‘Succession’s Matthew Macfadyen to Play George Smiley in New John le Carré Series

Preview:

• Matthew Macfadyen may be our next screen George Smiley.
• A new TV series will adapt several John le Carré spy novels.
• Le Carré’s sons are behind the latest effort.

Spies, it would seem, never quite leave our screens. And would we even know if they’d snuck away anyway?

But between the Black Bag,’ they are still at the forefront of pop culture.

And that’s without mentioning the raft of straight-to-home entertainment titles that sneak on to streaming and elsewhere apparently every other month.

Yet the name Ian Fleming, carries more weight and –– usually at least –– a more recognizable stamp of potential quality.

Which goes some way to explain why his work keeps being adapted. Now, if a new project comes together as its backers hope, we could see the latest incarnation of le Carré’s most famous creation, George Smiley, show up.

As, Matthew Macfadyen is attached to play Smiley in a potential new series called ‘Legacy of Spies.’

It’s the latest development for The Ink Factory, the company founded by le Carré’s sons Stephen and Simon Cornwell, which has previously produced multiple adaptations of the author’s work.

That includes the series adaptation of ‘Golden Globes, including best actor for Hiddleston, upon its debut.

‘Legacy of Spies,’ however promises to be a little different…

What’s the story of ‘Legacy of Spies’?

The pitch comes with multiple scripts written by Ink Factory co-founder Stephen Cornwell and Clarissa Ingram.

‘Graham Yost (who also helped launch ‘Slow Horses’) is executive producing the potential series, based on le Carré’s series of novels featuring the character Smiley, ‘The Spy Who Came in From the Cold,’ ‘Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy,’ ‘The Honorable Schoolboy’ and several others, as well as some unpublished materials.

Le Carré’s bestselling novels were inspired by the author’s own experience of working for British intelligence in the 1950s and 60s. Some other work by le Carré –– the pen name of David Cornwell, who died aged 89 in 2020 –– will also be used in the show.

We’ll have to see if it gets picked up, but Variety’s story mentions that it has already been pitched and has multiple offers on the table, so we’re thinking it’s more a case of when this one gets made.

Legendary spymaster Smiley, a sometimes bureaucratic and calculating character, has previously been brought to screens by a long line of actors, including Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy’ TV miniseries.

Perhaps the most famous version was Alberto Iglesias, and its adapted screenplay from Peter Straughan and Bridget O’Connor.

In the novels, le Carré describes the character as, “Short, fat, and of a quiet disposition, he appeared to spend a lot of money on really bad clothes, which hung about his squat frame like skin on a shrunken toad,” which means the lanky Macfadyen will be playing a slightly shifted version.

Smiley is also far from the author’s only creation. The Ink Factory’s series and film adaptations of le Carré novels besides ‘The Night Manager’ include U.K. television series ‘Philip Seymour Hoffmann, in partnership with Amusement Park.

The company is also developing a new TV series based on le Carré’s ‘The Spy Who Came in From the Cold,’ and contemporary series adaptations of ‘The Constant Gardener’ (in English) and ‘A Most Wanted Man’ (in German).

Where else have we seen Matthew Macfadyen?

Macfadyen is probably best known at the moment for the aforementioned role on Sarah Snook’s Shiv Roy, who has his eye on more power in her father’s legacy media company.

He won two Emmys and two Jesse Armstrong’s show, which was on screens between 2018 and 2023.

The British actor is also known for his roles in films such as 2005’s ‘Deadpool & Wolverine.’

Next up is Nicole Kidman, which premiered this month at the SXSW festival.

And let’s not forget that the actor has fictional intelligence agency bona fides already: he played MI-5 agent Tom Quinn across several episodes of UK spy series ‘Spooks’ (retitled in the States as ‘MI-5’), so he knows his way around a dead drop.

Related Article: Matthew Macfadyen Talks 'Deadpool & Wolverine' and Playing Mr. Paradox

When will the new George Smiley series be on our screens?

That’s the big question –– right now, without a confirmed buyer for the project, there are zero details on a release.

But with multiple offers coming in, we can expect to hear news before too long; perhaps we could see another collaboration between AMC and a UK channel, as with ‘The Night Manager’ series? Or even Prime Video, which has nabbed the rights to two further seasons of the Hiddleston-fronted show.

John le Carré Movies and TV Shows:

• 'The Spy Who Came In from the Cold' (1965)
• 'The Deadly Affair' (1967)
• 'The Looking Glass War' (1970)
• 'Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy' (1979)
• 'Smiley's People' (1982)
• 'The Little Drummer Girl' (1984)
• 'A Perfect Spy' (1987)
• 'The Russia House' (1990)
• 'A Murder of Quality' (1991)
• 'The Tailor of Panama' (2001)
• 'The Constant Gardener' (2005)
• 'Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy' (2011)
• 'A Most Wanted Man' (2014)
• 'The Night Manager' (2016)
• 'Our Kind of Traitor' (2016)
• 'The Little Drummer Girl' (2018)

Buy Matthew Macfadyen Movies on Amazon