Downton Abbey star Hugh Bonneville has revealed he auditioned to play Jackson Lamb on Slow Horses – but Gary Oldman pipped him to the post.
The 62-year-old actor, who also plays Henry Brown in the Paddington movies, made an appearance at the Hay Festival this weekend at Hay-On-Wye.
During the annual cultural weekender, Bonneville appeared on stage to discuss his career to date, and shared the lengths he went to to try and nab the role of the curmudgeonly Jackson Lamb, head of the Slough House offices in the Apple TV series.
Admitting his agent told him the casting director thought he was “probably not right” for the role, Bonneville was told the character was a “really smelly, horrible bloke who sits in his office and farts and doesn’t shave.”
“She said, ‘He’s horrible, nobody really likes him, but he’s a sort of anti-hero and you’re going to like him. Will you go along and audition?’”
“I stopped shaving and I stopped washing, literally poured tea on my shirt, all sorts of things,” he explained (via The Telegraph).
“And I turned up for the meeting and the casting director opened the door and she thought, ‘God, what the hell is this?’”
Unfortunately for him, despite his hopes the audition “came out pretty good”, he was informed the next day that Gary Oldman had been awarded the role instead.
He added: “There are plenty of jobs that I haven’t got and you sort of think, ‘Well, I’m damned if I’m going to watch that,’ and then you watch it and think, ‘Oh, I can see why they cast him.’”
Slow Horses has become one of Apple TV’s stand out successes, producing five seasons and counting.
Now heading into its sixth season, with new episodes expected to drop later this year, the forthcoming instalment is expected to feel different to what we’ve seen so far.
After season five’s finale, Will Smith stepped down as showrunner, with Gaby Chiappe taking over for the upcoming episodes.
Speaking to Radio Times ahead of the BAFTA TV Awards 2026, actor Christopher Chung, who plays computer hacker Roddy Ho, teased what’s to come.
“Maybe […] a slightly different flavour, but I think every season has a slightly different flavour, so I don’t think the fans will be disappointed,” he said.
Meanwhile, Bonneville is set to take on a new role – appearing in the upcoming season 2 of Guy Ritchie’s The Gentlemen on Netflix.
He’s also leading the cast of an upcoming podcast adaptation of Sherlock Holmes’ tale, The Hound of the Baskervilles.
Slow Horses is available to stream on Apple TV. Season 6 is due for release later in 2026. Start your seven day free Apple TV trial.
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