Ashley Walters almost cried after ‘messing up’ one-shot scene in Adolescence
'I was nearly in tears.'
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Previous Page Next PageAshley Walters has revealed he was ‘in bits’ after making a mistake during a one-shot scene in Netflix’s buzziest drama Adolescence.
The Top Boy actor, 42, plays detective Luke Bascombe who is investigating the murder of a school girl in the acclaimed four-part production from Stephen Graham and Jack Thorne.
Her 13-year-old classmate Jamie (Owen Cooper) is the prime suspect in a show that explores how incel culture and the internet are detrimentally impacting young boys.
The harrowing drama used a one-shot filming technique, with director Philip Barantini previously explaining to Metro it was not a ‘gimmick’ but a means to force the audience to pay attention.
However, during one such scene, Ashley said he nearly cried after accidentally calling an actor by the wrong name and was concerned he had ruined the take.
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The Missing You actor explained on Capital Xtra Breakfast: ‘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 said he nearly cried after feeling he had messed up a take (Picture: Courtesy of Netflix) He said he accidentally called a character by the wrong name (Picture: 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?”
‘It’s like a football team, bro. You’re playing together. And I was in bits, bro. Nearly in tears. 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.”‘
Philip previously used the filming technique for the 2019 film Boiling Point, which also starred Stephen.
But He explained to Metro he had reservations about shooting Adolescence in one shot: ‘When we talked about this project, and the one shot thing, we really talked about it quite seriously because I’ve done Boiling Point, and I didn’t want to be known as the guy who just does the one takes. But this particular story, what it does is it forces you to pay attention.
Owen plays a schoolboy accused of murdering his classmate (Picture: Courtesy of Netflix)‘It’s relentless, and it puts a perspective on things that you wouldn’t necessarily have. You can’t jump forward in time, you can’t cut to another person, you can’t go to a close-up.’
Adolescence has fast become one of Netflix’s most-viewed shows – reaching a jaw-dropping 24.3 million views in the four days after its release.
It also currently holds a near-perfect 98% on Rotten Tomatoes and has been called the ‘best drama in a long time’ by viewers.
‘Finished #Adolescence, what an incredible show. We genuinely do not talk enough about the greatness of Stephen Graham. This final scene had me bawling,’ KongoZande said, to which Samantha commented on X: ‘Same, I’m still crying and it ended about 5 minutes ago. He is phenomenal. Just wow.’
Kellam wrote: ‘Guys Adolescence on Netflix is potentially the closest thing we have to perfect tv. Severance, Paradise and now this? How greedy. All shot in one take too? Mental.’
Tim called it ‘the most sensational piece of television I’ve seen in years’, while Jiya said it ‘is truly a brilliantly crafted show’.
Tune into Capital Xtra Breakfast with Robert Bruce and Shayna Marie weekdays from 6:3-10:00am, also available on the Global Player app.
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