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Forsyth worked as a freelance journalist covering the Biafran War
Chronology
The Jackal is an elusive assassin who makes his living by carrying out high-stakes assassinations. He soon meets his match in the form of a tenacious British intelligence officer who tracks him down on a thrilling cat-and-mouse chase across Europe. Check our list of renewals and cancellations to see if your favorite show has been picked up. When it ended, he returned to the UK unemployed and unsure what to do next.
He said: “I came back for Christmas ’69, broke as hell
I couldn’t get a job, I didn’t have a flat, I didn’t have a car and I didn’t have any savings. That’s when I had this crazy, crazy idea to write a novel. “Everyone said you must be joking or angry because the chances of it being published were a hundred to one, maybe a thousand to one.” Within weeks of publication, the film rights were snapped up. Some of Hollywood’s biggest stars were in the running to play the Jackal in the 1973 film, but the role went to then-unknown Edward Fox because director Fred Zinnemann felt he could be invisible in a crowd.
She wasn’t terrible, but it still bugged me
(Air Mail) Mentioned on The Graham Norton Show: Denzel Washington/Paul Mescal/Saoirse Ronan/Eddie Redmayne/Blossoms (2024) There was something about Lashana that just didn’t feel right to me—I can’t quite put my finger on it. I’m not sure why they chose her for the role. 🙁 Eddie Redmayne is absolutely brilliant as the assassin, bringing a chilling, magnetic energy to the role. He’s terrifying, yet somehow impossible to look away from, and his every move feels super calculated.
Lashana Lynch, as I said, doesn’t quite measure up
Redmayne’s blend of charm and menace is spot on, making the character both compelling and unsettling. Her performance as the hard-nosed intelligence officer feels flat and a bit clichéd the depth you’d expect from a story like this. In a film that relies on detail and complexity, her character comes off as one-dimensional and underwhelming. Overall, the film is intense and engaging, but the uneven performances hold it back bit.