‘This has had real legs’: Gary Oldman returns to Slow Horses — one of Apple TV’s biggest hits

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Gary Oldman has played the irascible Jackson Lamb on Slow Horses for six seasons. Of course, when an actor spends that much time with a character, they come to develop an affinity for them.

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Lamb, with his steely barbs and epithets, is someone who has endeared himself to TV fans. Despite his genuine unpleasantness, Oldman, 68, has warmed up to him as well.

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“I like the fact that he’s a straight talker and he doesn’t really have a filter. I do enjoy people like that,” the Oscar winner says in a video call from London.

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Could they be friends in real life? Oldman lets out a loud laugh. “I don’t know if I’d want to go to dinner with him once a week, but if he was at a dinner party and I happened to meet him, I would probably enjoy that. That would be an interesting evening,” he says, smiling.

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Since its first season in 2022, Slow Horses has become one of Apple’s most beloved shows. Based on Mick Herron’s Slough House thriller novels, Oldman’s Lamb leads a bunch of MI-5 rejects who have been exiled to spy purgatory.

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Lamb is unkempt and he wears ratty clothes. When he’s not curtly telling off his underlings, he’s smoking and drinking. Political correctness is a trait he does not possess. His voice mail greets callers with a blunt message: “This is Lamb. If I didn’t answer it’s because I don’t want to speak to you.”

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“I wouldn’t really want to hang out with him. I’d like him to shower more and then maybe,” Oldman says, his voice trailing off.

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Lamb is not the first spy he’s played — Oldman nabbed an Oscar nomination for his portrayal of John le Carré’s George Smiley in 2011’s Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.

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There are rules in the spy world — watch your back and cover your ass. Lamb lives by those in Herron’s world.

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But in his own life, there are some rules Oldman goes by: honesty and loyalty.

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“Always be honest and upfront. That’s something I instilled when my kids were younger,” the father of four says. “Loyalty is a big thing,” he continues. “I don’t have many friends, but the ones I do have, I’ve known for 40, 50 years.”

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Season 6 finds Oldman going up against MI-5 boss Diana Taverner, played by Kristin Scott Thomas, when a rogue group of operatives starts targeting agents in Slough House.

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Because Lamb has an unwavering loyalty to his team — which includes characters played by Jack Lowden, Christopher Chung, Rosalind Eleazar, Aimee Ffion-Edwards, Tom Brooke and Saskia Reeves — the threats they face cause him to work closely with his fellow agents to identify the peril they’re up against.

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But coming together like a family is something that is mirrored in his real life among his castmates.

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“The actors and the crew and everybody we put together has become like a family. We’re all a little crazy, but as a whole we’re all one big happy family,” Oldman says.

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To prove his point, Oldman made headlines when he publicly endorsed Lowden as the next James Bond.