Top Boy: what did Netflix drama star Ashley Walters say about Black creators, did he spend time in prison?

Ashley Walters, who played drug lord Dushane in Channel 4 and later Netflix crime drama Top Boy has spoken about the importance of including Black creators in Black stories as the hit series comes to an end.

The series follows Dushane and Sully, two young Black men living at Summerhouse estate in Hackney, climbing the ranks of the criminal world with the aim of controlling the local drug trade.

Top Boy features a predominantly Black cast, including rappers Ashley Walters, Kano, Little Simz, and NoLay. 

The show came to a dramatic conclusion on Netflix yesterday (7 September), with a six part final season that also saw the introduction of Irish gangster Jonny, played by Bafta-winning actor Barry Keoghan.

What did Ashley Walters say about Ronan Bennett writing Top Boy?

Screenwriter Ronan Bennet wrote every season of Top Boy - he moved from Belfast to Hackney as an adult and was inspired to create the drama after witnessing a Black youth dealing drugs at his local Tesco. 

Speaking to The Times about the fact that Top Boy, a seminal London based crime drama that tells Black stories, was written by a white Irish man, Walters said: “Let me be frank. It would have been ideal for Black people's stories to have been told by a Black person.

“So I did scrutinize Ronan. But understanding the people he consulted for the script was key.”

Top Boy remains Bennett’s most popular production, though he has also worked on the Kit Harrington historical drama series Gunpowder, and crime films Public Enemies and Dead Shot.

Did Ashley Walters spend time in prison?

Yes, the 41 year old actor was sentenced to 18 months in prison in 2002 when he was 19 years old for having a loaded gun in his car. He was stopped and searched by police who found the weapon. 

In the same interview with The Times, Walters said: “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.”

Walters suffered from depression after leaving prison and turned to alcohol to deal with his mental health issues. It was after a particular low point in which he woke up after passing out on a London bus to find that his wallet, phone, and shoes had been stolen, that he decided to get help.

Several years later he was cast in Top Boy as Dushane, and played the character for two seasons from 2011-2013 when Channel 4 ran the show, and reprising the role in 2019 when Netflix picked up the drama. He has also starred in crime drama Bulletproof, alongside Noel Clarke.