It’s taken 16 years for someone to turn Nick Cave’s sordid 2009 novel The Death Of Bunny Munro into a TV show – and it sounds like he’s pleased about it. When they met, the gothic post-punk icon congratulated star Matt Smith by purring in that unmistakable Aussie drawl: “Finally, someone has had the balls to tell this unholy tale…”
Set in and around Cave’s seaside home of Brighton, The Death Of Bunny Munro follows its titular anti-hero while he conducts his horribly twisted business. Addicted to sex, booze and generally being an unpleasant arsehole, Bunny’s many faults include cheating on mentally ill wife Libby (Sarah Greene) and ignoring their sweet little boy Bunny Jr. (Rafael Mathé). But when Libby can’t take it anymore and hangs herself from the curtains, Bunny’s days as a sleazy lothario are numbered. Can he turn over a new leaf and be the loving father he never had?
Let’s be honest, that’s not going to happen. But the six-episode miniseries is worth watching for the banger-stuffed, ‘90s-obsessed soundtrack alone (not to mention Cave and Warren Ellis’ wistful original score). Smith himself couldn’t help getting stuck in, offering up suggestions for needle drops cherry-picked from his own music-obsessed brain. Read on for an intimate portrait of the Northampton-born lad’s youth as a fashionable head boy cum trance DJ cum Oasis megafan…
Do you remember the first time you became aware of Nick Cave?
“I’m not sure exactly. In this country, he’s sort of woven into the fabric [of things]. He’s in the [public] consciousness for so many different reasons. I’ve had so many ports of call with Nick Cave over the years, things that I’ve become attached to.”
Were you a young fan or a more recent convert?
“Younger. I mean, I’m 43 now, unbelievably. God, help me. When did that happen? Tuesday, it turns out. My birthday was on Tuesday.”
So you’re a Scorpio?
“That’s one of my badges. I’m really into being a Scorpio. Don’t cross us.”
How did you come to be in The Death Of Bunny Munro?
“I got an email through the inbox. You know, ‘Death Of Bunny Munro: Nick Cave’. You have my attention! But just before then I’d watched the documentary about him called 20,000 Days On Earth and it was fucking brilliant. He talks about the process of writing in it. He says: ‘Writing’s easy. You just make a character do one thing after another.’ And it’s fucking true man!”
When did you meet him?
“We went for breakfast. I don’t know if you’ve ever met Nick, but he’s a pretty vivid image. He’s really tall, really angular and immaculately dressed. Almost intimidating – and I was sat there having breakfast with him and he’s having a boiled egg and soldiers!”
What advice did he give you about playing Bunny?
“At that point, I hadn’t read the book. I’d only read the pilot script. He said: ‘I think you should read the book, man.’ So I read it on holiday really quickly and then I listened to the audiobook a lot when I was preparing because he narrates it really well and I wanted to get Nick Cave in my head a bit.”
Let’s talk about the soundtrack, do you have a favourite needle drop in the series?
“‘A Forest’ by The Cure. They played it for me through a speaker on the shoot at night time. It’s when Bunny is driving into the trees. And there’s a little touch of Kylie Minogue when he’s leaving the funeral, because in the book that’s really prevalent. The ‘90s was such an important period for me, musically. Sometimes I look around now and I’m like: ‘Where are those fucking bands, man?!’”
What was Matt Smith like as a teenager in the ‘90s?
“Well, I got quite into fashion labels – Moschino this, Ralph Lauren logos everywhere. I was always in River Island and then I’d go and buy a pair of Armani jeans… Patrick Cox shoes. And, obviously, I’ve always worn Reebok Classics. I still only wear Reebok Classics for trainers.”
You’re a huge Oasis fan – did you go to the reunion shows?
“Yeah, I went to eight of them!”
Eight!?
“I did Cardiff, Wembley, Wembley, Wembley, Wembley, Wembley… I love Oasis. It was blow-your-ears-off, blow-your-socks-off good. What’s amazing about that tour is the shit they’ve left out. ‘Columbia’, ‘She’s Electric’ – and that’s not even getting on to the later albums. Bangers. Just when you think [it’s slowing down], they go: ‘Here’s ‘Slide Away’.”
‘Little By Little’ went off at Wembley…
“‘Little By Little’ goes mad! ‘Half The World Away’ goes fucking off the chain! And that’s before they’ve even got to fucking ‘Wonderwall’, ‘Champagne Supernova’. I just think culturally, as a country, we needed it. When was the last time we all got together and went ‘fucking come on’ across different generations?”
What other music did you love as a teenager?
“I was really into rap. Nas’ ‘Illmatic’ is one of my favourite albums. And then Biggie, those first two albums. I was really into that whole East Coast vs West Coast battle.”
And then you had a career as a trance DJ at the same time as being head boy?
“Yeah. I had the fucking keys to the castle because I had the fund, right? And the teacher goes, ‘So, usually we do a yearbook.’ And I went, ‘Woah, I’m gonna stop you there. We’re gonna throw a real big party and, by the way, I’ll be DJing!’”
How did your classmates enjoy that?
“The sixth formers would come up and go, ‘Matt, can you play something we know?’ ‘…No.’”
What were you playing?
“‘For An Angel’ by Paul Van Dyk, all random trance or house tunes. It was ‘no requests’. You can have the decks when it’s right.”
What’s been your favourite gig experience of all time?
“I saw Arcade Fire in Chicago with my then girlfriend. We were staying in a hotel and there was this big silver bus outside. I was like, ‘That’s got to be a band.’ And as luck would have it, this woman came out and said: ‘Oh hey, did you used to be in Doctor Who? This is Arcade Fire, do you wanna come and see them? They’re doing this thing at the end of the gig where you can put a bobblehead on and be on stage.’ Obviously, I said yes. It was amazing. I changed all my plans and drove from Chicago to Toronto and did exactly the same thing at their next gig too.”
‘The Death of Bunny Munro’ is available on Sky and streaming service NOW
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity