To create the music for Peacock’s The Day of the Jackal, composer Volker Bertelmann focused on the “mathematic brain” of Eddie Redmayne’s title character — considered an unrivaled and highly elusive lone assassin.
“It’s a thriller with a killer. He’s very precise … he doesn’t leave any stuff behind,” Bertelmann said during a panel conversation at Deadline’s Sound & Screen Television. “I use a little bit of ’70s thriller style. I’m a big fan of the piano, the high strings. That was one of the ingredients.”
Bertelman, who won his first Oscar in 2023 for composing on All Quiet on the Western Front, said it was the casting of Redmayne that attracted him to the Peacock series.
“I’m a big fan. That’s a good match,” he said.
Volker Bertelmann appearing at Deadline’s Sound & Screen Television
JC Olivera
But there was no denying the challenges that come with composing for a series as opposed to a movie.
“A series is a different beast. There’s a lot of music and you have customize it for a lot of scenes over the season,” he said. “But at the same time it’s a lot of fun. I love having different challenges.”
In December, Peacock and Sky renewed Day of the Jackal for a second season.
The splashy 10-part adaptation that also stars Lashana Lynch has been rating well on both sides of the pond. Adapted by Ronan Bennett from the hit Frederick Forsyth novel, Season 1 follows the Jackal (Redmayne), who makes his living carrying out hits for the highest fee. But following his latest kill, he meets his match in a tenacious British intelligence officer (Lynch) who starts to track down the Jackal in a thrilling cat-and-mouse chase across Europe, leaving destruction in its wake.
Check back Monday for the panel video.
