Ashley Walters, star of the new Netflix hit drama Adolescence, was left needing comfort after a blunder he made during filming. The show, which has been praised for its intense and emotional narrative, features Ashley as DI Luke Bascombe, alongside Stephen Graham. Ashley admitted to being in tears over a mistake on set. In an interview, Hannah Walters – Stephen’s wife, who is also a producer and actress on the show – disclosed that Ashley had slipped up during production. Adolescence stands out for its unique filming technique, with each episode shot in one continuous take. Speaking on the Capital XTRA Breakfast Show, Ashley opened up about the filming blunder, saying: “I love that woman so much. But yeah, it did happen. It did happen, yeah. So there’s like, in episode two, I chase a kid at the end, and I used his name when calling my son instead of my son’s character’s name right at the end.
Ashley Walters, star of the new Netflix hit drama Adolescence, had to be consoled after a blunder he made during filming
(Image: Courtesy of Netflix)
“And Philip Barantini, the director, he came up to me after, because I was in bits, bro. You know when like you’ve dropped the ball? It’s like you’re dropping a ball for everyone, do you know what I mean?”, reports the Mirror. Comparing the cast’s teamwork to a football squad, Ashley shared: “It’s like a football team, bro. You’re playing together. And I was in bits, bro. Nearly in tears,” he said. “Because it was such a good take, and he tried to make me feel better by like, ‘No, but maybe, you know, the character is so discombobulated… I was like, ‘Phil, let’s just go again. Let’s go again.'”. Meanwhile, Stephen has opened up about the emotional journey during the making of Adolescence, calling it a “beautiful thing” to be involved in. He shared, “If we achieve that, we’ll have done what we set out to do. Adolescence was a ‘we’ experience rather than a ‘me’ experience. And it’s one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever been a part of. “You have to remember that I was a young working class kid who came from a block of flats in Liverpool so it’s a big thing for me now to be able to see all these amazing people doing all these incredible things from this tiny little concept that came from my head and grew into this drama that we’re all so proud of.”
Phillip Barantini, Owen Cooper, Ashley Walters, Stephen Graham on the set of Adolescence
(Image: Courtesy of Netflix)
Owen Cooper and Stephen Graham as Jamie and Eddie
(Image: Netflix)
Adolescence tells the story of 13 year old boy, Jamie, played by Owen Cooper, who is accused of murder, with Stephen portraying Eddie Miller, the boy’s distraught father. Director Philip Barantini spoke about the extensive search for the perfect actor to play Jamie, explaining, “We scoured the North West. Shaheen Baig, our amazing casting director, is incredible at finding young talent and so we had, y’know, actors who’d done a few bits and bobs but also kids who’d never acted before, and Owen was one of those kids. He just self-taped for us. “We were like ‘this kid’s got something’. He’s so like spontaneous and he’s listening […] He’s not thinking about acting. He’s not acting, he’s just being, y’know. And so we put him through his paces. […] I think there was a 5 or 6 audition processes and Stephen did some screen tests with him.”
