New Delhi, Sep 4 (PTI) Veteran British star Gary Oldman says he has little in common with Jackson Lamb, the notoriously foul-mouthed spy he has portrayed in many seasons of “Slow Horses”, as unlike the character, he avoids confrontation and would never deliberately make someone feel uncomfortable.
Over a career spanning more than 45 years, Oldman has portrayed a wide range of characters, from memorable villains in “Leon: The Professional”, “Air Force One” and “The Fifth Element” to supporting roles in “The Dark Knight” trilogy and the “Harry Potter” films, as well as his Oscar-winning portrayal of Winston Churchill in “Darkest Hour”. He even played an understated spy in “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy”.
But Jackson Lamb is of a different breed. He is crude, contemptuous, cynical, unkempt, openly smokes, drinks cheap alcohol and eats junk food, all this in addition to his ever-farting state of existence.
Yet, beneath all this lies a brilliant spymaster — sharp, instinctive, fiercely loyal and always several steps ahead of both his enemies and his own superiors.
So did years of playing this unconventional spy rub off on him? “Well, I would hope not. Well, I do like junk food occasionally, I try to avoid it. I don’t smoke and I don’t drink anymore. I’m much softer than (him),” Oldman said during a virtual press conference, also attended by PTI.
According to the 68-year-old actor, Jackson Lamb, which he has played in five seasons with the sixth slated for release and two more in the production, is a man without any “filter, so he’ll be very direct with people”.
“And I don’t want confrontation now, life’s too short, and maybe I like to sort of rough it up a bit when I was younger but I’m far too… I don’t want to hurt people’s feelings, I don’t want to make people feel less than or uncomfortable.
“Lamb, he does a bit, there’s a side of him that actually takes pleasure in that. So, I hope I’ve not picked up anything,” Oldman said.
“Slow Horses”, which will return with its sixth chapter on September 16 on Apple TV, follows a group of disgraced MI5 agents who have been banished to Slough House, a dumping ground for spies who have made career-ending mistakes but have not been fired.
Led by Jackson Lamb, the so-called “slow horses” are assigned tedious, low-level work but inevitably find themselves drawn into dangerous investigations that put them at the centre of high-stakes national security threats.
Based on Mick Herron’s bestselling “Slough House” novels, the show combines espionage, dark humour and workplace drama while chronicling the dysfunctional but fiercely loyal team of misfits.
Such has been the authenticity of his portrayal that fans have often posed a particular question to Oldman’s co-stars Kristin Scott Thomas and Jack Lowden, he said.
“People ask them, ‘Does he smell?’ Well, I don’t smell, it’s all smoke and mirrors, it’s all make-up and hair gel,” he stressed.
Oldman said that the character has become a part of his everyday life now.
“It’s been an interesting thing playing a character who is the lead in something. I’ve done it with ‘Harry Potter’, and I’ve done it with ‘The Batman’ trilogy, but that was sort of infrequent, it’s not as continuous as this.
“And we’re all very comfortable with these characters, and I literally could do Jackson Lamb in an instant.. You carry the DNA of the thing around with you.” Since its debut in 2022, “Slow Horses” has steadily grown in popularity, earning acclaim for its sharp writing, dark humour and unconventional take on the espionage genre.
Over the years, the series has built a loyal fan base and emerged as one of the most celebrated spy dramas in recent television.
Asked why the show has resonated with viewers so much all over the world that they eagerly wait for a new season, Oldman said the appeal lies in the fact that spies in “Slow Horses” are unlike the ever-famous James Bond or Jason Bourne, the lead protagonist of the Bourne franchise.
“Mick (the author) has sort of turned the world of spies sort of upside down on its head. Instead of this unreachable, fantastical world out there of James Bond… What we have with the ‘Slow Horses’, is alcoholics, drug addicts, dysfunctional people and people who have got to pay their mortgages.
“We’ve got people that are going through divorce or separated from their partners but they’re trying to kind of work out the custody arrangements with their kids. They’re spies but it’s a world that we can relate to or we can touch and understand. And that’s what has people coming back to the show.” Oldman said the team of “Slow Horses” is very conscious of keeping the cycle going as they know that having a long gap between seasons will make viewers almost forget the characters.
He said the show’s quality of the writing is simply brilliant and its characters — whether it is Lowden’s River Cartwright, Thomas’ Diana Taverner or Saskia Reeves as Catherine Standish or Rosalind Eleazar as Louisa Guy — are quite fascinating.
“We have a wonderful template, which are the books, so you’re not suddenly jumping the shark,” he added.
What does he miss between the shooting of seasons? For Oldman, it is the company and camaraderie between the cast, which has become like “a big family”.
“As a new season gears up and as my start date sort of nears, I get quite excited to get on the set again and see Saskia, Jack, Chris (Christopher Chung), Amiee (Aimee-Ffion Edwards) and Tom (Brooke).
“I think that’s been one of the things that has made it as enjoyable as it is over such a long period of time. 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. I think that would be hard. So, that has really kept me going,” he said. PTI RB RB BK BK
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