‘I was in bits’: Adolescence director had to console Ashley Walters after messing up this scene

‘It’s like you’re dropping a ball for everyone’


Adolescence star Ashley Walters has now revealed how he was on the brink of tears over messing up a crucial scene before director Philip Barantini consoled him. It just sounds like the most supportive set.

Netflix’s Adolescence has been a huge hit in part due to the brilliant performances by Stephen Graham, Owen Cooper, and Erin Doherty. Ashley Walters also gave the performance of a lifetime as DI Luke Bascombe, but we really shouldn’t be surprised after his award-winning stint in Top Boy and other projects such as Missing You and Bullet Boy.

But even for a veteran in the acting industry mistakes happen and Ashley is not immune from feeling the pressure. In one particular moment, he was “nearly in tears.”

Ashley Walters unintentionally messed up a scene in Adolescence

In the final few scenes of episode two, Ashley’s character Luke is chasing down schoolkid Ryan to ask him about the term incel and how Jamie managed to acquire the knife he committed the crime with. It was an incredibly tense moment, so much so that it contributed to Ashley’s slip-up in the following scene.

Sitting in his car he calls his own son Adam over, but in an obviously unaired take, he accidentally used Ryan’s name instead.

“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,” he told Capital XTRA Breakfast on Wednesday. “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?”

The magic of Adolescence is the one continuous take throughout each episode, but mistakes happen. Nonetheless, that didn’t stop Ashley from feeling down about the blunder despite Philip Barantini suggesting they could keep it in.

“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,” he added. “I was like, ‘Phil, let’s just go again. Let’s go again.’”

Featured image credit: Netflix/Capital XTRA

Adolescence is on Netflix now. For all the latest Netflix news, drops, quizzes and memes like The Holy Church of Netflix on Facebook. 

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