Jack Whitehall talks his dark new psychopath role and his plans for an all-new sitcom

This article first appeared in Radio Times magazine.

For most parents, having a child involves a soundtrack of nursery rhymes, CBeebies and soothing music. But while comedian Jack Whitehall was bonding with newborn daughter Elsie, he was also preparing to play the psychopathic male nanny to a super-rich family in the thriller Malice. That’s not in the baby books.

It led to an odd juxtaposition at home with his fiancée Roxy Horner, as he researched characters who are outwardly charming before revealing themselves to be dangerously insane. "The run-up to rehearsals was a strange time," he explains. "I was in this blissful bubble with the baby but also trying to prepare for this part.

"One day Roxy came down and I was watching Psycho with Elsie. She was probably a bit young to be watching Anthony Perkins doing his thing but she was tiny, so I got away with it!

"About two weeks after Elsie was born, James [Wood, the show’s writer] brought me a book about a French serial killer, along with some flowers – 'That’s a lovely baby, congratulations, here’s a story about a man who kills his entire family.' That was my reading material during the first month of fatherhood."

And his preparation extended beyond reading and watching films. In Malice, the Tanner family, headed by Jamie and Nat (David Duchovny and Carice van Houten) fall for Adam’s charms when they meet him at their holiday home in Greece and, as such, Whitehall had to learn to cook, mix cocktails, dance and swim convincingly. "Adam’s very good at everything, and that’s been one of the major challenges!" Whitehall laughs. "I’m used to playing quite incapable characters, which is much easier."

As the series unfolds, it becomes clear that Adam isn’t what he first appears to be and, for reasons that don’t become clear until the final episode, he is determined to infiltrate and destroy the family.

For Whitehall, 37, playing a charismatic villain was a dream role. Born to parents Michael, a theatre agent, and Hilary, an actor, and having Nigel Havers and Richard Griffiths as godfathers, he says he was always "completely obsessed" with becoming an actor. But, despite a handful of small TV parts as a child, he felt his talents weren’t enough to sustain a career and found himself moving towards stand-up comedy instead.

Aged just 21, he was named Best Newcomer at the Edinburgh Comedy Awards for his debut show, and went on to win a string of plaudits, including being named ‘One to Watch’ by Hollywood bible Variety. He has since acted – notably as posh student JP in Channel 4’s sitcom Fresh Meat, and in Bad Education, which he co-created and co-wrote – but has always hankered after a part like Adam.

"Growing up on a diet of American movies from the 80s and 90s, it was always the British actor stealing the scenes as the villain. I was obsessed with Alan Rickman as the Sheriff of Nottingham in Robin Hood. Malice is a totally different genre, but there’s part of you that wants Adam to succeed in ruining this family, because they’re so garish and their life is so charming.

"It’s quite fun to see him messing with them, even if he does go a little bit over the top. You’re like, ‘You could have stopped at the mischievous high-jinks bit, you didn’t have to totally blow everything apart.'"

Filmed partly on location in Paros, Greece, where the Tanners have a luxurious white-washed villa, Malice is easy on the eye. In that regard it’s already drawn comparisons to hit US drama The White Lotus, which has a similar mix of drama, crime, and humour.

"There are a lot of really opulent settings on TV these days," says Whitehall, "and people like watching that. Equally, part of the fun is watching privileged people being really put through the wringer.

"Mike White [White Lotus writer] has written a lot in the comedy space as well as drama, and he’s able to marry those things expertly. Then there’s Jesse Armstrong, who’s gone from Peep Show to Succession: an amazing drama with humorous moments and funny characters. Increasingly there’s a blurred line between comedy and drama, which is reflective of life."

Alongside his own move into drama, Whitehall is also keeping his hand in with comedy. His stand-up tours remain sold out, and he’s had huge success with shows such as A League of Their Own. "I started out in comedy when I was 17," he says, "which is a long time doing one thing. As fun as it is, you do constantly need new challenges, and that’s why I loved getting the opportunity to do this.

"I’m currently writing a sitcom, and working on a couple of movies with writers: one is a broader comedy, the other is more dramatic. I just want to be able to do a wide variety of things and keep finding new challenges."

Balancing work and fatherhood is, of course, just one of them. In Greece, Whitehall was joined by Roxy and Elsie as he filmed scenes that involved Adam increasingly tightening the noose on the Tanners – from isolated incidents of cruelty to animals and creepy meddling to full-blown acts of revenge.

"It’s been strange filming quite brutal material and then coming home and putting the baby to bed,” he says. “There are definitely worse places to be shooting, though. They were all too willing to come out and support Daddy playing a psychopath!"

James Wood created Malice with his star in mind

Malice writer James Wood is best known for creating Rev, the award-winning BBC comedy starring Tom Hollander as a vicar in a deprived parish in east London. On that project, he worked closely with Hollander to create the part of Adam Smallbone — similarly, he wrote Malice with Jack Whitehall very much in mind.

"I loved writing Rev for Tom," says Wood. "We’d go and meet priests together. If you’re with the right person and your sensibilities match, it’s a lovely way to work.

"I’ve always enjoyed building a role with and for a particular actor and in Malice Jack was involved in some of the early script meetings.

"After we had the idea of a psychopathic manny, we all thought Jack was perfect because he’s charming and funny and would entertain your kids. And wouldn’t it be entertaining to see Jack play a sociopath?"

Given that Whitehall is best known for stand-up, was Wood worried about whether audiences would buy him as a terrifying presence in a psychological drama?

"There’s a rich tradition of comedy performers playing against type," he says. "Robin Williams did it incredibly well, as did Peter Sellers. The trick is to make something that feels emotionally honest, but entertaining and fresh.

"There’s a version of Malice that could have had an established drama star playing Adam, and it would have been good, but with Jack I think it really pops. Also, there’s something about our era that loves stories about liars, whether it be The Tinder Swindler, Baby Reindeer or Traitors."

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