Slow horses is an Apple TV+ television adaptation based on the book series by award-winning author Mick Herron. The fourth season of Slow Horses is adapted from the fourth book in the series. The series follows a team of British intelligence agents who serve in an MI5 dump unit called Slough House.
Kadiff Kirwan joined Slow horses in the second season as Marcus Longridge. He has appeared in many television shows, but is perhaps best known for his role as Pete Wilson in DodoAaron in Chewing gumand Jason in Time Eaters. All six episodes Slow horses Season four is now available to stream on Apple TV+. The series will return in season 5.
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On-screen rant interviewed Kadiff Kirwan, discussing the trials and tribulations Marcus went through in the series’ fourth season. Slow horses. He talked about doing his own stunts, what he was most excited to explore this season, and what it was like when the show was embraced by audiences. Kirwan also talks about what it was like working with Gary Oldman and the rest of the incredible cast.
Kadiff Kirwan performs many of his own tricks on slow horses
“The garage fight scene? I think I still have a couple of bruises.”
Screen Rant: What were you most excited to explore this season?
Kadiff Kirwan: Shirley and Marcus’ dynamic intensifies as they both come under pressure. And then the surprise of who is chasing the horses this season. It was quite amazing. And the skill level of the bad guys. Marcus went through the ringer. Garage fight scene? I think I still have a couple of bruises from that.
Screen Rant: Do you do a lot of your own stunts?
Kadiff Kirwan: I did a lot of the stunts myself, and I also had a brilliant stunt double. But my understudy, he was, I think, 20 years older than me. So I thought, no, no, no, I’m going to do this. No, no, no, no, no, no. It felt great to push myself and push my body in every way possible. But yeah, those fight scenes were amazing. Really great.
Screen Rant: Is there anything you were most excited to film this season?
Kadiff Kirwan: For me it was the shootout at Slough House in the season finale. In those two weeks when we were filming, I didn’t even realize that doing this was a little boy’s dream. But it turned out that it was because I felt so strong and agile.
Author Mick Herron was present extensively during the filming of the fourth season.
“It’s been a really wonderful season of collaboration.”
Screen Rant: Have you read the books?
Kadiff Kirwan: I read the books. And the nice thing is that Will Smith, our showrunner, is always on set, but there was a lot more of Mick Herron this season. This way we were able to really understand their motivations and the things that we like. “Can we get more of this?” or “What do you think about this?” and “What do you think of this proposal?” It has truly been a wonderful season of collaboration.
The cast of Slow Horses has a group chat
“Literally 25 minutes ago I saw Chris Chang, who plays Roddy Ho. We talk every day.”
Screen Rant: What was it like working with this cast?
Kadiff Kirwan: Just 25 minutes ago I saw Chris Chang, who plays Roddy Ho. We talk every day. There is a group chat. Of course we see each other on set and stuff, but it was great and it was all top to bottom. Gary, he’s known for playing a variety of characters, but he’s really just a big cuddly bear. He’s very, very funny. He is very kind. He gives great advice. And he tells a good joke.
We all learn from each other and are constantly trying to outdo each other with stories and really make what’s on the page sing. So all this behind-the-scenes stuff really helps when we’re filming the big group scenes at Slough House. It was really special. The question I get asked all the time is: what does Gary smell like? Because he looks terrible as Lamb. My answer is always that he smells like he won an Oscar, so he smells nice.
Kadiff Kirwan learned a lot from Gary Oldman
“A lot of times we can throw things away, but he really pays attention to the punctuation of the sentences in the script. It was wonderful to be up close and see it.”
Screen Rant: What did you learn from working with Gary Oldman?
Kadiff Kirwan: I have a notebook of what I learned from Gary. I mean, there are so many things I can dive into and so many things I can’t. It was just being up close and personal with him and seeing how it worked. The details he squeezes out of every word, the appearance. He just inhabits the character from top to bottom, as if completely. He’s constantly trying to unearth the motivation behind things. He attacks the dialogue with such pathos and such clarity.
Just seeing that everything means something. We can often throw things away, but he really pays attention to the punctuation of sentences in the script. It was wonderful to be up close and see it. He is truly one of the best people I have ever seen up close and personal. He’s simply phenomenal.
Kadiff Kirwan is loved by a wide range of Slow Horses fans
“You will have sons, fathers, daughters, grandmothers and aunties. It’s just wonderful.”
Screen Rant: Slow Horses has an ever-growing fan base. What does it feel like to be fully embraced?
Kadiff Kirwan: Honestly, it’s incredible. The fans are so amazing. It depends on what kind of fans we have. Often you can tell this based on your work or when someone comes up to you, for example, this person likes chewing gum or they say, “This is going to hurt.” But in Slow Horses it applies to everyone. You will have sons, fathers, daughters, grandmothers and aunties. It’s just beautiful.
And while I was at the Emmy Awards a few weeks ago, I saw the caliber of famous people who wanted to come and talk to us and try to find out spoilers. We were like, “No, sorry, I can’t tell you that.” It was crazy. I thought, “Wow, I’m actually talking to Stephen Colbert about Slow Horses.” This is crazy. And he really likes this show. Oh wait, there’s Reese Witherspoon. I think she likes our show too. This is crazy. It was a joy because everyone is trying to do their best. It’s constant joy. No one returns to their trailer.
Kadiff Kirwan was surprised by many things in Slow Horses Season 4
“As a fan of the show, in addition to Marcus, he wanted to figure out the trajectory of the Rivera family and who was for whom in the family.”
Screen Rant: Is there anything that surprised you the most about this season?
Kadiff Kirwan: There were a lot of things. As a fan of the series, in addition to Marcus, he wanted to figure out the trajectory of the Rivera family and find out who is for whom in the family. It was like, hey, what? And then the shootout at Slough House, and what happens in that sequence? When I read the scripts, I thought, “How are they going to do this? Because this set is insane. This set is specially created. Are they really going to be able to blow it to pieces?”
And we did it. You feel the intention that is being captured on camera. Like, you’re sweating because there are so many lights on you, and you know that there are explosives 10 meters away from you. It’s all safe and fair, but the beauty of it is that every department is trying to outdo itself. So here you go, I’m going to outdo myself too. It was fucking amazing.
About Slow Horses Season 4
Slow Horses is an adaptation of Mick Herron’s CWA Gold Dagger Award-winning first novel in the Slow Horses series, which follows a team of British intelligence agents serving in MI5’s junkyard unit, Slough House. Gary Oldman plays Jackson Lamb, the brilliant but hot-tempered leader of the spies who end up in Slough House after making career-ending mistakes.
Check out our other interviews about Slow Horses Season 4: