Gary Oldman to Star in Drama Series ‘Slow Horses’ at Apple

By Joe Otterson

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Gary Oldman will star in a small screen adaptation of Mick Herron’s Slough House books at Apple, Variety has learned.

Titled “Slow Horses” after the first novel in the series, the show follows a team of British intelligence agents who serve in a dumping ground department of MI5 – Slough House. Oldman will star as Jackson Lamb, the brilliant but irascible leader of the spies who end up in Slough House due to their career ending mistakes.

Herron has published six novels and two novellas in the Slough House series to date, with another novella due out in January.

Former “Veep” writer Will Smith will write and executive produce, with Graham Yost, Jamie Laurenson, Hakan Kousetta, Iain Canning, Emile Sherman, Gail Matrux, and Douglas Urbanski also executive producing. The series was commissioned for out of the UK by Apple’s heads of worldwide video, Zack Van Amburg and Jamie Erlicht, and creative director for Europe worldwide video, Jay Hunt. See-Saw films will produce.

This marks one of few TV roles Oldman has held throughout his career and his first TV regular role. That includes an Emmy-nominated guest starring role on “Friends” as an actor with a habit of spitting while saying his lines. According to sources, Oldman has been courted for roles by multiple networks and streaming services over the years to no avail.

Oldman is currently filming the David Fincher-directed feature “Mank,” in which Oldman will star as screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz during the development of “Citizen Kane.” He previously won an Academy Award for best actor for his portrayal of Winston Churchill in 2017’s “Darkest Hour” and was nominated for the film “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.” He is known for roles in films such as “Sid and Nancy,” “Léon: The Professional,” “True Romance,” “Bram Stoker’s Dracula,” and the “Harry Potter” and “Dark Knight” franchises.

He is repped APA, Douglas Management Group, and Paul Hastings LLP.