When audiences see River Cartwright at the beginning of the fifth season of "Slow Horses" on Apple TV, the character is not in a good place. The previous season revealed that River's father, Frank Harkness (Hugo Weaving), is both a sociopath and leader of a network of trained assassins. It was also revealed that Frank had fathered numerous children and raised them to carry out his murders.
"I think for anyone, that would be pretty traumatic," Jack Lowden says about the damage to his character River, which continues into the fifth season; his base of operations, the Slough House of MI5 run by Jackson Lamb (Gary Oldman), has become too much for him.
Lowden highlights what he has always found interesting about River: his pride. "I find pride in people incredibly trivial, and it pushes people to do stupid things for the sake of how they look or how they present themselves. He's trying not to look bad. This season, he's not in a good mental space," he explained. "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't want to look stupid."
Lowden also spoke about the more hopeful moments for the character. He said that at a certain point in the season, River receives "a little seed of something" that opens up new possibilities. "I took that as a real moment of hope," he noted. "I think we leave River in a more hopeful place than where he was at the beginning of the season. I'm glad about that because, during this particular season, he's not exactly a happy guinea pig."
Lowden reflected on his long-running experience in the role. He took on the part when he was approximately 29 years old and is now 36. "I find it incredibly difficult, whenever I watch the show, to separate myself from River because I'm also seeing a guy who was 29 years old, I think, when I started," he said. "The world has been through a lot in that time. We all have. I think what I've enjoyed is seeing myself grow as an actor too."
