"Formidable" and "consumed by ambition" is how actress Kristin Scott Thomas describes Diana Taverner, the MI5 boss she plays in new Apple TV+ series Slow Horses.
The show tells the story of British MI5 agent River Cartwright (Jack Lowden) who, after a botched training exercise, is exiled to Slough House, an administrative purgatory for service rejects. Known as Slow Horses, the team typically are given dull, paper pushing tasks, with their grumpy boss Jackson lamb (Gary Oldman) expecting them to quit out of boredom. Life at Slough House is usually boring, until the team become embroiled in a dangerous mission.
The Four Weddings and a Funeral star appears in the upcoming thriller, based on the book series Slough House by Mick Herron, as the boss of MI5's Regents Park Headquarters.
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Describing Diana, Kristin says: "She has no redeeming qualities. There's no back story that shows she had a miserable childhood or anything like that, so there's no apparent reason for her viciousness."
While Kristin hadn't read the popular book series the show is adapted from, the veteran actress is now "up to speed" adding:
"I do understand that there’s a huge huge following and people will be very anxious and observant that we stick to the rules, the Herron rules [referencing the author of the books and the rules created by him]; not the London rules or the Moscow rules but the Herron rules."
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When she was first cast in the role the actress says that her friends, who have read the books, "fell upon [her] like a tonne of bricks."
"[They] said 'oh this is fantastic you’ve got to do this', 'I hope you’re doing this and oh it’s got to be so good." Kristin adds, saying that this was when she truly realised how popular this series was.
The Darkest Hour star added that despite Slow Horses not being on her radar, as it's not a genre she is particularly drawn to, she says that it is a "really good story."
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Adding that she felt drawn to the role as "[she] just thought it was a really brilliant script."
Slow Horses is based on the book series Slough House written by Mick Herron. The first book Slow Horses was published by Soho Crime in 2010, to rave reviews from fans of the genre.
There are currently seven books published in the series, with the eighth coming out in May.
The TV show has been written by Will Smith (not that Will Smith) and is directed by James Hawkes.
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The first two episode of Slow Horses are available now on Apple TV+ with the remainder of episodes releasing weekly on Wednesdays from 6 April.
Isobel Pankhurst