Why Jack Lowden Playing James Bond Would Be a Disaster For Slow Horses

Published Sep 23, 2026, 7:00 PM EDT

Sky Blanton is a Movie Contributor at ScreenRant with professional experience covering movies, television, and pop culture. Her published work spans news, interviews, features, and opinion pieces, with a focus on film, franchise storytelling, and the entertainment industry.

She earned her bachelor's degree in Communications with a concentration in Professional Writing and a minor in Business Writing from Southern New Hampshire University.

Jack Lowden may have accidentally spent the last few years auditioning for James Bond. The Scottish actor is reportedly among the names being considered for the next 007, and it is not hard to understand why. He has the physical build, dry humor and confidence the role requires, along with years of experience playing a British intelligence agent. Few actors being considered for the role have already spent so much time playing a spy on screen.

That experience comes from Slow Horses, where Lowden has played River Cartwright since the series premiered. River is almost the perfect character to prepare an actor for Bond on paper. He is young, ambitious, clever and determined to prove himself as a spy, even if his impatience and arrogance have a habit of getting him into trouble. Over the course of the series, Lowden has also had plenty of opportunities to show what he can do with a character who is still figuring out what kind of spy he wants to become.

There is just one problem. Slow Horses needs River Cartwright, and Lowden has spent years making him such an essential part of the series. His performance has helped make River's journey one of the show's most important ongoing storylines, particularly as he tries to find his place within MI5 and Slough House. If Lowden becomes 007, Bond could gain a terrific new leading man while Slow Horses loses one of the characters that makes the series so special.

Jack Lowden is far from the only actor reportedly in the running to become the next James Bond. Names including Masters of the Air star Callum Turner, Euphoria's Jacob Elordi and Harris Dickinson have all circulated in the search for Daniel Craig's successor, with Lowden becoming one of the more frequently discussed names lately. Amazon MGM has not officially announced its next 007, but even Slow Horses co-star Gary Oldman has publicly backed the idea of Lowden taking the role.

Part of Lowden's appeal is how much ground he has already covered in his career. He went from acclaimed stage work to supporting roles in films like Dunkirk and Mary Queen of Scots, then took on increasingly demanding leading roles in projects including Calibre, Benediction and The Gold. He has also spent the last several years carrying Slow Horses alongside an ensemble that includes Gary Oldman, Kristin Scott Thomas and Jonathan Pryce. That is a useful track record for an actor taking on a franchise where the lead has to work just as well in a crowded ensemble as he does at the center of the story.

Roles like Dunkirk gave him experience with big-screen action, while Slow Horses has let him play a spy who can be funny, serious and dangerous in the same episode. He can handle the action, but he can also carry the slow and quieter scenes that make Bond more than a character from a major action franchise. That makes him a natural fit for 007, even if it would create a very different problem for Slow Horses.

How That Would Spoil Slow Horses

Image via Apple TV+

River Cartwright is not a character Slow Horses can easily write around. He is one of the show's main links between the younger, more ambitious side of MI5 and the burned-out agents of Slough House. River still believes he can become the kind of spy he imagined himself being, even as the series repeatedly forces him to confront how little he actually knows. Lowden has made that tension a major part of the character.

His relationship with Jackson Lamb is just as important. River's determination to prove himself constantly clashes with Lamb's complete lack of patience for anyone trying to impress him, giving the two characters a dynamic that can be funny one minute and emotional the next. Losing River would also mean losing one of the relationships that gives Slow Horses its balance of younger ambition and older cynicism.

That leaves the show with an awkward problem if Lowden becomes Bond. Recasting River would mean asking viewers to accept someone else in a role Lowden has played for years, while writing him out would leave a noticeable hole in the ensemble and in several ongoing storylines. Either option would change Slow Horses in a way that has nothing to do with whether another actor could technically play River.

Through all of this, there is also a pretty perfect irony to the whole situation. River has spent Slow Horses trying to prove that he belongs among Britain's greatest spies. Jack Lowden may get the chance to play the most famous spy of them all, but doing so could mean leaving behind the character that made him such a natural fit for the role in the first place.