Oscar winner Gary Oldman reflects on his path to becoming acting royalty and the sly spy thriller that, five seasons in, feels like home

Throughout his career, Gary Oldman has received his fair share of accolades. Academy Award-nominated for his turns in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and Mank, and Emmy-nominated for Friends and Slow Horses, the 67-year-old Brit finally scooped up nearly all the big trophies in 2018 for his portrayal of Winston Churchill in Darkest Hour. Yet, sweet as those moments were, they don’t compare to receiving a knighthood from Prince William at Windsor Castle. “It’s very humbling, overwhelming, and it’s something that is so unique, so its own thing, that you can’t rehearse for it,” says the actor — now Sir Gary Oldman — the morning after the ceremony. “It’s quite the pomp and circumstance; the long walk, the ride toward the castle, a quintet playing Handel, Bach. You go through these various rooms, with ornate, hand-painted ceilings. No one does it quite like the Brits. It’s pretty overwhelming.”

That Prince William, on the day, told Oldman he wants to give him “a good wash” speaks to the reach of his ongoing series Slow Horses. Now wrapping up his fifth season, the actor knows his dishevelled character Jackson Lamb is a crowd-pleaser — he just doesn’t care as much about outside validation as he used to. “When you’re younger, you’ve got a real fire and ambition and you are desperate for whatever you’re working on, for the end product, to be such that it might take you to the next level,” he explains. “It’s nice when you put something out there in the world, like Slow Horses, and it’s well-received, but what I’m enjoying is that it’s not so much about the end as it is about the day-to-day. I don’t have that anxiety that I had when I was in my 20s. I’m young still, but my blood pressure’s lower these days.”

The lack of pressure to please anyone but himself allows the actor to become fully immersed in the joys of the espionage series that has already completed filming on its yet-to-debut sixth season and is going into production for a seventh. “The characters are so extraordinary,” he says. “You are always looking for good writing, that’s your ground zero, and [author] Mick Herron has created this incredible universe. And the company of people that they’ve put together, we are like a family now. I miss them and I’m excited to see them again and get back to Slough House and all our shenanigans.”

These interactions, with esteemed colleagues like Jonathan Pryce, Kristin Scott Thomas and Saskia Reeves, is what keeps him looking forward to each returning season.

“Saskia is a very seasoned professional, so coming in, you know she’s done her homework, and she is going to be ready to burn. Jack Lowden’s adorable and a wonderful young actor. Kris is a great actor, charming,” he lists. “I don’t think you gain anything by bad-mouthing people publicly. You can just simply say they were great, but you lie through your teeth sometimes. I can genuinely say that, across the board, my Slough House rejects are wonderful. Even the people that come in and do a cameo or they’re not the mainstay of the show, have just been delightful. That’s what keeps me coming back.”

And then, of course, there is Jackson Lamb. In portraying the sardonic spy, Oldman continues to offer tiny glimpses into what turned a black-ops heavyweight into the miserable babysitter of MI5 outcasts, who you still never doubt is the smartest guy in the room. “Over the course of the seasons, there’s a peeling of the onion. You get a little something about Lamb — certainly going back to season two when he gives away a little something that happened back in the day and a mistake he made. In this season, he talks a little bit about Berlin and then dismisses it, and you don’t really know how much of the story is true?” he says. “But, overall, for Lamb the die is set. There’s not a huge character arc. He is who he is, but that’s also the fun of playing him.” It’s the subtle subversion of Slow Horses’ consistent tone and pace that Oldman finds its greatest appeal. “Some of these shows suddenly reveal something and jump the shark. I feel a bit cheated that I’ve spent time with a show and all of a sudden you go, ‘This is bonkers.’ You’re not going to get that with Slow Horses,” he says. “This world can be a little crazy, as with season five where it’s leaning more towards the comic side of it, but you have to nurse the show and be aware when it’s tipping into parody. So, for Lamb, I think my journey’s set, and we want to be careful not to disappoint people that have put their time in.”

Click here to read our previous story.

The season finale of Slow Horses begins streaming on Wednesday, October 29 on Apple TV+