“One of the Best I’ve Ever Done”: Slow Horses Stars Talk Season 6 at TIFF

As part of the Toronto International Film Festival’s Primetime lineup, the first two episodes of the sixth season of Slow Horses were screened at this year’s festival.

Cast members Gary Oldman, Olivia Cooke, Christopher Chung, Aimee-Ffion Edwards, Ruth Bradley, Rosalind Eleazar, and Saskia Reeves joined director Adam Randall at the premiere on Friday, September 11, at the TIFF Lightbox Theatre to discuss the new season, which finds the Slough House agents on the run in a high-stakes game of retaliation and revenge.

During the panel discussion following the screening, the cast shared firsthand insights into their character arcs, the show’s complex dynamics, and their experiences on set:

·      Olivia Cooke (Sid Baker): Discussing her highly anticipated return (she’s going off to do House of the Dragon and The Girlfriend), Cooke emphasized her deep appreciation of the series. “I know I’ve said this in the past, and I’ve been lying, but this is genuinely, his job is one of the best I’ve ever done,” she shared, adding that “the alchemy that this show has is unlike any that I’ve experienced.”

·      Christopher Chung (Roddy Ho): Chung teased the consequences of his character’s previous missteps, noting that Season 5 “left of a lot of landscape for me to kind of figure out how he was going to navigate the fallout of him being having the wool pulled over his eyes.” He also expressed his excitement about Olivia Cooke’s return, stating, “it has just been the most incredible season because we’ve had Olivia come back.”

·      Aimee-Ffion Edwards (Shirley Dander): Reflecting on joining the show with minimal initial information, Edwards highlighted the unique opportunity the long-running series provides. “We get to develop these characters really slowly, but with lots of nuance,” she said. “It’s a privilege, really.”

·      Ruth Bradley (Emma Flyte): When asked about acting opposite veterans like Kristin Scott Thomas and Gary Oldman, Bradley praised their leadership on set. “What I actually have learned is that you can be like an incredible, world-renowned actor and be extremely kind and generous to everybody and know everybody’s name on the set… and treat everybody beautifully.

·      Rosalind Eleazar (Louisa Guy): Balancing the Slow Horses premiere alongside being honoured with a TIFF Tribute Award for Chris Rock’s Misty Green, Eleazar expressed her deep connection to the cast. “This feels like home, and this feels like family,” she remarked. “I had such a good time coming back to this show.”

·      Saskia Reeves (Catherine Standish): Reeves discussed her character’s ongoing battle to maintain composure in Slough House, stating, “What I love about her is her attempt to keep order and her attempt to stay sober.” She hinted at the broader thematic darkness to come, noting that Season 6 “shows every single character going through something very complicated.”

·      Gary Oldman (Jackson Lamb): The panel concluded on a comedic note as Oldman recounted on his viral moment from earlier in the day where he got to meet Air Bud!  . Highlighting the amusing contrast between their gritty espionage world and the backstage encounter, Oldman joked, “You’re in this thing called Slow Horses, and then you know, you walk into this room, and we all just went, ‘Oh, puppy!”

The sixth season of Slow Horses continues on Apple TV.