How Matt Smith brought Bunny Munro to life for the small screen
Rafael Mathe as Bunny Junior and Matt Smith as Bunny Munro. Picture:SKY UK, Clerkenwell Films
Australian musician and writer Nick Cave began developing a screenplay about a travelling door-to-door salesman 20 years ago. When he and director John Hillcoat failed to secure backing for the project, Cave grew impatient and decided to turn it into a novel instead.
In 2009, , the story of a sex-addicted, door-to-door beauty salesman, was published.
16 years after its release, Cave’s second novel has been adapted into a six-part series starring Matt Smith as Bunny Munro.
The series follows Bunny as he grapples with the suicide of his wife, Libby, played by Cork actress Sarah Greene, while trying to raise his young son, Bunny Junior, played by newcomer Rafael Mathé, with only a loose grasp of parenting.
Together, father and son embark on a chaotic road trip across southern England. Bunny drifts from one sales pitch to the next, attempting to seduce every woman he meets, while Bunny Junior spends his time talking to the ghost of his mother and confronting the painful reality of his father’s flaws.
Smith, 43, says that although Bunny was a difficult role to play, he jumped at the opportunity to work with Cave.
“The idea of working with Nick was, of course, a gift,” says the Northampton-born actor.
“It was one of those moments where you open your inbox and think, ‘Oh, Nick Cave, wow, cool’.
“He’s such a brilliant artist, such a cultural icon, and all of the above.
“Then I read the first script and it was brilliant. I met with Nick, read the book, and thought, ‘What a great challenge and what a great opportunity.’
“It just felt like something I really wanted to take on, even though I knew it would be quite challenging.”
Smith, who is best known for playing the late Prince Phillip in and the Eleventh Doctor in , recognises the flaws in Bunny’s character but says it was important to represent him truthfully.
“My job is to represent him as truthfully as possible, regardless of how it seems or feels,” he explains.
“That’s what I tried to do and it’s tough. I know that at times, the decisions he makes are appalling, and you can’t endorse that behaviour. But when you’re playing someone, you have to be in their corner a bit. So I just tried to portray him as truthfully as I could and let the audience decide.
“Hopefully, it’s moving. You can sort of see that he’s trying, in his own way. By the end of it, I hope that it becomes a bit more apparent.”
Smith praises his nine-year-old co-star Rafael Mathé, saying he can’t speak highly enough of the young actor’s maturity and emotional understanding.
“I can’t speak highly enough of him,” says Smith. “He has this natural ability and aptitude for acting, to understand the emotional context not just of the scene he’s in, but of the whole story, really.”
He adds with a laugh: “To be honest, I think if anything, he was mentoring me. He’s so quick and bright. I was being outfoxed every day and he’s nine! But we just got on really well.
“I was really proud of him. It’s difficult material to explain to a nine-year-old, you have to be careful about what you reveal, what you don’t, and even how much you swear in front of him. But he handled it all brilliantly. He’s a good kid.”
Smith adds: “I loved making this show. Even though it was quite challenging at times, it was also great fun to make.”
Cave, 68, who is the frontman of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, says Smith is a lot more attractive than the original Bunny he had written.
“Matt is a wonderful Bunny Munro, but he’s quite different from the original Bunny, who was not a particularly attractive individual,” the singer explains.
“He was not physically attractive. And Matt is a good-looking, sexy, magnetic guy. So, this complicates the story to some degree, because he’s attractive. Rather than repelling his female encounters, you can see how he can lure them in.”
Discussing Mathé, Cave laughs saying he looks like one of his children when they were young.
“He did an extraordinary job. He actually looks terrifyingly like one of my children when they were young,” he says.
“That’s quite disarming, in a way. I just find his performance incredibly moving. The dynamic that goes on between the two of them is extraordinary.
“Bunny is a terrible father who has fatherhood foisted upon him. Has no idea how to look after his son. He has only the example of his own disastrous father as a parental guide.
“Yet he still loves his son, and his son loves him.
“And a war for Bunny’s very soul is fought out over the axis that exists between these two characters. It’s difficult to describe, but whatever that little boy is doing is equal to what Bunny is doing. It’s an extraordinary performance.”
Pete Jackson, who wrote the screenplay for the series, says that while he was intimidated by the prospect of adapting Cave’s novel, he was a great collaborator.
“Initially, I was given quite a bit of free rein,” explains Jackson.
“I didn’t speak to Nick Cave until after I delivered the pilot, I didn’t want to feel intimidated. When I finally met him, he was incredibly complimentary and appreciated that we had stayed faithful to the spirit and tone of the book, which was enormously important.
“After that, he was a fantastic collaborator. I think if we had gone down the wrong path, he would have guided us back, but generally, he was happy with how things were progressing. He gave bigger notes and thoughts later on, which we took on board.
“Having his input was great, it enabled us to be fearless in making the show our own and really going for it.”
- The Death Of Bunny Munro airs on Sky and streaming service NOW on Thursday, November 20.
