Nick Cave's 2009 rambunctious novel The Death of Bunny Munro has been adapted for the screen, with Doctor Who and House of the Dragon star Matt Smith ricocheting through questionable life choices as the titular protagonist. Directed by Holiday's Isabella Eklöf and adapted by Somewhere Boy creator Pete Jackson, Sky's new six-part series brings Cave's book to life.
We watched the first two episodes of The Death of Bunny Munro during the London Literature Festival, and here's everything we can tell you.
What is The Death of Bunny Munro about?
In one of the most problematic, confounding protagonists you'll meet, Bunny Munro (Smith) is a travelling beauty product salesman living in Brighton, England, who treats his young family as a side dish. Though sex addiction isn't recognised by science, it's clear Bunny struggles to stop thinking about or having sex and has a turbulent, adulterous life outside his marriage. And when Bunny isn't trying to seduce every woman he meets or sells moisturiser to, he's getting completely zonked with his friends including Poodle (The Wheel of Time's Johann Myers).
"I'm just drawn to broad characters, transgressive characters," Cave said speaking onstage at the London Literature Festival with Smith and broadcaster Edith Bowman. "I just think they're more interesting, more interesting to write about. But they are the ones we should watch. They're the ones we should pay attention to. On some level, they are the truth tellers, and I've always felt that way about these problematic characters."
When Bunny's wife Libby (Sarah Greene) dies by suicide, he's suddenly grieving and solo parenting their nine-year-old son Bunny Junior (Rafael Mathé). Libby's mother (Lindsay Duncan) despises her no-good son-in-law, and Bunny Junior keeps having visions of his mum in his grief. However, Bunny both has no inclination to change his behaviour and will not allow social services to take his son away. So, they hit the road, with Bunny careening around Brighton from one tumultuous happening to another. It's not pretty. And it's here we get a raucous performance from Smith, offset by the sweetness of remarkable young talent in Mathé.
"I spent every day with him, but he's absolutely fabulous company. I was outboxed and outfoxed by a nine-year-old every day," said Smith. "Pete [Jackson] had to write essentially two different scripts, because I would swear on my take and then on [Mathé's] take, I'd have to say, 'flip.' I gave him a swear jar, cost me a fortune."
The Death of Bunny Munro began as a script first, novel second, script third
Having published his first novel in 1989, And the Ass Saw the Angel, Cave had another up his sleeve — but it started with the screen in mind. The music icon said he had written the script for John Hillcoat's The Proposition, a 2005 Australian Western starring Guy Pearce, and the director asked him to write another script in the wake of that film's success.
"He said I want you to write a script about a traveling salesman that has a near death experience, go away and do it," said Cave. "So I wrote a film script which no one wanted to make. No one ever wants to make this film. It's a complete surprise, a complete miracle that it ever got made, but people keep trying and trying to make the film. Anyway, it didn't get made, so I turned it into a novel."
Cave said he wrote The Death of Bunny Munro while touring with The Bad Seeds in the 2000s, sitting in the back of the bus writing as his bandmates "threw pieces of bread at me."
"I wrote the novel on the tour bus with my band, so basically, Bunny Munro, a lot of the dialogue actually just comes out of being on a bus with eight men, touring around," he said. "I didn't have to reach far 20 years ago."
Having created the dark, comedic thriller series Somewhere Boy, screenwriter Pete Jackson worked with Cave to carefully adapt his novel for TV, backed by Clerkenwell Films, the production team behind Emmy-winning Netflix series Baby Reindeer.
"I approached it with a certain amount of skepticism, because I just been through this so many times with this character," said Cave, who then praised Jackson's writing for balancing his book's darkness with levity. "It's different from the book, which is extremely internal — it's just about where his mind going when he's looking around the world. Not a lot actually happens in the book, it just goes from one tawdry event to another. But right from the beginning [of the series], Pete put in stuff that propelled the story forward."
Nick Cave and Warren Ellis crafted a score for the show
Fans of Nick Cave and Warren Ellis, rejoice! Cave has teamed up with his longtime friend and Bad Seed for another score. It's a strange, melancholic, and beautiful atmosphere created by the pair, who have worked together on a string of film and theatre scores, from The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford to The Road and Back to Black.
When can you watch The Death of Bunny Munro?
Good news if you're in the UK, The Death of Bunny Munro premieres on Sky Atlantic and NOW on Nov. 20. There's no release date for the U.S. yet, but considering the star power behind the series, it'll likely be streaming soon.
If you're feeling suicidal or experiencing a mental health crisis, please talk to somebody. You can call or text the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline at 988, or chat at 988lifeline.org. You can reach the Trans Lifeline by calling 877-565-8860 or the Trevor Project at 866-488-7386. Text "START" to Crisis Text Line at 741-741. Contact the NAMI HelpLine at 1-800-950-NAMI, Monday through Friday from 10:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m. ET, or email info@nami.org. If you don't like the phone, consider using the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline Chat. Here is a list of international resources.
