{"id":6216,"date":"2026-08-19T18:05:46","date_gmt":"2026-08-19T18:05:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=6216"},"modified":"2026-08-19T18:05:46","modified_gmt":"2026-08-19T18:05:46","slug":"slow-horses-actor-jack-lowden-unpacks-river-cartwright-and-why-pride-gets-in-his-way","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=6216","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Slow Horses\u2019 Actor Jack Lowden Unpacks River Cartwright and Why Pride Gets in His Way"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n\tIt\u2019s fair to say that when audiences see River Cartwright at the beginning of Apple TV\u2019s \u201cSlow Horses\u201d Season 5, he is not in a good place. The previous season revealed that River\u2019s father, Frank Harkness (Hugo Weaving), is both a sociopath and the leader of a network of trained assassins. It was also revealed that Frank had fathered numerous sons and raised them to carry out his hits.<\/p>\n

Read more \u2018Widow\u2019s Bay\u2019 and Other Contenders Continue to Complicate Emmy\u2019s Comedy Conundrum<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI think for anybody, that would be quite traumatic,\u201d says Jack Lowden of his character River\u2019s damage, which carries into Season 5; his base of operations, MI5\u2019s Slough House headed by Gary Oldman\u2019s Jackson Lamb, has become a bit too much for him.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWhen I was filming that season and Season 6, my grandfather is at the forefront of my mind. I feel like that begins to overtake his ambition because he wants to make his grandfather proud,\u201d says Lowden. \u201cHe\u2019s not in the best of head space, and he\u2019s thinner physically. I think nerves-wise, he\u2019s thinner. I don\u2019t think he\u2019s particularly in a happy place or particularly well, so to speak.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tLowden details peeling back the layers of River and why the character ends up in a much more hopeful place as the show heads into its sixth season.<\/p>\n

\n\t\tLet\u2019s get right to it. In Episode 5, \u201cCircus,\u201d River is lying to Jackson about the death of politician Dennis Gimball (Christopher Villiers). Take us into his mind. Why does he lie?\t<\/h5>\n

\n\tWhat I\u2019ve always found interesting about River is his pride, because I find pride in people incredibly petty, and it pushes people to do stupid things for the sake of how they look or how they come across. He\u2019s trying not to look bad. This season, he\u2019s not in a great head space. I love the fact that, no matter that his personal life is falling apart, at the end of the day, at work, he still doesn\u2019t want to look stupid.<\/p>\n

\n\t\tYou\u2019ve said River\u2019s grandfather, played so brilliantly by Jonathan Pryce, impacts a big part of his actions. What were those garden scenes like when they have a heart-to-heart?\t<\/h5>\n

\n\tJonathan and I talk about that quite a lot \u2014 losing someone is horrific, and the grief is terrible. But you are watching someone in front of you disappear slowly, with the terrible disease of Alzheimer\u2019s or dementia. I\u2019ve not experienced it yet, but I can imagine it\u2019s horrific. On top of that, his grandfather is his hero. He\u2019s also trying to emulate his grandfather and follow in his footsteps, and to watch him evaporate in front of him is terrible. But in true \u201cSlow Horses\u201d fashion, David will still give him a little seed of something that will sort of open up the entire thing for him. I took that as a real moment of hope. I think, in the moment, River is very much focused on the problem at hand. But when you get someone who has
that condition, and there are these little kernels of hope that they are still who they were \u2014 it\u2019s just so moving. I think I actually found that a hopeful scene. But again, playing with somebody like Jonathan Pryce, I would be lying if I said I completely stayed in River\u2019s head space.<\/p>\n

Read more \u2018It Finally Feels Like We\u2019re Back in 2019\u2019: Movie Theater Owners Rejoice Over $4 Billion Summer. Can the Fall Keep the Momentum?<\/a><\/p>\n

\n\t\tHow do you prepare for something that\u2019s so heavy for this character? \t<\/h5>\n

\n\tI tend to stay away from those moments as much as possible. I try to come at them from as jolly and playful a place as I can, because I think that\u2019s true to what happens in life. When you\u2019re faced with grief, sadness or tragedy, you\u2019re trying really hard not to give in to the terribleness of the situation. So I tried to
do that with these scenes. I don\u2019t spend the night before pushing myself into a certain state. The challenge of just instantly trying to put yourself in that situation and using your imagination \u2014 at the end of the day, that\u2019s what I feel makes it fun.<\/p>\n

\n\t\tBy the end of the season, River thinks that he\u2019s finally got his ticket out of Slough House. Instead, Lamb makes sure River stays at Slough House. Where would you say River is at the end of the season? \t<\/h5>\n

\n\tAs far as he\u2019s concerned, he\u2019s pulled off a lot of impressive feats. In particular, the saving of James Callis\u2019 character was meant to give River that moment of feeling like he\u2019s earned his place, gotten his stripes back, and just needs to go to Lamb. He has the chance for a promotion and lays it at the door of what
is probably the worst boss in history. River and Lamb are intrinsically linked, but they\u2019re often kept apart, which makes their interactions more special when they do happen. There\u2019s more respect for Lamb now, but I do think we leave River in a more hopeful place than where he was at the beginning of the season. I\u2019m glad about that because, during this season in particular, he\u2019s not exactly a happy bunny.<\/p>\n

\n\t\tWhat has it been like peeling back the layers of this character over the seasons?\t<\/h5>\n

\n\t It\u2019s an interesting question, because this is the only experience I\u2019ve had doing anything recurring for this long. I find it incredibly hard, whenever I do watch the show, to differentiate myself from River because I\u2019m also watching a guy who was 29, I think, when I began. I\u2019m now 36, and the world has been through a lot in that time. Everybody has. I find it quite interesting to just watch someone growing up \u2014 not just River, but myself. I think what I\u2019ve enjoyed is seeing myself grow up as an actor as well. It\u2019s why I still act. It\u2019s not necessarily because I want to play all the great characters \u2014 though, of course, there are people I want to work with and still haven\u2019t worked with. But I go to work every day because I want to get better at what I do. I feel incredibly lucky as an actor that this is a profession you can learn to master, even though you probably never will. I can see my progression. I remember how I was feeling on a certain day. I remember the difference in how it felt in Season 1 compared to Season 5. I just see a boy who\u2019s sort of eventually becoming a man. Hopefully.<\/p>\n

\n\t\tWho are some of those actors you\u2019d like to work with? Let\u2019s manifest. \t<\/h5>\n

\n\tMatthew Macfadyen; he\u2019s a benchmark for me. I find his range remarkable. I think he\u2019s phenomenal, and I would desperately love to work with him. Last year, I was very fortunate to work with Martin Freeman. He is another actor that I think has incredible range and has a severely sharp technical ability that I got to see up close night after night.<\/p>\n

Read more \u2018Good American Family\u2019 Renewed for Season 2 at Hulu, to Focus on Lorena Bobbitt Case<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“Slow Horses” actor Jack Lowden on playing River Cartwright and why pride gets in his way, and why River is a “sad bunny.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6215,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[833],"tags":[4838,51],"class_list":["post-6216","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-awards","tag-jack-lowden","tag-slow-horses"],"yoast_head":"\n\u2018Slow Horses\u2019 Actor Jack Lowden Unpacks River Cartwright and Why Pride Gets in His Way - Relocation Observer<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=6216\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\u2018Slow Horses\u2019 Actor Jack Lowden Unpacks River Cartwright and Why Pride Gets in His Way - 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