Slow Horses creator teases “massive star” Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísù’s new character

Will Smith spoke exclusively with RadioTimes.com about Dìrísù’s season 3 role.

By James Hibbs

Published: Sunday, 26 November 2023 at 00:01 AM

Apple TV+ spy drama Slow Horses is back for its third season, with the regular cast including Gary Oldman and Jack Lowden all returning.

However, they’re not the only major cast members this time around – two major guest stars are joining, with Katherine Waterston playing MI5 agent Alison Dunn and Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísù playing Sean Donovan, the former head of security at the British embassy in Istanbul.

RadioTimes.com caught up with the show’s creator Will Smith to talk about the new season, and he explained why Dìrísù was so perfect as Sean, who is a man on a very specific mission this season, and what he brought to the role.

Smith explained: “He’s fantastic at action, but he’s also a brilliant actor. What we wanted for that part, the Sean Donovan part, is you’ve got to believe his anguish and his grief and that that is motivating him. If you don’t believe that, I don’t think you buy all things he does, and you start to question it.

“He just brought a reality to it, and an emotional heart and heft that just brings the central plot alive, brings it all alive. He’s phenomenal and I loved working with Ṣọpẹ́. He’s already a massive star and he’s gonna be an even bigger star. I mean, he’s off, he’s away.”

Saskia Reeves and Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísù in Slow Horses season 3 sitting at a table
Saskia Reeves and Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísù in Slow Horses season 3.
Apple TV+

The official synopsis for this third season says: “A romantic liaison in Istanbul threatens to expose a buried MI5 secret in London.

“When Jackson Lamb and his team of misfits are dragged into the fight, they find themselves caught in a conspiracy that threatens the future not just of Slough House but of MI5 itself.”

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A fourth season of Slow Horses has already been confirmed, which will be based on Mick Herron’s novel Spook Street and will feature Hugo Weaving and Joanna Scanlan in its guest cast.

The blurb of the Spook Street novel says: “Twenty years retired from the Intelligence Service, David Cartwright still knows where all the bones are buried. But when he forgets that secrets are supposed to stay hidden, there’s suddenly a target on his back.

“The ‘Old B****rd’ raised his grandson to be a hero, not a slow horse. Now, far from joining the myths and legends of Spook Street, River Cartwright is part of Jackson Lamb’s team of pen-pushing no-hopers at Slough House. Which doesn’t mean he won’t ditch everything and go rogue when his grandfather comes under threat.

“Lamb worked with Cartwright back in the day, and knows better than most that this is no innocent old man. So, when a panic button raises the alarm at Intelligence Service HQ, it’s Lamb who’s called on to identify the body. And it’s Lamb who’ll do whatever’s necessary to protect an agent in peril.”