Eddie Redmayne plays shape-shifting killer in the Jackal

He plays against type in new show The Day Of The Jackal, but was careful not to mess up because his father loved the 1973 film adaptation

- Alison de Souza

NEW YORK - Fans of Eddie Redmayne are used to seeing him as the good guy, whether it is compassionate wizard Newt Scamander in the Fantastic Beasts fantasy films (2016 to 2022) or scientific genius Stephen Hawking in the biographical drama The Theory Of Everything (2014).

But the 43-year-old English actor plays against type as a killer-for-hire in The Day Of The Jackal, a spy thriller debuting on the streaming service Max on Jan 21.

Based on Frederick Forsyth's acclaimed 1971 novel of the same name, it follows a lone assassin known as The Jackal (Redmayne) - a master of disguise who takes on different personas as he carries out hits.

But he meets his match in Bianca Pullman (Lashana Lynch), a British intelligence agent determined to track him down even if it means chasing him across Europe.

Redmayne, who won a Best Actor Oscar for The Theory Of Everything, had not done a major television role since 2010, when he starred in the historical drama The Pillars Of The Earth.

"But I was sent scripts for the first three episodes of this and it was page-turning - I wanted to know what was going to happen next and that is the kind of television I love."