My mum was well-travelled, well-educated and made me understand from books, from my imagination and from just taking me away on holiday once a year, wherever she could, that the world was bigger than Peckham.
Ashley Walters
When I was young I wanted to be a bus driver, because my grandad was a conductor on the Routemasters.
I have done a lot of short dramas that are three, four or five episodes and so that makes the filming process similar to the independent film process; it is very intimate, and it is a small cast and a small crew and everyone is there with a common goal and want the best for that project.
As an actor you pull your socks up and look for the next job.
My dad spent most of my childhood behind bars. He went to jail 17 or 18 times. It was only when he was diagnosed with cancer in 2004 that we started to have a relationship.
I'm a father eight and I'm married as well - in real life.
I had an inkling that I was going to prison before I actually did, because I'd witnessed my father and my elders going through it. It seemed like that's the way that you got respect, which is a sad thing.
A lot of black actors will sit there and go, 'Every role is about being a gangster' - then they get an opportunity to write a script and they write about a gangster. You know... write about a superhero.
It's down to schools to educate children about their history, especially black history.
I sit down on my sofa and I turn on 'Judge Judy.' That's my guilty pleasure. I could do a whole day of that.
I woke up one day and there were loads of calls on my phone. My best friend was like: bro, go to Drake's Instagram. So I went and saw my big head on there, a picture and a caption or whatever, and it was 'Top Boy' related. Long story short: we got in contact and had a few conversations about him being a big fan of the show.
Drake revived 'Top Boy,' if I'm honest with you. You've got to give him a lot of credit.
I grew up on an estate in Peckham.
Using a gun is a coward's way to hurt someone.
It was tough: I had to kiss a man, and I got a mixed reaction from the black community. But I have to be ready to play any role, or I can't call myself an actor.
Music for me, it's pretty annoying, because I've never had a successful solo career and it bugs me.
Some days it seems I've done as much as I can here and I think I'll go and try my luck in America. But then a call comes from the Globe theatre. They want me for King Lear, playing Edmund.
As an actor, you're different in every role.
I went to a branch of the City of Westminster College in Maida Vale to do drama, sociology and English literature. I stayed for three or four months.
Whatever I want, the next car or the next house, I stick a picture of it to the back of my door, so I can look at it first thing in the morning and dream it into existence.
Drake is involved heavily, and they're kind of working away to find the right home for 'Top Boy,' whether that be Netflix, whether it be on TV, whether it be Amazon, I don't know.
My heart truly lies in good scripts.
I never wanted my kids to have the experience of not knowing me or where they came from. I never want them to wonder, 'Did he love me?' I want to be there at the pivotal moments, for them to know how proud I am of who they are becoming.
I hoard and buy loads of the same things over and over - DVDs, clothes, trainers.
I go away to places in Europe or America and I feel uncomfortable; I can't wait to get home.
Drake and his camp are people of their word. I've never seen them say they're going to do something and not do it.
I loved English and I tell kids that without English I wouldn't be able to rap.
You know, I have got quite a husky, gritty voice which people say - even when I'm talking nicely - does sound a bit rough.
I don't want to say I'm a role model because I've not been the most clean-cut person, and there were times I could have gone the other way.
When we think someone is a great dad, what it really means is that we like the way they try.
I gave up acting while I just pursued my music career.
I worked in WH Smiths on Sloane Square and my first boss was a woman called June. My shift was half a day on Saturdays, and nine to six on Sundays. I was in and out of the place and only turned up when I wanted to.
The fact that 'Small Island' is 'period' is amazing for me because it's something that I've never been involved with before. Also, half my family is Jamaican and this story is essentially a story about Jamaican people, and it's portraying a part of history that I was not that familiar with myself.
Rather than enjoying my success I was stressing about it. Wanting it, but at the same time I couldn't handle the consequences. I was intimidated by people.
There's always that romantic Hollywood element to it. But people appreciate 'Top Boy' because it is what it is.
I didn't actually rob anyone but once I was kidnapped by two older boys for half a day and they were trying to get me to steal or mug someone.
It would be beautiful to be able to walk up and down Peckham still, because I love it; it's where I grew up. But it just doesn't work. There are a lot of people who love you but there's jealousy too.
Top Boy' isn't the type of programme that is trying to be righteous and have a happy ending, it is just real.
This game is full of rejection. As an actor, you are being told 'No' an awful lot of the time. You have to keep getting up and carrying on to get to where you want to go.
My mum's been my backbone, my inspiration, and the person who's pushed me in my career.
My dad had a real big reputation as being the hard man, street fighter, the gangster. My stepdad was quite timid, and I wanted a bit of the gangster in my life.
I find it hard to network and I have an issue about what people are going to think of me.
I don't have friends, to be honest.
I find it really, really, really hard to have relationships with other men. That's one of my biggest problems. Women I seem to get on with quite well.
There was a long period where every time someone was shot or stabbed the BBC would call me. I started to think, 'I'm an actor and a musician, I don't want to be a politician or a spokesperson.'
My whole journey has been televised: the negative and the positive.
When it comes to friends, as in people to relax with, that's my wife and my kids.
I have grown up being a father. When my first son was born I was 17. I was a child bringing up a child. I was not capable of understanding what a dad was meant to be.
I heard stories about my dad. I wondered why he never protected me. I loved the man and I have still not got over the fact he wasn't there for me.
There's a lot of negative things which happen in the show we're not trying to lie about that, that's the beauty of 'Top Boy,' it's unapologetic.
