Matt Smith has shared details about an upcoming television adaptation of Nick Cave’s 2009 novel, The Death Of Bunny Munro.
READ MORE: Nick Cave: “There’s no metric that says virtuousness makes good art”
Speaking with The Guardian, the former Doctor Who and The Crown star spoke about the project, in which he will play the titular character: a lothario who is a womanising, alcoholic door-to-door salesman, grieving the death of his wife.
The adaptation was first mooted back in 2010, back when Ray Winstone was reportedly “dying” to play the lead. The development of the six-part series was announced in November last year by Sky Studios, along with Smith’s casting.
“I’ve only met Nick Cave once, but I think he said [about the adaptation], ‘Finally, someone who has had the balls to tell this unholy tale’,” said Smith.
He continued, explaining the complexities of the novel’s protagonist, saying: “Bunny Munro is a character who it’s near impossible to get on board with. I was in America recently and I met a woman who said: ‘I work with people who are really, really bad people, in prisons basically – and there is not a man on Earth I despise more than him [Munro].’”
Nick Cave in Kvaerndrup in Denmark, on June 8, 2023. CREDIT: Getty/Photo by Helle Arensbak / Ritzau Scanpix / AFP) / Denmark OUT
The Death Of Bunny Munro is Cave’s second novel. He published his debut, And The Ass Saw The Angel in 1989, while based in Berlin. Cave’s lyrics have often included themes of violence, love, and death – and this has also been the case in his published writing.
In an interview with NME in May last year, Cave commented on the show, saying that it was “coming along”. He added: “There’s And The Ass Saw The Angel as well as a TV series or movie, but they’re quite advanced. The Bunny Munro one is chugging along.”
Responding to whether or not Winstone was still attached to play Munro in the project, he replied: “I think Ray is too old to even get it up! That was a joke, Ray. There are actors attached, but I don’t know what I can say about it but I’m happy about it. And The Ass Saw The Angel is insane. If it gets made, the ideas we have for it are off the planet. It’s very different from the book.”
He also spoke about his contributions to music and culture, saying: “You’re doing something, and art is in its essence good – it’s morally good. It doesn’t matter where it’s coming from, if you’re putting this particular force out into the world then it is for its betterment. That’s why I don’t particularly care where my art comes from.”
Last month, the singer opened up about how there is an “essential Australianness” in “everything” he does.
Fans are also awaiting news of the new Bad Seeds’ album, after Cave revealed that the record was being “mixed” back in November.
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