Matthew Macfadyen Says Trump Assassination Attempt Reflected 'Death by Lightning' Filming

Matthew Macfadyen says filming 'Death by Lightning' felt surreal after the Trump assassination attempt

Matthew Macfadyen has drawn parallels between the July 2024 assassination attempt on Donald Trump and his experience filming Death by Lightning, the new Netflix historical drama about U.S. President James A. Garfield’s assassination.

Speaking to USA Today, Macfadyen said the event “mirrored” the themes of the show, which follows the election and death of Garfield (played by Michael Shannon) and his assassin, Charles Guiteau (played by Macfadyen). Production took place in Hungary during summer 2024, when news of the attack on Trump reached the cast.

“It was extremely hot that day, and it felt very stark and quite lonely,” Macfadyen recalled of filming Guiteau’s execution scene. “We were shooting in this enormous space on the outskirts of Budapest, and they'd built a proper gallows. It was quite odd and eerie.”

Shannon said the project became “more relevant” as real-life political events unfolded, including debates over President Joe Biden’s re-election bid and Kamala Harris’s eventual nomination to face Trump.

Reflecting on Garfield’s death in 1881, Shannon said he was struck by the president’s endurance. “The fact that he was able to keep thinking about other people and trying to manage the situation, even though he was in so much pain,” he said.

Macfadyen described Guiteau as “a sort of little drifter” who “really wants to matter and mean something,” adding that he found the historical figure “weirdly sympathetic.”

Death by Lightning, now streaming on Netflix, offers a look at a pivotal era of American history while coincidentally echoing current political divisions.