BACK ON TRACK: Ashley Walters

At 19, Ashley was in prison for possessing a firearm. Ten years later, he’s a veteran of numerous films and television dramas, including tonight’s True Love (10.35pm, BBC1).

Good start As a child living on a notorious estate in Peckham, London, Ashley enrolled at the famous Sylvia Young Theatre School, and landed his first acting job when he was just nine years old – a small role in TV’s The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles. In 1997, aged 14, he joined the regular cast of Grange Hill (1) as Andy Phillips. Tuned in Music-loving Ashley’s rapper alter ego, Asher D (2), was also a fully signed-up member of urban music collective So Solid Crew, whose biggest hit was 21 Seconds, in 2001. Taking a wrong turn Growing up in a tough neighbourhood (he was stabbed when he was 15), temptation was all around, and, in 2002, after being caught with a loaded weapon by the police, Ashley was sentenced to 18 months in a young offender institution. He was 19. Second chance Fearing he had squandered his early promise, Ashley sank into depression after prison. But, in 2004, film-maker Saul Dibb gave him a break and cast him in Bullet Boy (3), an independent film for which Ashley’s life experience added an air of authenticity that did not go unnoticed. Earning widespread acclaim, Ashley’s acting career was officially relaunched, and he has since landed a series of big parts on TV, including Hustle in 2007, Small Island in 2009, Outcasts (4) and Top Boy (5), both in 2011, and the excellent Inside Men, earlier this year.

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