Gary Oldman (‘Slow Horses’): Oscar winner predicted to make Emmys history

Matthew Stewart
·3 min read
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“Slow Horses” star Gary Oldman is the frontrunner to win Best Drama Actor at the upcoming Emmys. Oldman earned his first and only Oscar six years ago for his portrayal of World War II-era British prime minister Winston Churchill in “Darkest Hour.” That win was sandwiched between two other lead bids for “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” (2012) and “Mank” (2021). His sole Emmy nomination to date came in 2001 for his guest appearance in the two-part seventh season finale of “Friends”; he lost to Derek Jacobi (“Frasier”).

On Apple TV+’s “Slow Horses,” which is based on a series of novels by Mick Herron, Oldman plays Jackson Lamb, a particularly uncouth MI5 officer saddled with the responsibility of supervising a group of service rejects. This constitutes his very first regular role on a continuing series and his first live action TV performance at all in over two decades.

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Oldman would be the 12th man to receive lead prizes from both academies and the first to do so for a comedy or drama series.

The inaugural member of this club was Laurence Olivier, who was honored in 1960 for the telefilm “The Moon and Sixpence” 11 years after winning his only competitive Oscar for “Hamlet.” Years later, he bagged three more lead Emmys for “Long Day’s Journey Into Night” (1973), “Love Among the Ruins” (1975), and “King Lear” (1984).

Olivier directly preceded Paul Scofield, who won at the 1969 Emmys for “Male of the Species” after receiving an Oscar for “A Man for All Seasons” in 1967. Next was George C. Scott, whose 1971 TV triumph for “The Price” came less than a month after his film win for “Patton.” They were then joined by William Holden (Emmy: “The Blue Knight,” 1974; Oscar: “Stalag 17,” 1954) and Dustin Hoffman (“Death of a Salesman,” 1986; “Kramer vs. Kramer,” 1980).

The one who waited the longest between Oscar and Emmy wins was Jack Lemmon, who, 26 years after snagging his lead film trophy for “Save the Tiger,” prevailed on his fifth and final TV outing as the star of “Tuesdays with Morrie” (2000). Al Pacino then followed up his 1993 Oscar win for “Scent of a Woman” with Emmy victories for “Angels in America” (2004) and “You Don’t Know Jack” (2010). Between Pacino’s pair of TV wins came Geoffrey Rush (“The Life and Death of Peter Sellers,” 2005; “Shine,” 1997) and Robert Duvall (“Broken Trail,” 2007; “Tender Mercies,” 1984), followed by latest entrant Michael Douglas (“Behind the Candelabra,” 2013; “Wall Street,” 1988).

Last year, Best Drama Actor nominee and former Oscar winner for “Crazy Heart” Jeff Bridges (“The Old Man”) had a chance to join this exclusive club, but he lost to Kieran Culkin (“Succession”).

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