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The Death of Bunny Munro: Nick Cave and Matt Smith on their new venture
“Brighton is quite hip, isn’t it?” Matt Smith smiles.
“It’s a hipster city,” Nick Cave agrees. “It’s a really beautiful place, as well.”
I’d never have expected to be sitting in a hotel room discussing how hip Brighton is with this particular duo. They’ve joined forces for a new Sky series, The Death of Bunny Munro – an adaptation of the eponymous novel Nick Cave first wrote and published in 2003, set in and around Brighton and East Sussex.
It’s clear the pair are incredibly passionate about their latest project – a show that touches on many dark and difficult subject matters. “With any job you do, you hope you get the lightning in a bottle, and the alchemy is right,” says Matt, who is playing the titular character, Bunny Munro. “But with this… There was certainly something that felt really positive about this experience.”
The story follows Bunny, a door-to-door salesman and self-professed lothario who has spent his whole life in Brighton. After the death of his wife, Libby (played by Sarah Greene), he ends up looking after his son Junior (Rafael Mathé, in his debut role). Over the course of six episodes, we watch Bunny and Junior go through the rollercoaster of grief as they try to come to terms with their new relationship and roles. It’s a cautionary tale that touches on a messy tangle of topics, from masculinity and loss to addiction and society.
For all its brutality and devastating subject matters, the show also has a strong sense of nostalgia. Bunny and Junior head out on a road trip across Brighton and the surrounding coastline, with beautifully framed shots conjuring up memories of British seaside holidays in the ’00s. The show takes us through the residential streets of Brighton, up across the South Downs and along Brighton’s promenade and pebble beaches. “I think Brighton is a really vivid character in it, actually,” Matt tells me.
“I think [Brighton] is rich in locations that are amazing to film,” Nick says. “And it’s not only got nature and the seaside and all of that sort of stuff, but it can be extremely, extremely beautiful.”
