbing aspects of toxic masculinity, generational trauma and narcissism full throttle and doesn’t let go.

Yet, among the horror-filled sequences like masturbating during his wife’s funeral and urinating all across a customer’s bathroom (to name a few), there’s a tender heart beating throughout in the form of Bunny Jr, who prises out the kinder parts of his father’s soul.

Tackling such a morally complex character, reprehensible yet struck by startling moments of depth, was never going to be an easy task, as the Doctor Who star tells Metro at the London premiere.

‘When you watch the show, you’ll see he’s a very challenging character,’ he shares.

Before adding: ‘But also, look, he’s a human being. Whilst he is out there and pretty chaotic and mad and selfish and bonkers, deep down I think there is a nice shining light in him somewhere.

‘It was a challenge because what he does is pretty appalling at times, but it was a great challenge. I loved it, I had a great time making it.’

As for what he drew from past characters, he simply says: ‘Absolute chaos’.

The utterly-committed energy that the House of the Dragon star brought to the role, elevating it off the page, was made crystal clear by the screenwriter Pete Jackson.

‘I couldn’t have imagined anyone better,’ he says about the 43-year-old stepping into Bunny’s shoes.

He continues: ‘He was so good that he was able to push certain scenes even further than we planned just because he brought such warmth and humanity to the part.

He referenced some scenes in particular later in the series, which ‘really push the envelope and challenge the audience,’ explaining ‘Matt brought such a broken humanity and sensitivity [to screen].’

The project as a whole ‘terrified’ Pete, which is exactly what drew him to it in the first place, so he could ‘tackle it’ head on.

Praising Nick’s creative collaboration, he says it ‘enabled us to really go for it, take risks and make it our own while remaining very true to the spirit and tone of the brilliant, brilliant book.’

As for what he hopes viewers will take from this sorry tale of corrupted male ego and the task of breaking generational hurt, he believes it is a ‘cautionary tale’.

‘We show three generations of men [also Bunny’s father, Bunny Sr], and in our third generation we see a young man with a chance to go another way and find a path of their own,’ he reflects, concluding it was a series ‘unlike anything else’.

The Death of Bunny Munro airs on Sky on November 20 and will be available to stream on NOW.

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