Gary Oldman played the hot-tempered Jackson Lamb on Slow Horses for six seasons. Of course, when an actor spends so much time with a character, he develops an affinity for it.
Lamb, with his steely barbs and epithets, won over TV fans. Despite his sincere dislike, Oldman, 68, also liked him.
“I like the fact that he speaks directly and has no filter. I like people like that,” the Oscar winner says during a video call from London.
Can they be friends in real life? Oldman laughed out loud. “I don’t know if I’d like to have dinner with him once a week, but if he was at a dinner party and I happened to run into him, I’d probably enjoy it. It would be an interesting evening,” he says, smiling.
Since its first season in 2022, Slow Horses has become one of Apple’s most beloved shows. Based on Mick Herron’s thriller House of Slough, Oldman’s Lamb leads a group of MI5 outcasts exiled to spy purgatory.
Lamb is unkempt and wears dirty clothes. When he’s not telling off his subordinates, he smokes and drinks. Political correctness is a trait he does not possess. His voicemail greets callers with a direct message: “This is Lamb. If I haven’t answered, it’s because I don’t want to talk to you.”
“I wouldn’t really want to hang out with him. I’d like him to shower more often and then maybe,” Oldman says, his voice trailing off.
Lamb isn’t the first spy he’s played: Oldman received an Oscar nomination for playing John le Carré’s George Smiley in 2011’s Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.
In the spy world, there are rules: watch your back and cover your ass. Lamb lives among those who live in Herron’s world.
But in his life, Oldman adheres to some rules: honesty and devotion.
“Always be honest and upfront. That’s something I instilled when my kids were younger,” says the father of four. “Loyalty is very important,” he continues. “I don’t have many friends, but the ones I have I’ve known for 40-50 years.”
In season six, Oldman battles MI5 boss Diana Taverner, played by Kristin Scott Thomas, as a group of crooks begin stalking the agents at Slough House.
As Lamb is unwaveringly loyal to his team, which includes characters played by Jack Lowden, Christopher Chang, Rosalind Eleazar, Aimee Ffion-Edwards, Tom Brooke and Saskia Reeves, the threats they face force him to work closely with his fellow agents to determine the danger they face.
But coming together as a family is something that is reflected in his real life among his co-stars.
“The cast and crew and everyone we put together has become like family. We’re all a little crazy, but overall we’re all one big happy family,” Oldman says.
To prove his point, Oldman made headlines when he publicly endorsed Lowden as the next James Bond.
“There were rumors that (Lowden) was on the shortlist,” Oldman said during a recent interview with Global’s Morning Show. “They’ve made their choice but haven’t announced it yet. So I’m crossing my fingers for Jack.”
Slow Horses started off a little slow. Despite critical acclaim, the Emmys ignored it for its first two seasons before the awards body took notice of the series. Since then he has racked up 23 wins and two victories.
On the back of the success of Slow Horses and a career that dates back to the 1980s, Oldman was awarded a knighthood last year.
Television was something new for the actor, who won an Oscar for his portrayal of Winston Churchill in the 2017 film Darkest Hour.
But he called Lamb the role of his life – and one he’ll happily continue to play for the rest of his career.
“You get to a certain age – I’m 68 now. These scripts come along, this character comes along, so I’m very lucky that he came along,” he says.
“I’m still working, and not only that, I’m on a hit show that you never know when it’s going to come out. When you start working on the first season, there’s a whole group of people who come together and we think it’s worth doing. But you put it out there and the world can say, ‘You’ve wasted your time.’ We don’t like it.” But this project has a real basis, and it is very popular.”
