‘Slow Horses’ Season 4 Finale: Actor Whose Character Dies Kept the Secret for More Than a Year, Even From Their Family

Warning: This article contains major spoilers for the Season 4 finale of “Slow Horses”

The actor whose character dies in the Season 4 finale of “Slow Horses” had to keep the secret for more than a year, even from his own family. “You’re the first person I’ve told,” he said in an emotional Zoom interview.

If you’ve already watched the finale, which is now streaming on Apple TV+, you know that it’s Marcus Longridge (Kadiff Kirwan) who dies in a shootout with an assassin in Slough House.

TheWrap spoke with Kirwan about having to lie to his family, friends, co-stars in the London stage production of “The Hot Wing King” and the media for so long. During the interview, he praised series lead Gary Oldman as “the kindest, most generous, funny, geezer” and Oldman’s gruff character Jackson Lamb as “the ultimate papa bear.”

TheWrap: At what point did you find out that Marcus was going to die? 

Kadiff Kirwan: I knew from the beginning. I didn’t know how he was going to die, but I knew when I signed up for the show I was going to do three [of the Mick Herron] books. I was trying to make it more, trying to not let them kill me, but I’m so, so grateful. Oh, man, what a death. If you go, you want to go like that, right?

How did you feel about it happening offscreen?

I think it’s the way they’ve been doing it with the Horses. There’s a sort of respect and a reverence for them, which I’m so grateful for. The edit that we’ve ended up with is really special. We shot a lot of stuff around the death, and I think the way they’ve done it is incredibly tasteful, and it’s more about not just him passing, but how it affects everyone else in the building, and everyone else, especially Shirley (Aimee-Ffion Edwards), and how Lamb still has Marcus’s back right at the end to make sure his family is looked after.

Are you getting a little choked up here, thinking about it?

I’m literally, yeah, it’s the first time I’ve said that. I haven’t told my family that my character dies. Sharon, you are literally the first person I’ve told so when the last episode goes out, I’m actually going to go up to watch it with my family. I’m going to record them watching it, because I haven’t told a soul since.

Wow. Marcus is killed off in the books as well?

It does happen in the books, yeah. But what’s nice is the way they source material is fantastic, but they’ve been able to twist and turn things in certain ways. But it made sense to have Marcus go for the evolution of the show, but also the evolution of the the other people.

It’s so devastating for Shirley. They had this kind of antagonistic relationship where they’re insulting each other and putting each other down, but they really were devoted to each other.

Completely. And it’s so rare that you see a workplace relationship that is completely platonic, and it’s respect and it’s reverence for each other. I adore their relationship. Honestly, my scenes with Aimee-Ffion Edwards as Shirley were to this day, and will be, some of my happiest memories on any set ever.

Last season, you two were killing it in the finale, picking off all the dogs, you seemed invincible. And then this one guy [takes you out]…

This one French assassin comes and it’s mad, because obviously the cliffhanger is the way you hear the shot. You don’t know who’s gone. And honestly, I’m so gutted. 

Earlier in the season, we had a fakeout with the suggestion that River (Jack Lowden) had died. So do you think that plays into people thinking, “Oh, no, Marcus can’t really be dead?”

There’s no way people think [Marcus was going to die]. My family and I did a spoof video of, like, who’s going to pass away. We’re all on this video, my siblings, my family. They’re all like, “Oh, it’s going to be Louisa (Rosalind Eleazar). Min’s gone, so something’s going to happen to her.” And I was like, “Oh gosh, imagine if it was Louisa,” and I’m just playing along, all the while knowing I’m the one with my brains all up the side of Slough House’s top office.

You’ve got an amazing poker face.

Yes. Also I’m under contract with Apple, and I didn’t want to piss them off. They’ve been very, very good to me, and I hope will continue to be good to me in the future. It’s been a test for myself to keep the secret. So I’m really happy I’ve been able to keep it for well over a year.

That’s a long time. 

I was doing all this press. Season 5 is already in the can, obviously, and I’m not in Season 5. But even the play that I’ve been doing at the National Theatre I just finished two weeks ago, throughout the whole play [the cast was like], “Oh, we’ve just seen that ‘Slow Horses’ is filming down the road.” I was like, “Yeah, and I’m filming all day and I’ve got a show tonight. I don’t know where I get my energy from.” I’ve lied to everyone but you. 

I’m very honored. So it’s kind of like being a spy.

Right. They keep the secrets. It’s beautiful. And I love that there’s very few TV shows that have this kind of tension and have this kind of appetite. I’m just so happy that I’m a part of that. 

In retrospect, what was Marcus’ finest moment in the series?

Probably going through the bloody window of that shop. [Laughs] I would say his final scene, the shootout and his final scene. Because, and this is not a slight on anyone, if he was having that conversation about going out there with someone like River or Ho (Christopher Chung), he might not have gone out. But because it was Shirley, he went out there because there’s no way he’s going to allow anything to happen to her and the rest of the Horses in turn. So he died for the right reasons with the right intention.

Who do you think told Marcus’ wife he was dead?

Yeah, I wonder. Personally, I think it would be Standish (Saskia Reeves). I think Standish is probably the most emotionally regulated of all the Horses. She’s the most equipped to deliver bad news. I think it would be too much for Shirley to do. And I think Lamb did it in his own way, which was making sure that Marcus’ family gets the financial backing of the service, because he died in action, in the line of duty, right? Oh my God, look at that. I just got a notification on my phone, on my watch, from Aimee-Ffion Edwards. She cannot keep away. [Laughs]

Everyone else has had to keep this secret, too.

Every single person. Oh my gosh, on the red carpet at the Emmys, Gary and I were doing an interview on camera, and he very nearly slipped up and I saved it. It was so beautiful because we both looked at each other and we couldn’t laugh, but all we wanted to do was laugh, because ultimately, we were there promoting Season 3 for the awards which they were up for, Season 4 is currently out and Season 5 is in the can. So it was like, “Which season are we talking about?” Thankfully, we didn’t get that far, but it was very, very funny and we shared the look that will stay with me forever.

Jackson Lamb pretends to be very callous. And then we see that he actually does care in his own way.

He 100% cares. He’s like the ultimate papa bear. He really is. He’s the great protector of the secrets of the MI5 service and the staff of Slough House. I think there has never been a better fallible character written. And the playfulness that Gary pours into him is second to none.

It’s been one of the joys of my life, not just sharing a camera and stage with him, but developing a friendship with this man. I honestly would do anything for Gary. I think he’s just the kindest, most generous, funny, geezer and for someone just … you know, because when Aimee and I started, it was Season 2. It’s like starting school halfway through the term in a new school, where everyone’s already in their groups, and he just welcomed us with these anecdotes and these stories, and his tongue firmly in his cheek. They don’t make them like that. They really don’t. 

It’s such perfect casting. 

It really is. We laugh a lot on set. I’m praying for Apple to, at some point, release the bloopers, because they haven’t done it yet. And I think if we petition, they might, because there’s some funny, funny, funny s–t that we’ve done on camera that’s been caught.

I was sorry to see you go. I kept hoping to the last minute that somehow Marcus was alive, just like River.

[Laughs] I’m still trying to convince them to have me come back as a ghost or Marcus’ twin brother. It could be the first for Apple. Come on, you’re so inventive. Just make it happen.

All four seasons of “Slow Horses” are streaming on Apple TV+.

The post ‘Slow Horses’ Season 4 Finale: Actor Whose Character Dies Kept the Secret for More Than a Year, Even From Their Family appeared first on TheWrap.