Top Boy star Ashley Walters says it is ideal for ‘black people’s stories to be told by black people’ after Netflix show was developed by a white screenwriter – as final season is released
Ashley Walters says black people’s stories are better told by black creatives after starring in Netflix drama Top Boy, which was developed by a white writer.
The actor, 41, – who plays Dushane in the popular show whose final series was released on Thursday – gave his opinion on Ronan Bennett, 67, being the show’s screenwriter.
He also reflected on his prison stint and told how if his arrest had never happened he would never have been in the show.
In 2002 when he was 19 Walters was stopped, searched and then arrested for having a loaded gun in his car. He was sentenced to 18 months in prison.
Speaking to The Times he spoke about the screenwriter being a white man and explained: ‘Let me be frank. It would have been ideal for black people’s stories to have been told by a black person.
Honest: Ashley Walters says black people’s stories are better told by black creatives after starring in Netflix drama Top Boy, which was developed by a white writer
Thoughts: The actor, 41, – who plays Dushane in the popular show whose final series was released on Thursday – gave his opinion on Ronan Bennett, 67, being the screenwriter
‘So I did scrutinize Ronan. But understanding the people he consulted for the script was key.’
He also spoke about his prison stint and explained how the low place he ended up in inspired him to achieve big things once he came out.
He said: ‘The only positive is that I can now help somebody who is about to make the same mistake. But it’s part of the journey. If my arrest had never happened I wouldn’t have been in Top Boy.
‘I’ll never stop trying to right the wrongs I have done, but some things you’ve got to let go. I was growing up with something good happening, then something bad came round the corner.’
In the past Ashley admitted that he drank excessively to cope with his depression after leaving prison, as he didn’t feel able to speak about his feelings.
The star, originally from Peckham, London, revealed that he knew he ‘needed to get help’ when he woke up after a black out on a London bus, having been robbed of his shoes, phone and wallet.
Speaking on Adwoa Aboah’s The Gurl Talk podcast, he revealed that after leaving prison, he felt the world had ‘moved on without him’ and he struggled to cope with his mental health, becoming ‘abusive’ to those he loved.
Candid: He also reflected on his prison stint and told how if his arrest had never happened he would never have been in the show
Having his say: Speaking to The Times he spoke about the screenwriter being a white man and explained: ‘Let me be frank. It would have been ideal for black people’s stories to have been told by a black person’ (Ronan Bennett is pictured)
Tense: Series three follows continuing dramatic storylines on the east London estate of Summerhouse (Dushane and Sully pictured)
He said: ‘I felt like as a man, I didn’t want to believe there was something wrong with me.
‘I came out (of prison) and the things that were happening and the way I was acting, I kind of attributed them to me being upset, me being slightly angry, but in hindsight I realise I was suffering with depression.
‘When I was released from prison, I didn’t want to leave my house for the first three months. I stayed inside and at the time I just felt like I didn’t face people.
‘I didn’t want to talk about what had happened and I just felt like I had a lot of catching up to do, because when you’re in that scenario – your world stays the same and everybody else’s world keeps on moving. You feel behind, you feel left out, you feel lonely. ‘
The former So Solid Crew member went on to tell that he found himself ‘segregating’ himself from friends and family, and became ‘flippant and angry’.
He said: ‘I realised that I was segregating myself from people, staying in my house led to me eventually losing friends and kind of it’s slightly being abusive to people that I loved and cared about.
‘Being really flippant, angry so it was at that point I realised I needed to talk to someone.’
The star told of how he drank to cope with his feelings, and how his wife Danielle Isaie was able to help him recover.
When asked who it was that Ashley finally opened up to, he replied: ‘I think it was my wife.
‘I had a really bad month, I think, for me and not many people know this I’m going to speak frankly now, but to get through it, to get around it I drank.’
He went on to remember an evening where he drank so excessively, he completely blacked out, and was asked to leave the bus by the conductor after circulating the route while passed out, several times.
‘Alcohol became a vice and something I leaned on, so I drank for a while and I was drinking excessively. One day I went out with some friends’, he told.
‘Cut to the next morning at 7 o’clock I was on a bus and the conductor woke me up and was like mate I can’t let you go around anymore.
‘I think I’d been robbed, my wallet my phone was gone and I didn’t have my shoes and I didn’t know how I got there or what had happened.
‘I walked home and when I got back my mum had called her and we sat and she held me and she said “You need to get some help.”.
It comes as Top Boy fans lauded the ‘powerful’ ending to the last ever series that landed on Netflix on Thursday.
The Final Chapter has been eagerly anticipated by lovers of the show and those taking to Twitter expressed their praise for how it concluded.
Series three followed continuing dramatic storylines on the east London estate of Summerhouse.
The popular show portrays the fictional lives of some of London’s biggest drug dealers and their gangs led by Sully (Kano) and Dushane (Ashley).
The trailer released last month teased an ultimate showdown between the two main characters after the end of the last season saw Sully brutally shoot dead Jamie (Micheal Ward).
Taking to Twitter hard-core fans who watched it on the same day it was released were loving the new series as one wrote: ‘Top boy ending is mad!’
Another said: ‘I haven’t booked any work in for this afternoon because top boy is back on Netflix so actually made some time for me it’s the best show I have ever seen it’s brilliant.’
A third said: ‘Top Boy being back has made my day!’
A fourth wrote: ‘Kano deserves way more acting roles. His performance in Top Boy is phenomenal. Best thing about it if you ask me!’
Someone else said: ‘Top boy finished. Gutted its ended but what an end. The final scenes with @AshleyWalters82 and @TheRealKanodeserve all the awards going!’
A different fan penned: ‘Done. Dusted. Superb final season of what is probably one of the UKs best written drama. Top notch acting. Loved it. Brilliant #TopBoyNetflix #TopBoy.’
Another happy fan wrote: ‘The fact that this is the last top boy is emotional. Everything good must come to an end.’
This season wraps up the fate of the main characters after the dramatic events of the final series two scene.
As well as Dushane and Sully’s drama Lauryn (Saffron Hocking) has to deal with killing her abusive partner and father of her unborn baby Curtis (Howard Charles) while his vicious sister Vee (Ava Brennan) seeks revenge.
Elsewhere Dushane not only has a drug empire to worry about, but also his ongoing health problems.
Simbi Ajikawo (aka Little Simz), Jasmine Jobson, Saffron Hocking, and Araloyin Oshunremi are also return to their roles for the last series.
Netflix’s synopsis for series three reads: ‘Sully’s actions at the end of the last series have rewritten his business rules with Dushane.
‘As new shared problems arise, everything they’ve built comes under threat from forces outside and within their empire.
‘Can they coexist by the rules of the road they’ve lived by their whole lives in a world that is changing before them? Or can there only be one Top Boy?’
Talking about the final season last year, Kano and Ashley who play the two main characters, explained: ‘While the journeys of Dushane and Sully have remained at the core of the show, the new characters that have entered the world of Top Boy have become a key part of the show’s legacy, representing each new storyline in a raw, authentic way.
‘With all this being said, and staying true to our original goal, every story must have an ending and so season three will be our finale.
‘A chance to come full circle and end the journey in the right way.’
Following the release of Top Boy season 2 on Netflix on March 18 2022, the show quickly went to number 1 in the UK.
The finale of the season left fans with their jaws-dropping. Now the stakes are at their highest and it’s time for the final reckoning.
The Banshees Of Inisherin star Barry Keoghan and Bad Sisters actor Brian Gleeson join the show as new characters Jonny and Tadhg.
Season four saw Ashley, Kano, Micheal and Little Simz reprise their roles as Dushane, Sully, Jamie and Shelley.
Clad in scruffy clothing and begging for a hit on a number of occasions, season three introduced two junkies called Lee and Sarah, who were seen gaining the trust of their dealers.
However, the season’s finale showed the duo being unveiled as undercover cops, before Top Boy’s official Twitter shared a video of the clues that led to the shock moment – leaving fans in absolute bewilderment.
Lee and Sarah appeared to be forging a good relationship with a number of dealers, including Dushane and Sully, throughout the season.
However, they suffered a few mishaps along the way, which proved that there was something more to their characters.
It’s only during the final scene, when they are seen sitting in the police station, where viewers realise they are undercover cops hoping to lock away Dushane and Sully.
Top Boy originally aired in 2011 on Channel 4 before the station dropped it after two seasons.
Following interest from rapper Drake, the show was revived by Netflix in 2018, with the rapper and his team serving as executive producers.
Support: The star has previously told of how he drank to cope with his feelings, and how his wife Danielle Isaie (pictured left) was able to help him recover
Impressed: It comes as Top Boy fans have lauded the ‘powerful’ ending to the last ever series that landed on Netflix on Thursday (Kano as Sully is pictured)
Exciting: The Final Chapter has been eagerly anticipated by lovers of the show and those taking to Twitter expressed their praise for how it concluded (Ashley as Dushane)
Tough: The star, originally from Peckham, London, revealed that he knew he ‘needed to get help’ when he woke up after a black out on a London bus, having been robbed of his shoes, phone and wallet
Set on the fictional east London estate of Summerhouse, Top Boy is a crime drama that takes an unflinching look at the raw, dangerous world of drug dealing and the lives of those who live in the ends.
It’s a look at the paradoxical aspiration and realities of those who are marginalized by society yet form a tight-knit community as they try to better their lives on the estate.
For Dushane and Sully, that’s about the relentless pursuit of building a drug empire to become Top Boy. But that puts a target on your back.
Enemies can come from anywhere, loyalties are tested as trusted lieutenants can become snakes, and the unwritten rules of the road are always challenged.
But these are the challenges you face as Top Boy and the question is: how long can you stay there?
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