When it comes to iconic characters, Gary Oldman has played more than his fair share.
From stage, as a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, to his film roles in Sid and Nancy (1986), Dracula (1992), Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011), Darkest Hour (2017), the Batman trilogy and Harry Potter films – to name just a few – the actor is renowned as one of the finest of our time.
Yet, for all his versatility and popularity, Gary says he has never engaged with a character the way he has with Jackson Lamb in espionage thriller Slow Horses.
The British thespian has anchored the spy drama for six seasons as the dishevelled and unkempt head of Slough House, the section of MI5 for disgraced, failing agents.
Surprisingly, Gary, 68, has never led a TV series until Slow Horses, and he’s thrilled to have landed a part that he describes as “such fun to play”.
“This is the only experience I have with long form, but I can’t think of anything worse than being in a long-running series with people that you don’t get on with or you don’t like,” Gary tells TV WEEK.
“The group of people we’ve put together – the cast and crew – are like a big family. As another season gears up and my start date nears, I get excited. That has kept me going, so long may it continue.”
Gary also insists his habits are far more respectable than those of his MI5 counterpart. “I do like junk food occasionally but I don’t smoke and I don’t drink anymore,” he says.
“Jackson Lamb has no filter and will be very direct with people. I don’t want confrontation: life’s too short. Maybe I liked to, sort of, rough it up a bit when I was younger, but I don’t want to hurt people’s feelings. Whereas Lamb kind of takes a bit of pleasure in that, so I hope I haven’t picked up anything! And I haven’t farted since 1971!”
He can, however, tap into the Lamb persona quite easily – “you kind of carry the DNA of it around,” he says. “It gets under your skin.”
While audiences aren’t new to spy dramas, Slow Horses brings a unique perspective to the genre. It’s less slick in its approach – a purposeful move to make the agents appeal to the everyman viewer. Their jobs are dangerous, but they have similar realities.
“Mick [Herron] took this world and turned it on its head,” Gary says of the Slow Horses author. “Instead of the unreachable, fantastical world of agents like James Bond, we have alcoholics, drug addicts, people who must pay mortgages or are going through custody battles. They’re spies in a world we can relate to.”
Season six could be the best yet as Slough House finds itself targeted by ruthless assassins, bringing old faces back to the fold as Lamb tries to track down all his former and active agents before they are killed.“He gives the Horses a hard time but, underneath it all, he’s incredibly loyal and would take a bullet for them,” Gary explains.
Let’s hope he doesn’t have to!
You can watch Slow Horses on Apple TV.
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