Slow Horses star reveals he was going to quit acting before getting cast
Roddy Ho star Christopher Chung opened up at a recent BFI screening for the show, in collaboration with Radio Times.
While Slow Horses may be most recognisable for starring Gary Oldman, Jack Lowden and Kirstin Scott Thomas, in truth the hit Apple TV+ spy drama is a real ensemble.
Amongst those who have been with the series since the start are Rosalind Eleazar, Saskia Reeves, Jonathan Pryce and Christopher Chung and, ahead of season 4, Chung has revealed that being cast in the show marked a vital moment in his acting career.
Speaking at a BFI screening of the first episode, in collaboration with Radio Times, Chung was asked what stood out to him about the series before he got cast, to which he said: "I wanted to work with Gary Oldman."
"I got the scripts, and I think we were in lockdown. It was the first meeting that I had just out of lockdown, and it was very odd, because everyone was wearing masks, and I was allowed to take my mask off for like 10 minutes to do the tape so that people could see what I looked like. And the joke’s on them!", Chung joked.
He continued: "And then I let it go, and then two weeks later, the call came in. But I think I was at my wit's end with acting. I think I was gonna take a break from it. Then this came and turned everything around and changed my life."
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The fourth season of the show sees a whole host of new cast members join, including Tom Brooke, Joanna Scanlan, Ruth Bradley and James Callis.
Hugo Weaving has also joined the series, playing villainous figure Frank Harkness.
Read more:
- Gary Oldman drops hints about Slow Horses season 4 character death: "Somebody might cop it"
- Kin star says there's "a lot" of interest in resurrecting it for season 3
Opening up about his role, Weaving said: "He's a piece of work. He's highly trained, highly evolved in one way in his thinking, but he's a renegade, he's out there, and he is completely unsentimental.
"He's ruthless, but he's not without charm. And I'd say in this season, we see quite a lot of urbanity. He's quite an urbane character, but you feel that he's got a lethality, a physicality and a lethality to him as well.
"His potential threat is always there. So he’s a significant threat, I think. He reveals the threat, but he doesn't play his hand, he conceals his hand a lot. And he's a slow burn, the character’s a very slow burn throughout this particular season. But if you know the books, you know that Frank's got a bit of a life beyond this book."
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Slow Horses season 4 will stream on Apple TV+ from Wednesday 4th September – sign up to Apple TV+ now.
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