TActress Saskia Reeves was born in London in 1961. Her father, Peter Reeves, was an actor, singer and songwriter. Since making her film debut in 1990, Antonia and JaneCo-starring with Imelda Staunton, she has appeared in a wide range of stage and film productions. Her television credits include: Luther, spy, Wolf Hall 2000 miniseries Frank Herbert's “Dune”This month she stars in the fourth series of this wonderfully seedy London-set spy drama. Slow Horse For AppleTV+, she plays office administrator and recovered alcoholic Katherine Standish in the film adaptation of Amy Liptrot's memoir of alcoholism and redemption. OutRunco-starring with Saoirse Ronan.
To be honest, I can't think of any other drama for which the phrase “I was looking forward to the fourth series” feels more appropriate than this one. Slow HorseDid you imagine it would become such a worldwide hit?
No, we came together in 2020 and then we had to deal with lockdown. I kept telling myself: Don't worry, they're going to make this happen, because it has Gary Oldman and Kristin Scott Thomas in it, they weren't going to just abandon it.
Did you know Mick HerronNovel [on which the series is based]?
No, they sent me the script and I read it over the weekend. I was so happy to have the opportunity to play a woman of a certain age and to be able to portray all aspects of her. I feel so passionate about it.
As actors, you have this great sense that, like the naive characters you play, you've seen it all before. Is that the case?
Yes. Where else would you find yourself in a taxi with Jonathan Pryce and Gary Oldman? Gary seems to think he's the perfect agent. And it's true. I don't know what it's like to be in MI5, but I do know a little bit about what it's like to be, say, in a slightly old-fashioned job, where your career doesn't always go the way you expect it to…
It's also a striking satire of the British system during the tough times of the previous administration, with a sense of behind-the-scenes corruption and paranoia and, in the case of Gary's character, Jackson Lambfarting. Have you noticed the harshness of the political world seeping in?
I don't think it's sunk in. It's all in the writing. I think there's a familiarity with it when you're watching the news, but also a sense that things are not going well. A few months ago, when Microsoft went down, suddenly everyone was like, “What's going to happen now?”
From starring in David Nichols' TV series We, And now your brilliant performance as a mother. Saoirse RonanCharacters OutRun, You seem to be at a great moment in your career.You definitely have enough experience to know what to grab. A moment like that?
I think as you get older it's important to get out of your comfort zone a little bit as often as you can, and to keep doing that. David Bowie put it well: when you're floating a little bit, when your feet can't reach the bottom, that's when you're most creative.
I was reading the obituary Your father, Peter Reevesin stagesince last year. He has been Stage career He starred in a hit musical comedy revue 8 pieces With Kenneth Williams You also collaborated with Andrew Lloyd Webber, but it wasn't always as successful as you would have hoped. Was he an inspiration to you?
Yes, very much. But my father didn't encourage me when I was little. My mother said, “Why don't you and your sister go to an improv workshop?” But I remember my father once said to me, “There are twice as many male roles as female roles, and twice as many actresses as actors. Do the math.”
Did you grow up watching him on stage?
Yes, I remember when he was in the original. Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor DreamcoatI loved going backstage. I must have been about 12 years old, gazing at beautiful boys. My father took me to everything: kabuki at Sadler's Wells, Marcel Marceau, Jacques Tati films. It was a part of us. But I knew it was going to be hard. There's a little painting on the wall of my father's study. [motto]”You can have talent, you can have luck, but you need perseverance.”
He must have been proud of how things had turned out.
He was. He would write me loads of notes after performances saying, “Saskia, you have to find your light. You haven't found your light.” But I remember him looking at me in the play. Separation At Hampstead Theatre [in 1987] My interview with David Suchet was a great success for me. Afterwards, I met him at the bar, as I usually do, and waited for his comments. He looked at me and said very kindly, “I don't know why you did that. I have nothing to say.”
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You've said that you never expected it to play such an important role in your life. 60s Streaming Series Like Slow Horse Has it helped you in that regard?
It's getting better. We're not there yet, because, you know, art is a reflection of society. So it's good to have the opportunity to play a woman who struggles to be heard, who disappears into buildings because her hair is grey, who is no longer seen as her sexual self, and still show that she's an important and vibrant person.
You and Gary Oldman make a great pair, like an old married couple sticking together against all odds. What was it like playing the straight woman to Jackson Lamb's rambunctious behavior?
I've wanted to work with Gary for years. He's been such a big part of my development as an actor. He's always been so original and unique. So it's a lot of fun. And of course, [my character] Catherine is very resourceful. She is not lazy. She can hold her own against anyone. He knows that. And she Have You have a sense of humor. If only you would calm down and show it…
