Method acting might be a thing that helps some actor’s embody their character, but for Gary Oldman it’s not necessary to do that in order to portray his Slow Horses character Jackson Lamb.
Jack Lowden, Saskia Reeves and Christopher Chung reflected on their co-star at a premiere event for the Apple TV+ show’s fourth season, where they were asked about how Lamb is often critiqued for his personal hygiene and flatulence in the series. The trio were amused when an audience member asked about the lengths he goes to become Lamb on set, and whether he chooses to go full method.
Lowden, who plays agent River Cartwright, joked they “could do [Oldman] right up” by saying he does forgo showering like Lamb, but quickly admitted that “no, he smells wonderful”.
Chung, who portrays tech genius Roddy Ho, went on: “It’s interesting because people ask that quite a lot and I think because we’re with Gary all the time [when he’s in character] he just looks like that, that’s how I think he looks all the time and it’s not.”
Catherine Standish star Reeves added: “When we do an occasion like this he just turns up and we’re like ‘oh god, oh that’s not Jackson Lamb that’s Gary Oldman’.”
“Sometimes I do find myself staring at his raincoat going ‘oh my god, that is disgusting,'” she went on, reflecting on his character’s costume which is often dirty and full of holes. Chung added: “He genuinely loves it, he has a real fondness for his costume.”
Read more: Everything you need to know about Slow Horses season 4
For Lowden the best part of Oldman’s Jackson Lamb costume are his shoes, which he argues are very Dark Knight Joker-esque, as he joked: “That’s where his character has a bit of fun, they’re jazzy at the bottom.”
Reeves commended the show’s costume department for honing in on the little details, like the way Lamb’s shoes are “worn down in a certain area” to reflect how old they’re meant to be. She added: “The details are great, when we first walked onto the set of Slough House… I think we did two months in the studio and all the stuff inside the office was detailed.
“The windows, the radiator, the details of what they made, even a spider’s web in a corner. It was absolutely incredible.”
Slow Horses fourth season will see Lamb and his ragtag team of agents must contend with a dangerous new threat when bombs are set off around London.
Slow Horses season 4 premieres on Apple TV+ on Wednesday, 4 September