Jack Lowden on Playing the Smartest Person in the Room in Slow Horses

Jack Lowden joined us to talk all about the hit Apple TV+ series Slow Horses and playing River across the last three seasons of the show.  When first taking on the role it was imperative to dive into research, and in doing so he had the opportunity to speak to a handful of people working within the espionage space as spies.  He noticed a commonality in how those drawn to the profession are very often the smartest people in a room, and spoke to how this influenced the intelligence behind River as a character, and also some of his personal frustrations in feeling like he should be rising through the ranks further than he is.  Lowden also shared the fun he has in playing with River's arrogance as well as the characters dry wit and cynicism.  He noted that the character loves to roll his eyes figuratively at a lot of situations he is faced with. In working with co-star Gary Oldman, he spoke to their shared experience in theater and how this feeds into the way they both prepare for scenes in a very similar way.

For Lowden, the biggest challenge when he started on the show was finding the tone of it, but he noted how it is now something he feels very comfortable with and enjoys playing within the parameters of.  He shared how the experience of playing a recurring character across three seasons has really allowed him to find more confidence in himself as a performer and credits his experience on the show with this.

Watch the full conversation below.

Slow Horses follows a team of British intelligence agents who serve as a dumping ground department of MI5 due to their career-ending mistakes.