Last Updated on 03/09/2024 by Arun jain
The British spies at the center of the Apple TV+ series “Slow Horses” aren’t particularly generous, or efficient or disciplined. They’re rejected from MI5, sent to a dark, dingy London office run by Jackson Lamb (Gary Oldman), a slovenly, scotch-swilling, flatulent burnout. Early in Season 4, which premieres Wednesday, Lamb objects when a new no-nonsense MI5 officer (Ruth Bradley) handcuffs him during an investigation.
“I wouldn’t want to take any chances with a man who looks like he gossips about people on the bus,” she tells him.
“You’re sad about my looks,” Lamb grumbles. “I have to call HR”
Will Smith, the showrunner, knew he had a gift when he was recruited to ride “Slow Horse.” Based on Mick Heron’s series of Slough House novels, the TV adaptation has the kind of humor and dysfunctional, high-stakes office politics that Smith wrote for “The Thick of It” and “Veep” under Armando Iannucci. It also stars Oldman, who is sinking his teeth into his first starring TV role, and Jonathan Pryce, who in the new season plays an old spy who descends into dementia (which complicates the world of espionage).
Then there’s a short, bluesy theme song performed by some guy named Mick Jagger. Already a fan of Heron’s books, Jagger was happy to join the party.
“Slow Horses” received nine Emmy nominations in July, including nods for best drama, lead actor in a drama (Oldman) and writing in a drama (Smith).
Each season of the series unfolds in quick, six-episode bursts. The latest follows Price’s David Cartwright and his cocksure, usually slow horse-matched grandson, River (Jack Lowden), as they try to free a rogue ex-CIA agent (Hugo Weaving) from Hell.
In a video interview from a family vacation in Greece, Smith discusses the universality of toxic workplaces and how to get a rock legend to join your merry band of misfits. This is an edited excerpt of the conversation.
What makes this such an ideal Gary Oldman role?
There’s a lot to that character to unpack, and Gary is confident enough to sit back and wait for those moments to emerge where he can just play the role of a ruined wreck of a man, and you know all those details are there. And it’s also a chameleon. He is a real transformative actor in that he becomes that person.
It seems that every kind of twist and movement is connected to the character. You believe that character. He is not larger than life, but likely a version of him that is cartoonish or very large. He doesn’t care what anyone thinks of him, and at the same time, you have to think that he was an absolutely amazing agent in his prime. Gary can sell all those things at once because he is a genius.
Lamb is a pretty despicable character in many ways – petty, selfish, even cruel. Why, then, do we root for him?
On paper everyone should hate him. It’s horrible. He is being bullied. It is mean. But I think he gives it to people who deserve it. While it’s gratuitous, there’s usually some sort of agenda behind it, and it’s given to people who messed up or are obnoxious. He is unlike any character we have seen before in the spy genre. We’ve seen hard drinkers who are broken, but none who are broken and unlovable and devil-may-care. And Gary gives it just enough twinkle that you can enjoy it without feeling too cold. There is a spark of warmth somewhere.
The interesting thing about Lamb is that the character arc is in the back story. We are meeting him at the end of all these things that have happened to him and made him a wreck of a man. So it’s interesting to unpack. And inside Garry can be these layers that you can open.
You have worked with Armando Inucci on multiple shows. What did you learn from him?
Armando taught me to trust my instincts and know that I would get there. I always felt that way, but seeing him do it showed me that I could do it. With Armando, the series feels like a living thing. He sees it as a living playpen. Rehearsals feed the writing, and he’ll change it during the shoot, and then again in editing.
And he listens to the artists, which is the main thing. In the UK writers are commonly removed, with some notable examples. They are often kept away from the sets. And I think it’s very important for writers to interact with actors and understand the actor’s mindset. Actors know characters. They will have really interesting ideas and insights. Armando’s writing team was always very connected to the cast, and I really like that.
How does one wrangle Mick Jagger to sing a series theme song and what does the song do, “Fantastic game,” add to the show?
It’s funny, I just believe it: Oh yeah, that’s the theme song. But it’s Mick Jagger! He is one of the most iconic rock singers of all time! Our music supervisor knew someone on Jagger’s team. When we first approached Gary Oldman, I was like, “He’ll never do that. This is pointless. He is a megastar.” So was Jagger. I was like, “Why would he? It’s just a waste of time. It’s not going to happen.”
But as it turned out, Mick was already a fan of the books, so we were pushing open doors. Daniel Pemberton [who scores the series along with the duo Toydrum] Wrote a great theme, and then we sent it to Mick and Mick put those lyrics over it, which tells you the premise of the show: Lamb is surrounded by “losers, misfits and boozers.” It’s a strange song. It is one of the many blessings showered on the show.
How would you describe the series’ approach to the world of espionage?
Mick Heron is apparently a huge fan of John Le Carré. Unlike Le Carré, Mick has not worked in the security service, but has worked in offices. His idea was to imagine if the security service was run like any other office, with pettiness and backsliding and burnouts and over-promoted people who shouldn’t be there.
Some actors have been contacted by people who know people in the service, and they say it’s frighteningly accurate. It’s a kind of creepy peek behind the curtain: Oh, my God, they’re just like us. They are as useless as everyone else.
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