Slow Horses star Tom Brooke on Gary Oldman's heartwarming gesture behind the scenes: 'he's really special'

Megan Bull
·2-min read
Tom Brooke at the Empire of Light premiere
(Shutterstock)

JK Coe is something of an outsider. "He just wants people to leave him alone," actor Tom Brooke tells HELLO!. "He turns up with PTSD and tries to keep it under control by pretending to play the piano. He's not like anyone I've ever played before."

Assigned to Slough House, the former operative resigns himself to the solitude of his hoodie and headphones, rarely uttering a word. But in reality, Tom, 46, has far more to say about the eponymous Slow Horses.

Speaking about his time on set, Tom noted that it was "really special" working with Gary Oldman – aka Jackson Lamb.

"On my first day with him, I was panicking just because there's a movie called State of Grace that he did in 1990. I must have seen it when I was about 15 and ever since then, he has been a patron saint," Tom explained. "It's one of the great movie performances, so I was nervous."

Tom Brooke as JK Coe
Tom Brooke as JK Coe in season four of Slow Horses (Apple TV+)

Keen to meet the Academy Award winner, Tom had no idea when or where they'd cross paths. "The nerves built because you never know when you're going to meet someone on the first day," he said.

"The routine is always the same. You get to the base, and then you go in for makeup. So I was like, am I gonna meet him in the makeup? Didn't meet him in there. Am I gonna meet him walking to set? No, he doesn't walk to set.

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"So when I actually met him, I came around the corner onto the Slow Horses set and he was just sitting on a chair in the kitchen. I got such a shock. I went, 'Oh!' and I think that probably gave away that there was a certain level of panic.

"So he came over. He gave me a huge hug. He said, 'Welcome to Slow Horses' and he stayed for lunch on my first day. I noticed that and I won't forget it. That was very special."

Gary Oldman and Christopher Chung in Slow Horses
Gary Oldman couldn't have been more welcoming (Apple TV+)

Opening up about their conversations on set, Tom continued: "He said he'd seen me in The Dresser and then what was extraordinary was that he told theatre stories. Despite him having made some of the most iconic movies in cinema history, he was straight back to [John] Gielgud impressions. John Hurt impressions. Peter O'Toole stories.

"I watched him for the rest of the series and I noticed him going to people with not much to do, just engaging with and checking on them without looking like he was checking on them. You know, just 'How's your day going?' I think he's really special."

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