In the real world with Ashley Walters

Tell us a bit about Off the Endz…

“The play focuses on Sharon, Kojo and David. David is the dominant one - he has a very street-orientated life and ends up going to prison. The play opens when he’s just been released. I’ve been in jail myself, and you forget the rest of the world is still turning. David expects to pick up where he’s left off, but his ex-girlfriend Sharon has moved in with Kojo, who’s turned his life around and gone into a nine-to-five job.”

Was it partly the resonances with your own past that drew you to the play? 

“Definitely. I’ve been David. David is angry and anyone who tries to help him, he puts down and pushes away. Then I went to prison and I got to know myself better, which is rare - not a lot of people are rehabilitated in prison, they actually become worse because they’re with other criminals, many of whom consider crime a career, and prison just becomes part of the process.”

What gave you the strength to change? 

“I’d been through so much. I’d been stabbed, I was kidnapped, I’d been shot at, but I eventually realised that all these people who were trying to hurt me were jealous of my success and wanted to have the opportunities I had. They feared me. I realised that they’re always going to be there. The best thing I could do was to push forward.”

You’ve obviously always had an innate drive…

“I started going to Sylvia Young’s, where the rest of the kids were white, middle-class. I’d go to their four-storey townhouses, and then back to my flat in Peckham, but rather than be jealous, I thought about how I could achieve that myself. My mum was adamant about education, and she’d make sure that I had a holiday every year so I could see that there was more to the world.”

Off The Endz playwright, Bola Agbaje, is being hailed as one of the UK’s bright young talents. Were you a follower previously? 

“While I was doing Oxford Street [also at the Royal Court], she was here writing, and I’d say, ‘You’ve got to get me in something’. I love how she pinpoints a very small aspect of a community and shines this big light on it.”

I read she wants to try writing for film. Is that something you’ve discussed?

“I will, now that you’ve said that!”

You initially made your name in the music world, with So Solid Crew. Is acting your first love?

“I’d choose acting over music in a shot. I do music as therapy for myself, but I put out two solo albums and a mixed tape after I left So Solid, and they’ve done nothing. It was upsetting, but it made me realise that what I’ve managed to do is an achievement in itself, because Ashley Walters has become more famous than Asher D.”

But Fifty Cent [who cast Walters in Get Rich or Die Trying] thought your music was brilliant…

“He did. I’ve got a single with him actually – I’m putting it out as promo. It’s on the soundtrack for the last film I did with him, Dead Man Running.”

Finally, why should people come and see the play?

“Because it’s brilliant theatre with a moral that doesn’t bash you over the head. And I get my bum out!”

Off the Endz runs from February 11-March 13 at the Royal Court Theatre, SW1W 8AS. For tickets visit www.royalcourttheatre.com or call 020 7565 5000

EXTRA, EXTRA… Exclusive for the web, details of Ashley’s new production company

How would you describe your character in Off the Endz?

“David’s charming, but cocky. He sees the only way to get back what he had is through selling drugs and he tries to convince Kojo to do it with him. And he toys with the idea, because his seems a mundane lifestyle compared to the fast-lived one. But ultimately Kojo understands that the outcome is going to jail, is being shot, is being killed, whereas when you get that legitimate success, it’s yours to keep. That’s the conflict between the two characters.”

You’ve been lauded as one of the country’s most promising actors. In 2005, you won the Best Newcomer Award for Bullet Boy…

“That established me. I’d just come out of prison and I went through a long period of not acting. The director, Saul Dibb, was one of the only people who took me seriously.”

What was it like working with Fifty Cent?

“Fifty’s great. Down to earth, business-minded and articulate. When I was in the States with him, I realised how in control of his destiny he was. He inspired me to set up AD82, my own production company.”

Can you tell us more about AD82?

“I co-own it with my best friend Dewi [Bruce Konuah], a scriptwriter and director. We started it up partly because I had a bad time with my management in So Solid, and I realised how naïve I’d been. I didn’t know anything about the business side of music, and I felt really stupid.”

Are there any artists on your books that you’re excited about?

“Realist. He’s 19, from Bow, and he’s come out of the hub of the Grime scene. He grew up with people like Tynchey Stryder, and he now has a nice body of music. I’m expecting big things for him this year.”

Members Comments

There are no comments for this article.

Add a Comment

Please log in to post a comment.