For Ashley Walters, It’s Always Top Boy Season

What was it like working with Dave and Little Simz? 

They were both amazing. They both were capable of filling the roles and leaving their alter-egos at the door. Leaving Dave and Little Simz at the door and embracing their characters. That’s hard to find in actors, let alone musicians that are coming into the acting world; because they’re so used to sticking to that one character, it’s hard to direct them. But these guys had the ability to do that. If you listen to their music as well, you can hear there’s an honesty and natural truth in what they do anyway. So we shouldn’t be surprised, really. They both killed it!

All of the musicians we’ve seen feature in Top Boy have been strong additions—yourself, Kano, Bashy, and now Dave and Little Simz. How do you work out if a rapper can actually act?

As a rapper, you’re taught and you practice being hard all the time. You’re not crying on your tracks, you don’t sound like Neyo singing an R&B song about what you’ve lost or whatever. It’s always bravado, it’s always hard, and that’s kind of the image of a rapper. But to be an actor, you have to be vulnerable. You have to be willing to shed your skin and let people inside. If you can’t do that, it’s gonna be really difficult to make that transition, and a lot of rappers can’t. Like I said, Dave, who’s pretty much already been doing it in music, and Simz, their music is autobiographical. It’s always about them and exposing some of the worst parts of themselves, so it wasn’t a huge leap. Simz had already done some acting, she’s already had training, so it wasn’t a big leap for her. 

You’re back working with Kane Robinson again—or to our grime fans, the emcee Kano. How did you both manage to establish such a strong working relationship?

I mean, it’s just been like that from day one to be honest. We’ve always got along. Between filming and not filming, we hardly find the time to chill together, because of his music and because I’ll be on another job. But when we are working together, that bond and tightness that we have on screen, it runs through, on and off camera. It’s easy to work with Kane because he’s a professional. He always gives 100% with anything that he does, and gives it his all. That’s all I can ask for from any other actor I’m working with, because that will make me give my all as well. 

Have you heard his latest album, Hoodies All Summer? 

It’s hard! What I like about it is that he’s purposefully made a conscious decision to not compromise or try and make it fit into what’s out there. He’s his own artist in his own right and makes the music he wants to make and never conforms, and we love that about him. The album is absolutely amazing. Lyrically, hardly anyone can talk to this guy in the country—let alone the world—so we all have to respect that. At the same time, he’s a brilliant actor as well. 

What was the thought process in putting together the soundtrack? 

The soundtrack has never been something I get involved in, but we have some trusted people that work on it and understand what’s current. There’s a few things you have to think about when you’re making the show, because you’re making it a good few months, maybe even a year before it actually hits the screens sometimes. You have to make sure you’re putting music on it that’s not gonna be old by the time it gets out. So it’s about finding music that’s timeless, music that wasn’t a number one or top ten at the time, but still sounds as good as.

Micheal Ward, who plays ‘Jamie’, is the latest ‘new’ actor to deliver a strong performance in the show. Top Boy has a history of helping new faces break through—Letitia Wright being one of them—so I was wondering if that was something you guys actively look for? 

That’s what we’re all about. We’ve got some brilliant people behind the scenes. One of them is Des Hamilton, who’s our casting director. His whole way of working is about walking outside on the street and finding the part. Rather than going through books of known actors or whatever, he’s very much about going into schools and walking around the ends, sometimes dangerous places, and just finding the people for the parts we’re looking for. That’s mixed with a blend of experienced actors, like myself, Kane and others, makes it what it is. We feed off them. We feed off their raw talent and they feed off our professional side. And that combination makes Top Boy. 

Where do you think the show sits on a global scale? For example, if someone in America asked me to recommend a good show from the UK, I’d automatically say Top Boy. What’s your take on that?

I’d be happy for you to recommend Top Boy too [laughs]. I’d recommend Top Boy myself! I feel like it’s open now. Because of social media, because of the internet, because of platforms like Netflix, we have the ability to export our culture a lot more. We’ve been doing it in music and it’s been working, and I just feel like this is the best time for any person around the world to watch a show like this. They’re going to understand it a lot more because we’ve been drip-feeding over the last few years already. There was a time when we tried to first sell Top Boy to the States, after season one, and they refused to have it. They said that people wouldn’t understand or like the content. But if you listen to music and listen to the way people talk, it’s kind of balancing out. It’s making it a lot easier for people to buy into London culture.