Actor Ashley Walters: 'There’s no way you cannot be political as a young black man in London'
He had the acting bug even before he was Asher D. Then he made peace with his dad, built a solid career on screen, and has now directed his first full-length feature film
Ashley Walters was born in Peckham, London, in June 1982. He shot to fame under the name Asher D as part of the UK garage group So Solid Crew, who had a UK No 1 with their 2001 single 21 Seconds. In 2004, he appeared in the film Bullet Boy, for which he won Best Newcomer at the British Independent Film Awards.
A host of film and TV roles have followed, including parts in Top Boy, Bulletproof,Hustle, Doctor Who and Silent Witness. His performance in the 2025 drama Adolescence earned him Emmy, BAFTA, Critics’ Choice and Golden Globe nominations.
For his Letter to My Younger Self Walters looked back on early influences, his relationship with his parents and wonders what his teenage self might make of his love for Italian jazz.
Music was my life at 16. I started acting when I was five or six, so I’d done loads of that. But when I was around 14, Yo! MTV Raps started in the UK. It was on at 1am or something, but I would record every show. So me and my best friend built up this VHS library of hip-hop. That’s when I started to obsess over music. Jay Z was coming out and Biggie, there was loads happening. I was like, I want to be a rapper. I need to be a rapper.
I left school around the time I turned 16. Secondary school was amazing. I had the best time. My friend circle was everything to me. I picked the school because of the drama department – that was already important to me. My drama teacher, Rory Simpson, was my mentor. Her encouragement to pursue acting was a big reason why I did.
I am totally shaped by my upbringing. I have a great relationship with my mum, but she was like a military sergeant. My life was scheduled and restricted. I still managed to get in trouble and find ways to do bad stuff, but she was very on it. I thank my mum for that now, because it could have been a different story. My work ethic was strong from day one.
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Ashley Walters when he was known as Asher D. Image: Everynight Images / Alamy
I manifested the whole So Solid Crew thing into existence. That journey started when I was 17, because I was a fan before I was in So Solid. I was the guy listening to this crew on the radio and saying to my cousin, I’m going to be in that group one day. I’d meet someone that knew someone from the radio station, who introduced me to someone else – I kept getting closer and closer, to the point where Mega pulled me aside and said, “How would you feel about joining So Solid?” My mind was going, “YES! I’LL DO IT!” But I played it cool, “Yeah, I’ll think about it.” I spent my life in clubs trying to build our fanbase. I was getting closer to my dream, it was a real spiritual journey. I loved that whole period. It was such a whirlwind. The successful part of So Solid was short lived, but the impact was crazy. It was so magical to see our hard work paying off and people respecting us. Granted, it didn’t last long and the good energy became bad energy real quick. But I enjoyed it while it lasted.
Going to prison felt like the end of the world. Looking back to when I first went to prison [aged 19] and was on the front page of all the tabloids, it felt like all the doors just slammed shut. What am I gonna do? So to be here now feels really good. It feels like I proved that I wasn’t the person everyone thought I was. I wouldn’t want to say anything to my younger self that disturbed his journey. Because without it, I wouldn’t have made the changes I did in my life. But I might tell him not to worry so much. You can always pivot, you can always relearn, you can always change, which I have done a lot over the years. Everything that’s happened, bad or good, has got me here. The pain is important.
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A lot of mistakes I made were in pursuit of a role model. I went to the wrong places. Up until 2004, a lot of my problems were around me and my dad. I was an angry person, acting out a lot, and I had a lack of understanding of who I was because I didn’t have a relationship with my father. So it was cool to get that closure that I didn’t know I needed.
Me and my dad finally had a relationship when he was dying of cancer. He had three weeks to live and flew to Canada to see me – against my wishes, actually. I was saying, “I don’t know you, please don’t come.” But he turned up and called me from the airport. He stayed with me for two weeks and I filmed him every day on this little camcorder. In the evenings it would get quite deep, I’d be asking, “Where the fuck were you? Why weren’t you around?” All these candid questions. I’d watched the film Things to Do in Denver When You’re Dead – where terminally ill people answer questions so their kids can get advice on relationships etc when they pass. I thought, let me do that with him because this stuff might be important down the line. And I was right. It gave me closure. I hated him – and I know that’s a strong word – for what he’d done. When I heard his story and sat with him, it all made sense. I understood him, and I forgave him before he passed – which has helped me forgive myself. If I never had that moment with him, I’d be struggling more now.
My younger self would be excited about everything I’ve done. Maybe that’s a bit egotistical – there are a few he could avoid. But he would have loved the whole Top Boy era. And Adolescence was a huge moment. People are trusting me more now. I’d shown a softer side, but it often went unnoticed. Since Adolescence I’ve played an American comedian, been a mentor in Dune, and I’m being allowed to be more expressive.
(From left) Drake, Ashley Walters, Micheal Ward and Little Simz at the premiere of Top Boy in Hackney, London, in 2019. Image: PA Images / Alamy
Stephen Graham is definitely a hero. Although we’re friends, I still look up to him as the icon that he is. But two key people for me are Lennie James and Adrian Lester, the first two black male actors I worked with [on Storm Damage]. Adrian had worked with John Travolta on Primary Colors, so he was huge to me. He’d made it into America! And Lennie had written it and mentored me all the way through that movie. We’ve all stayed quite close. I learnt the ability to feel safe making mistakes. They really empowered me and I needed that. Because I didn’t have any older men around me at that time telling me I was good.
If I told my younger self that one day he would be directing a movie, he would tell me to shut up. There are so many great things I could say are going to happen to him, but this is a special moment. It’s taken a long time to get here. I wanted Animol to be colourful – I said it cannot look like other prison genre films, it needed to have hope. When I was in prison, for me it was bleak and blue but I saw a lot of light and a lot of hope in people’s faces. So I wanted to reflect that. What we view as the struggle or the ghetto or the hood – it never feels the same to people on the inside. I didn’t want it to be the voyeuristic view.
I’d tell my younger self to have fun… but your wife is coming. I haven’t had many relationships. I’ve had three in my life; all of them pretty serious and long. The third one, obviously, is my marriage [to Danielle Isaie]. If I knew way back what I know now, it would have changed everything – I needed those ups and downs from previous relationships to be able to make the decisions I make now.
In my music years, we had to be politically aware. We were talked about in parliament and by politicians all the time. But there’s no way you cannot be political as a young black man in London. Politics comes into your life, whether it’s stop and search or whatever. It’s something you grow up with. Sometimes there’s anger towards how the world’s being run – but I try not to let it get to me too much.
Ashley Walters on the set of Animol. Image: Supplied
My younger self would not imagine Ashley being a classical music or jazz fan. He would be surprised by a few of my choices. But it comes from age – I just can’t listen to drill any more. I need music to calm me down and focus me. He’d be asking, ‘Why are you wearing those shoes, why are you listening to Italian jazz?’ But it’s still you. You changed.
Who knows what this is about? So go for your goals, man. I get quite spiritual with this stuff, but if you go out in the evening – especially in Kent where I live now and the skies are clearer – and look up and see the stars, you realise, we’re just floating. No one knows where we’re going. Even scientists can’t explain why we are here. So who gives a fuck? There’s one life. You only get one shot. This could be short lived. I’ve learned that over the past few years when I’ve lost people. Those moments where you’re like, I should call that person, I’ll do it tomorrow? Do it now. Do it now. Do everything you want to do now.
