Gary Oldman has played the irascible Jackson Lamb on Slow Horses for six seasons.
asserted
Oldman → play → 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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they → spend → them
Lamb, with his steely barbs and epithets, is someone who has endeared himself to TV fans.
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who → endear → fans
Despite his genuine unpleasantness, Oldman, 68, has warmed up to him as well.
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Oldman → warm → him
“I like the fact that he’s a straight talker and he doesn’t really have a filter.
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he → like → filter
I do enjoy people like that,” the Oscar winner says in a video call from London.
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winner → enjoy → London
Oldman lets out a loud laugh.
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Oldman → let → 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.
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I → know → that
That would be an interesting evening,” he says, smiling.
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he → say → ?
Since its first season in 2022, Slow Horses has become one of Apple’s most beloved shows.
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Horses → become → 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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who → base → purgatory
Lamb is unkempt and he wears ratty clothes.
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he → wear → clothes
When he’s not curtly telling off his underlings, he’s smoking and drinking.
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he → tell → underlings
Political correctness is a trait he does not possess.
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he → possess → ?
His voice mail greets callers with a blunt message: “This is Lamb.
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This → greet → message
If I didn’t answer it’s because I don’t want to speak to you.”
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I → answer → you
“I wouldn’t really want to hang out with him.
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I → want → him
I’d like him to shower more and then maybe,” Oldman says, his voice trailing off.
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voice → like → ?
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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Oldman → play → Spy
Lamb lives by those in Herron’s world.
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Lamb → live → world
But in his own life, there are some rules Oldman goes by: honesty and loyalty.
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Oldman → be → life
That’s something I instilled when my kids were younger,” the father of four says.
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father → ’ → four
“Loyalty is a big thing,” he continues.
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he → continue → ?
“I don’t have many friends, but the ones I do have, I’ve known for 40, 50 years.”
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I → have → years
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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group → find → House
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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they → have → peril
But coming together like a family is something that is mirrored in his real life among his castmates.
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that → come → castmates
“The actors and the crew and everybody we put together has become like a family.
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we → put → family
We’re all a little crazy, but as a whole we’re all one big happy family,” Oldman says.
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Oldman → ’re → whole
To prove his point, Oldman made headlines when he publicly endorsed Lowden as the next James Bond.
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he → prove → Bond
“It’s been rumoured that (Lowden) is on the shortlist,” Oldman said during a recent interview with Global’s Morning Show.
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Oldman → rumour → Show
“They have made their choice, but they have not announced it yet.
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they → make → it
So my fingers are crossed for Jack.”
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fingers → cross → Jack
Despite garnering critical acclaim, it was ignored by the Emmys for its first two seasons before the awards body took notice of the series.
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body → garner → series
It has since gone on to nab 23 nods and two wins.
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It → go → nods
Amid the success of Slow Horses — and a career that stretches back to the 1980s — Oldman was awarded a knighthood last year.
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Oldman → stretch → knighthood
Television was something that was new to the actor, who won an Oscar for his portrayal of Winston Churchill in the 2017 film Darkest Hour.
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who → win → film
But he’s called Lamb the role of a lifetime — and it’s one he’ll happily continue playing for the rest of his career.
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he → call → career
“You get to a certain age — I’m now 68.
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I → get → age
Scripts like this come in, a character like this comes in, so I feel very lucky that it came up,” he says.
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he → come → this
…and 5 more, not listed.
The Aporia
