Nick Mohammed, best known for his role as Nathan Shelley in Apple TV+‘s Emmy-winning comedy, Ted Lasso, is trading motivational locker room speeches for political campaign speeches in Slow Horses Season 5.
While portraying a politician in our year 2025 is no simple task, the chance to join the critically-acclaimed espionage drama as Zafar Jaffrey, Mayor of London, was a dream come true for this Slow Horses superfan.
“I was a huge fan of both the show and [Mick Herron’s] books from way back. So I was delighted when the audition came through,” Mohammed told Decider over Zoom. “I think Season 3 had just dropped, and they were maybe filming Season 4. I got the call to go in an audition, and it was quite a rigorous audition process, but I was so keen to get it, because I just love the show.”
Based on the fifth book in Herron’s series, London Rules, Season 5 of Slow Horses explores how the hot new girlfriend of Slough House’s tech expert, Roddy Ho (Christopher Chung), is connected to a series of tragedies across London, which unfold as Jaffrey campaigns for reelection against a far-right candidate with a strong anti-immigration policy.
Though the book was published in 2018 and Season 5 filmed in 2024, with political violence and strong anti-immigration sentiments regularly making headlines in the UK and U.S., Mohammed and the Slow Horses team are well aware of how eerily timely the latest chapter of the series feels.
“It’s very sad to say that it does feel particularly resonant with everything going on in the UK and in the US as well. Sadly, there has always been the far-right and anti-immigration, so it’s not necessarily a new idea within politics,” Mohammed told Decider. “But the manner with which it’s been dealt with in Slow Horses does feel incredibly timely at the moment. I think Mick [Herron] has spoken about this at length, and probably in a lot better way than I’ll ever explain it, but because he’s writing about dogs, and MI5, and terrorism, and so on, inevitably that will crossover with with real life. It’s a sad truth to writing about a real subject matter.”
After Season 5 premiered and viewers got an early glimpse of Jaffrey, comparisons between Mohammed’s character and the real Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, started pouring in. The actor stressed that the left-leaning candidate, who appears more vain and calculated behind the scenes, is “basically a mash-up of various politicians rather than a direct stand-in.” That said, there’s no denying that Jaffrey’s comedically cringeworthy campaign slogan, “Make London Londerful Again,” is a spoof on “Make America Great Again.”
“I cringed a lot every time I said it,” Mohammed told Decider with a chuckle. “And Will [Smith, Slow Horses showrunner/writer] said that every time he wrote a line in for Jaffrey that had it, a little bit of him died, basically. I need to dig into the old versions of the scripts, but I remember for the the audition, it wasn’t ‘londerful.’ It was something equally crass… but, yeah that was bad.”
Throughout Season 5’s first three episodes, Jaffrey speaks with First Desk Claude Whelan (James Callis) about the mass shooting that killed one of his campaign workers. He butts heads with his opponent, Dennis Gimball (Christopher Villiers). He strategizes with and drops his public-facing mask in front of Chief of Staff, Tyson Bowman (Abraham Popoola). And he spirals a bit after learning that his son, Irfan (Bilal Hasna), was involved in one of the London attacks.
While Mohammed gets a few quintessential Slow Horses laughs in throughout the season, the role ultimately lets him showcase a straighter side of himself as an actor — an opportunity he credits, in part, to the range he was able to show in Ted Lasso as Nate’s storyline took more of a dramatic twist in later episodes. Mohammed adores his comedic roots, but he confirmed he “definitely” wants to pursue more dramatic roles like this in the future.
“As an actor, you always want to challenge yourself or do something different to stuff that you’ve done in the past. It’s lovely being able to dip a toe in more dramatic acting, although something like Slow Horses, tonally, it’s got that satirical edge to it. Even saying those double lines, there is a comic engine behind it, although it’s quite straight, and a lot the subject matter is really straight,” Mohammed mused before teasing a new HBO project on the way. “I don’t think I can say what it is yet, because it’s not been announced, but I’m filming a new drama now for HBO. It’s lovely to be able to flex that muscle. But I still feel I’m learning. I didn’t train as an actor, so I’m learning on the job.”
Mohammed can’t yet say if he’s returning for Ted Lasso Season 4, which began production in July 2025, but he did share his dream storyline for Nate with Decider, along with which co-star he’d like to share more scenes down the line. If his Apple TV+ streak continues, the actor also shared a list of the streamer’s shows that he’d love to appear on.
“Severance, obviously. The Morning Show, I love. It’s so good, and Jon Hamm and I did a film together, and I just think he’s great, and I love that he’s in it now. And the other is The Studio,” Mohammed said. (When Decider reminded him that he also has a real in on Shrinking — co-created by Jason Segel, and Ted Lasso‘s Bill Lawrence and Brett Goldstein — Mohammed lit up and said has to ask Goldstein.)
In the immediate future, the Slow Horses Season 5 star is also switching things up by appearing on Celebrity Traitors, premiering October 8. “I absolutely adored that. I was a big fan of everyone who’s in that show,” Mohammed, the odds-on favorite told Decider. “Everyone was such a fan of the show, which is why we wanted to do it. Obviously the charity, but we were such fans of it, and I sort of underestimated just how serious I would get. It’s a phenomenal show and everyone is so wonderful. We’ve got a very active WhatsApp group, and we’re sending those predicted odds that are coming out to each other. So it’s quite fun.”
With several episodes of Slow Horses Season 5 remaining, Mohammed teases he’ll be sharing the screen with several of Slough House’s fines down the line and that an intense finale action sequence awaits.
“It’s just such a machine. It’s so impressive that every year they put out a new season, and it hasn’t dipped in quality. I just think they’re an incredible team, and getting to see the work of the cast and crew, they just love it. They absolutely adore the show they’re on. It was a real thrill to join,” Mohammed shared.
New episodes of Slow Horses Season 5 premiere Wednesdays on Apple TV+.