Brighton, Bunny and a Vauxhall Cavalier: Inside The Death of Bunny Munro
Video feature with Matt Smith, Sarah Greene, production designer Alexandra Toomey and writer and executive producer Pete Jackson
“Brighton is a character all in itself.”
Sarah Greene
With the sea breeze in its lungs and salt on its skin, The Death of Bunny Munro makes Brighton feel less like a backdrop and more like a co-star. Here the cast and creative team talk about how the city’s piers, promenades and unapologetic personality shaped Bunny’s story, on screen and in spirit.
“The perfect place for this story”
For Matt Smith, Brighton has become inseparable from Bunny. “I’ve loved living in Brighton,” he says. “It’s the perfect place for this story because that sense of freedom that you get by being by the sea and the promenade and the sort of laissez faire quality that Brighton brings to Bunny, and Bunny brings to Brighton. They’re a good marriage.”
Sarah Greene agrees that the city does more than simply host the production. “Brighton is a character all in itself,” she says. “The scenery, the piers, the promenade and then just the characters and the energy here definitely lends itself to make our story a bit more vibrant.” The result is a show that borrows the town’s colour and chaos, then feeds it straight back into Bunny’s emotional mess.
Junior’s view of a sunbleached Brighton
Production designer Alexandra Toomey approaches the locations through Junior’s eyes. “On one hand it’s about Junior’s perspective,” she explains. “You’re trying to kind of show something that’s a little bit more heightened and a little bit more joyful than maybe what the reality is.”
That child’s-eye optimism sits against something more bittersweet. “In my mind it’s about having that nostalgic faded, sunbleached Brighton in the backdrop with pops of bright colour,” Alexandra says. The promenades and seafront take on a hazy, half-remembered quality, like a family holiday that might not have been as happy as the photos suggest.
“It’s an extension of Bunny’s character”
Alexandra Toomey on the Cavalier
A noughties throwback on four wheels
For Pete Jackson, seeing those ideas materialise on set felt like a small miracle. “It’s one of those dream scenarios where I lived with it in my imagination for so many years while I’m writing it,” he says. “To suddenly be on set and see that it’s better than I could have imagined, that everyone that’s come on board has elevated and made it better, is just so, so thrilling.”
His favourite detail is parked right in the centre of Bunny’s world. “The perfect noughties throwback that has made my heart sing is our car, our Vauxhall Cavalier, which I’m going to try and buy off production once we wrap. It’s perfect.”
Matt has been making the most of it. “I’ve loved driving that,” he laughs. “I’ve been driving it like an absolute madman, burning around with a nine-year-old in the passenger seat.” Alexandra is just as obsessed.
“I absolutely love that car,” he says. “Everyone’s got their eyes on that car. It’s an extension of Bunny’s character.”
Layer in the soundtrack, the styling and those washed-out seafront vistas and the show quietly becomes a period piece in its own right. “There’s lots of little nods back to the time that I remember,” Matt says. “Because it is ultimately a period piece in a way. If you’re a fan of the 90s and that sort of culture, I think there’s going to be a lot in it for you.”
Watch the full video above to hear Matt, Sarah, Alexandra and Pete talk about how Brighton, Bunny and that beloved Cavalier all collide on screen in The Death of Bunny Munro.
The Death Of Bunny Munro is streaming now on Sky
