Few actors can boast of a filmography as stacked with Oscar-worthy performances as Gary Oldman. The Academy Award-winning actor has a slew of unforgettable roles right from his Academy Award-winning stint in Darkest Hour to the endlessly endearing Sirius Black in the Harry Potter films. And he continues to delight onscreen with the darkly funny spy series Slow Horses (despite teasing his retirement recently). After a successful first run, the show that revolves around outcast M15 agents, came back for Season 2 with Oldman's Jackson Lamb capably leading the lot. The second installment also marks the return of Jack Lowden as River Cartwright, Saskia Reeves as Catherine Standish, Kristin Scott Thomas as Deputy Director-General and more. With war secrets emerging and a city to save, the stakes are higher than ever in the ongoing season.
In an exclusive interview with Filmfare, Gary Oldman and Saskia Reeves unpacked their characters and the key to fart acting.
Your characters have such interesting layers. What’s the one thing you look for while choosing roles?
Gary: Well, there are two things. I think you’ve gotta find something in a character that you like because I think you would do the character a disservice if you don't. You’ve gotta find some redeeming quality in the character and then you're looking for something multi-layered and not one-dimensional.
Saskia: And also, you need the space to be able to be that character. I've considered roles that were very interesting characters but there was no scope in the story beyond the scene for me to be that character or display interesting things about that character on screen. With Slow Horses, I'm getting to really enjoy the juicy little things that Cathryn gets to do in the office or outside the office, a relationship that develops or a backstory that's bubbling away and might burst, those are really rich things to be given to do.
The show has its action bits but it also digs into the boring, slow side of spy work. How does that impact your performance?
Gary: Well, first of all, we have great source material and all of that you just described, a great deal of it is on the page and then adapted pretty well to a screenplay. So we have a certain amount of freedom with the text but we're not improvising much. We are script-bound and it all boils down to the writing. The interesting dynamics that you talk about are already on the page which is one of the reasons why I wanted to be involved with the show and why I think a lot of the other actors did too. We have the talent onboard, across the board - not just with actors but with the crew and designers. The material is strong and at the end of the day, that's how to get the acting to shine. You can hire all the people you want but it all comes down to the script.
Gary, you’ve played several iconic characters onscreen and Jackson Lamb has his funny character traits - he farts frequently. What is the key to fart acting?
Saskia: (Hahahah) Yeah, what goes into fart acting, I wonder.
Gary: (Hahahah) Well, at my age I'm doing all fart acting. I’m kidding, it's all sound effects, of course, it's all done in post-production. I'm not a particularly gassy person. I think I was 45 the first time I farted. Although I did fart on Christian Slater once during a scene in True Romance. I didn't mean to, but he went "You just farted on me!" (Hahahah) He went, "What the hell Gary?". But, it's all in the posture and the physicality of it. What do you do? You just lift a cheek and they put sound on later. I hope that offers some clarity.
Slow Horses Season 2 is currently available to stream on OTT.
SEE ALSO: Exclusive: Kate Hudson and Kathryn Hahn on reuniting in Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
In an exclusive interview with Filmfare, Gary Oldman and Saskia Reeves unpacked their characters and the key to fart acting.
Your characters have such interesting layers. What’s the one thing you look for while choosing roles?
Gary: Well, there are two things. I think you’ve gotta find something in a character that you like because I think you would do the character a disservice if you don't. You’ve gotta find some redeeming quality in the character and then you're looking for something multi-layered and not one-dimensional.
Saskia: And also, you need the space to be able to be that character. I've considered roles that were very interesting characters but there was no scope in the story beyond the scene for me to be that character or display interesting things about that character on screen. With Slow Horses, I'm getting to really enjoy the juicy little things that Cathryn gets to do in the office or outside the office, a relationship that develops or a backstory that's bubbling away and might burst, those are really rich things to be given to do.
The show has its action bits but it also digs into the boring, slow side of spy work. How does that impact your performance?
Gary: Well, first of all, we have great source material and all of that you just described, a great deal of it is on the page and then adapted pretty well to a screenplay. So we have a certain amount of freedom with the text but we're not improvising much. We are script-bound and it all boils down to the writing. The interesting dynamics that you talk about are already on the page which is one of the reasons why I wanted to be involved with the show and why I think a lot of the other actors did too. We have the talent onboard, across the board - not just with actors but with the crew and designers. The material is strong and at the end of the day, that's how to get the acting to shine. You can hire all the people you want but it all comes down to the script.
Gary, you’ve played several iconic characters onscreen and Jackson Lamb has his funny character traits - he farts frequently. What is the key to fart acting?
Saskia: (Hahahah) Yeah, what goes into fart acting, I wonder.
Gary: (Hahahah) Well, at my age I'm doing all fart acting. I’m kidding, it's all sound effects, of course, it's all done in post-production. I'm not a particularly gassy person. I think I was 45 the first time I farted. Although I did fart on Christian Slater once during a scene in True Romance. I didn't mean to, but he went "You just farted on me!" (Hahahah) He went, "What the hell Gary?". But, it's all in the posture and the physicality of it. What do you do? You just lift a cheek and they put sound on later. I hope that offers some clarity.
Slow Horses Season 2 is currently available to stream on OTT.
SEE ALSO: Exclusive: Kate Hudson and Kathryn Hahn on reuniting in Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
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