“The question that other actors in the show are often asked is, ‘Does he smell?’” Sir Gary Oldman says. “And I don’t.”
Oldman, speaking with a small group of press at the Toronto International Film Festival ahead of the season premiere of Slow Horses, finds himself fielding a question about spending six seasons as the dishevelled, greasy-haired, and presumably smelly spy Jackson Lamb. As the critic seated one place downwind from Oldman during the conversation, I can attest that the Oscar-winner at least showered that morning or the night before. Any olfactory sensation he conjures during Slow Horses is a testament to his performance. Some actors exude the art from their pores. Oldman is one of them.
Season six of Slow Horses, which is now streaming on AppleTV, keeps the riveting spy series running high largely thanks to Oldman’s performance. As Lamb, he commands the MI5 outpost of Slough House—like an Island of Misfit Toys for British spies—with mannered authority. However, this season invites some peeks behind his cool-as-a-cucumber demeanour. Enemy operatives start picking off former Slough House agents one by one, which makes Lamb uncharacteristically protective of his motley crew.
Six seasons in, though, Oldman says “there’s only pros” when it comes to inhabiting a character over so many arcs. Moreover, he says there’s a thrill of discovery since the hit series adapts the spy novels by Mick Herron. The books, Oldman notes, weren’t the full series when Slow Horses began. He’s discovering the characters along with everyone else.
“There’s a lot of echoes in [season] six that we pick up from season two, season three, season four, and season five, and they all start to reveal themselves and all come together,” says Oldman. “I wish I knew some of those details at the beginning because as Mick writes the books, he reveals new things about the character, and he’s not terribly forthcoming. When you ask Mick, ‘Could you give me a little insight into this character?’ Or, ‘What do you think about this? What do you think about that?’ He’s not terribly forthcoming. He says, ‘Well, if it isn’t on the page, then I haven’t thought about it.’ I don’t quite believe him.”
There’s some spy psychology there, as Oldman analyses his colleague. But that illustrates why he advises anyone eager to watch Slow Horses to start at the beginning of season one and not season six. Lamb’s previous decisions have present-day echoes, particularly as colleague River Cartwright (Jack Lowden) and superior Diana Taverner (Kristin Scott Thomas) face unenviable sticky situations that harken back to choices made several missions ago. As Slough House becomes erased from the books of MI5 and Horses both current and former become targets, pieces from previous seasons come into play in a six-episode thrill-ride that ends with a cliffhanger.
Across the six seasons, moreover, it’s extraordinary to see Oldman’s growth with the character. He seems to enjoy Lamb’s bottomless lunches at the pubs a little more. And he knows how to integrate the take-aways and pithy barbs into the man’s dry humour.
As much as Lamb seems like a boor, though, Oldman never lets his sense of professionalism waiver. One sees a certain kinship with Oldman’s other iconic secret agent, George Smiley from Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, in Lamb. When asked how George Smiley might have fared in Slough House, Oldman pauses and reflects upon two spies that offer complementary sides of the same coin.
“They’re kind of both the smartest man in the room, aren’t they: George and Jackson? They’re a step ahead,” observes Oldman. “They can see stuff at 30,000 feet. They can have an overview of what’s going on.”
This season explores that perspective quite thrillingly as ghosts from the past return and converge upon Lamb’s allies.
“Jackson carries around all the baggage from Berlin and is full of guilt and self-hatred. Survivor’s guilt, I think he probably suffers from,” Oldman continues. “And of course Smiley’s Achilles’ heel that his blind spot was the affair that Karla set in motion. Because his one blind spot was [his wife] Ann. I think that they’re both good at their job, and they share the same brain in that sense, as sort of chess masters.”
One blind spot that arises in season six is Jackson’s increasingly paternal dynamic with River. As key parties from Cartwright’s life resurface as Horses begin disappearing, Lamb recognizes that his protégé needs protection, as much as it clashes with his signature trait of not giving a fuck.
Oldman admits that even though the books and show follow each other, the production leaves little room for improvisation to explore these yet to be written dynamics. However, he admits that one exchange while shooting the previous season made it into the show. Season five begins with a bombing of the penguin pen at the London zoo and, as Oldman and Lowden were running lines, he went through Lamb’s cue, “Name me one person who’s got a grudge against penguins.” A friend watching from the wings cracked, “Batman.” Fans know that quick-witted reply worked its way in.
It’s all highly scripted, of course, as the showrunners anticipate future twists and turns. “We’re incredibly meticulous every season,” says Oldman. “There’s a main writer and then a team of writers. But it doesn’t just happen. There’s an incredible amount of moving parts.”
One pleasure is watching the battle of minds as Lamb and Taverner spar. His wily ways clash with her by-the-books processes, but as Diana moves up the ranks, she veers into the sort of corrupt practices to which establishment types are susceptible. Lamb, meanwhile, finds freedom in his ability to go rogue. Both actors clearly relish these dynamics of their tête-à-tête.
“He’s the sort of linchpin, isn’t he, to all the action? It’s Lamb, particularly Lamb-Taverner, where everything radiates from,” Oldman observes. “With season six, Lamb discovers that no one has been paid, so he says, ‘We’ll look into it.’ Then he discovers that [they’ve] been wiped from the database.”
Oldman circles the chess game back to the conversation about the books for Slow Horses. He’s processing moves much like Lamb does, revisiting his backstories and piecing his character in the present, using past decisions to inform his actions in the drama that unfolds.
The actor notes that playing a developing character isn’t exactly new. He cites his portrayal of Sirius Black in the Harry Potter films and observes that the arc of the books wasn’t complete when the adaptations began.
“I said that I was a little unhappy with the way that I played Sirius Black because if I’d known the other stuff from book four, five, and six, I may have played him slightly differently,” says Oldman. “Who knows? You know, Jackson, I made my choices in season one. He’s not a character that is gonna have a huge arc. He’s fixed, he’s set in his ways. And when you meet him for the first time, you’re meeting someone with all that history and all that baggage. He’s sort of a broken guy when you meet him. You’re not experiencing that journey from Berlin. Then you would see the trajectory of the character. But we meet him at the end, if you like.”
One could say that Oldman follows his nose with Slow Horses. And the scent’s pretty good.
