*Prime Video’s new revenge thriller “Malice” arrives globally on November 14 with all six episodes available at launch. The series follows Adam, a charming tutor whose seemingly warm demeanor masks a calculated plan to infiltrate and dismantle the wealthy Tanner family from the inside.
For Jack Whitehall, stepping into Adam’s duality was both daunting and irresistible. “It was a great challenge as an actor,” he says, noting the sharp shift from his comedic background. “Doing a character like this that had a much more complex psychology was really exciting. I felt nervous to go to work every day.” The opportunity to embody a darker presence was the spark he’d been craving: “Just this amazing challenge and exhilarating experience getting the opportunity to play a villain.”
This revenge thriller asks one central question: how do you protect your family from the enemy within?
In “Malice,” Whitehall portrays “a charismatic tutor who charms his way into the life of the wealthy Tanner family while they’re on holiday in Greece. When the family’s nanny falls dangerously ill, Adam orchestrates his way into their London home, and his true vengeful nature begins to emerge,” per the synopsis.
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“Adam now starts to turn Jamie Tanner (David Duchovny) and Nat (Carice Van Houten) against each other and secretly plots to bring down the entire family,” the series description continues. “When Adam’s obsession with the family raises questions, those who dig deeper into his past find themselves playing a dangerous game. With his world collapsing around him, Jamie starts to realize that Adam may be responsible for all their recent disasters – but is it too late to save his family?”
That complexity makes the Tanners an especially compelling target. Whitehall points to the audience’s fascination with watching privilege unravel. “I think people quite like this is sort of subgenre that’s very popular right now of watching these really affluent families in their gilded cage, having to suffer and be brought down a notch or two,” he explains. Observing a family that “seemingly have it all” endure Adam’s carefully engineered chaos sits at the heart of the show.
The concept for “Malice” emerged from real-life observations of how easily a household’s dynamic can be disrupted. Creator James Wood said he and his producing partners realized they each knew families transformed by the arrival of a young male nanny and saw an opportunity to refresh the well-known thriller trope.
“I thought there was a great opportunity to re-energize that, reframe that genre by having a man in there and to do it with some wit.” Knowing Whitehall personally, Wood immediately saw him as the ideal fit: “The role of Adam was very much sort of built for Jack… in many ways he’s the perfect manny.”
Wood also wanted the character to showcase sides of Whitehall audiences hadn’t previously seen. “I knew there was a side of Jack as a performer that we hadn’t had a chance to see,” he explains. That blend of charm, humor, and something more unnerving gave the series its spark. “Having him in the lead makes the show hopefully pop in a way that it might not so much with a more established sort of drama actor.”
As viewers follow Adam from Greece to London, the show digs into ideas of trust, ambition, and the risk of letting the wrong person close. Wood says the story is grounded in both character and caution.
“We knew a few people who’d spent longer vetting their dog walker than who looks after their kids,” he notes. The Greek setting also ties into deeper literary roots: “In episode one, Adam’s character talks about nemesis. So in many ways, he is sort of like a Greek fury bringing down an arrogant, hubristic Jamie.”
Still, Wood prefers to approach the material through the lens of character rather than theme. “I’m trying to write great characters who might surprise you,” he says. Adam, in particular, is designed to shift shape — “you find him scary and sinister and other times, hopefully, he’s sort of pitiful and vulnerable and funny.”
That mix, paired with touches of dark humor, ultimately defines the series: “Hopefully also, the other plan was to make sure it was really entertaining… dramatic and thrilling, that there was some dark wit in it all the time.”
Watch our conversation with Jack and James below.
*This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
MORE NEWS ON EURWEB.COM: David Duchovny and Carice van Houten on ‘Malice,’ Marriage, and the Enemy Within | EUR Video Exclusive
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