Aimee-Ffion Edwards, best known as Shirley Dander in Apple TV's Slow Horses, discusses her return for the show's sixth season and the fearless streak she attributes to once playing rugby for Wales. The Newport-born, Welsh-speaking actor performed her own stunts for a nightclub balcony jump, and reflects on how her Welsh identity has become more central to her recent roles, including voicing Princess Leia in the first Welsh-language dub of Star Wars, due to air on Christmas Day alongside Matthew Rhys as Han Solo.

Edwards, 38, describes drawing on genuine grief for her season six storyline, in which Shirley struggles with the death of colleague Marcus, played by Kadiff Kirwan. She contrasts her earlier career, which involved adopting other accents for roles such as Peaky Blinders and Wolf Hall, with her satisfaction at being able to use her natural Welsh accent as Shirley, arguing that Welsh voices remain underrepresented outside comedy roles. She also notes that Slow Horses never remarks on Shirley's Welshness, which she considers an important step towards normalising the accent on screen.