Table Manners with Jessie and Lennie Ware - Ashley Walters

Episode Date: October 21, 2026

The brilliant Ashley Walters is over for dinner this week. From his days as Asher D in So Solid Crew, to Top Boy and Adolescence, Ashley has had an incredible career and now he’s stepping behind the camera for his directorial debut ‘Animol'. Mum made sea bass with tomato and anchovy dressing followed by a vegan apple and apricot cake. We chatted about growing up in Peckham, his early days in Oliver! in the West End, how he ended up in prison, working with Stephen Graham and the comfort foods that take him back to childhood - including oysters! Thank you Ashley for such an honest and lovely evening. ‘Animol’ will be released in cinemas from 30th October.Listen & watch Table Manners here - https://tablemanners.komi.io/Follow Table Manners on:Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/tablemannerspodcast/TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@tablemannerspodcastFacebook - https://www.facebook.com/tablemannerspodcastYouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@TableMannersPodcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hello and welcome to Taban Manors. I'm Jessie Ware and I'm here with mum. You're looking very glam, mum. The hair is height today. Yeah, good height today. What have you used on it today? Just what I normally use, but I did my rollers in a different way. Oh yeah. I went backwards, darling. Instead of forwards? Sideways. Oh. So instead of looking like a barrister when I have my rollers in, I put them all back for height.

Oh, it's worked? Yeah, thanks a bit farther. Yeah. Oh, is it? No, just like, it's nice. Bit Charlie's Angels. Yeah. I know it's nice. Okay.

We have Ashley Walters coming on today who, I mean, I've known since he was Asher D and so solid and that has been like, that is, if you are a Londoner, particularly a South Londoner, you know every lyric to that song. Go on, tell me, what is it? I'm not going to do it. What's it called? No, no. What?

What's it called? Well, they've got many songs, but 21 seconds is the one. where they got the high budget for the video and Romeo was a vampire. Do you remember? I think it was like around the time that like Romeo had must die just happened and Alia had done try again. Were you at secondary school?

I was probably in year 10, year nine maybe, I think. And we loved them and we loved that they were Peckham, weren't they? No, they were about to see some of them. But Ashley Walters was Peckham, yeah. Ashadie was Peckham. And Ashley Walters has gone on to be one of our great actors. And now a director.

Yeah, everything from Bullet Boy, Top Boy, Small Island with Ruth Wilson. Yeah. Oh, yes. And of course, adolescence. And he now has directed a film. It's his directorial debut and it's called Animal. And Animal with a No. Yes.

I wonder why it's called. I'm going to ask him that. Yeah. It's about a young offenders. Institution. It's a really challenging watch. It's upsetting. It's heartbreaking.

Yeah. but it's also got a really beautiful story in it too, well, a few beautiful stories in it. And it's also got a really beautiful friendship and relationship as one of the storylines, which I found incredibly touching. Stephen Graham didn't tell us that he was in it. He plays, what do you call him, like a youth advisor. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And, yeah, Ashley Walters is coming on to talk to us all about Animal.

I hope he's going to talk about a lot of other things too. I don't think he lives in London anymore It's in Kent Yeah so I want to know about all the spots that he likes in Peckham Because that will suit me Yeah Mum, what have you made? Well, I've made what Stephen Graham told me to make for him

I've made Seabass With a kind of very interesting salsa dressing And it's from the book Alexandra Dudley Yeah It's a lovely cookbook And it seems quite simple

The only thing is you're going to have a bit of fried fish while I'm going to have to fry the fish well. Anyway, I've done new potatoes in this tomato salad that is mixed with kind of anchovies and shallots and everything. It looks nice. Where's that from? The same book. And then I've just done some green beans and some new potatoes without butter. Well, mum had a whole plan to do something else until she looks at the notes and it says that Ashley's lactose intolerant. Yeah, he was going to have a fish pie with a pint of milk in. And then what were you going to do for PUD? Oh, it was cheesecake.

Yeah, so that's, that, you had to rethink that. And what have you done for pudding? I've made a vegan apple and apricot cake. Well done for being so adept. I adapted with five minutes before my Ocardo cut off. It was touch and go. Right, well done. Ashley Walters, coming off on table.

Ashley Walters, thank you very much for being here. Hey, hey, hey. Thank you for having me. It's a pleasure. Does this area feel familiar? Yeah. Yeah. Totally.

I grew up around here. My first girlfriend was from Clapham Common. Oh, yeah. Who became the mother of my first three children. So I've got like a lot of ties to clap him. And obviously So Solid was all Batter. We're all back to sea. Clapham.

Yeah. So I've been around here a lot. And we all, well, as I'm 41, so solid was everything to every South Londoner. It really was. but yeah I need to know what you did in the gym today so in the gym today what did I do I do a 5k run oh okay sure treadmill run because I'm 44 and my knees have gone so what's wrong with your knee because I just got my MRI back

if I run on the on the roads they're just I'm out of game for like three days it's so boring running on a treadmill though I know it is I have to do you watch something I watch a podcast table manners oh shit up no no I do you know and then I've got like a little was a podcast like I watch but yeah I'll just throw on a podcast which which other podcasts do you like um I'm a big fan of like I'm a big football person yeah so do you I watch football's 12 man was a guy called dan pots that runs that a fTV but I'm kind of you know they they were big oh they are the biggest probably um so I watch them every night and again but they're slightly commercial I like to hear like the raw you know the raw fans going on it well my husband's a spurs fan and he's chatting listening to them just like not knowing what to do and he listens to those ones.

We can't talk about your husband or spurs while I'm here now. You're fine. You're doing okay. Yeah, you're all right. I don't think you need to worry. And I saw you got Man United toilet roll in the toilet. Oh, well, that was actually from an Arsenal fan. That mom's kept it because, yeah, it was a wind up.

Yes, it was a wind up. Yeah. Good it, good. But did you celebrate, how did you celebrate when Arsenal won? I was away. So I was in, I was actually in Belfar shooting something. So I just had to watch. it online to be honest and the night that we won but then when I got back I did go to the

parade with my wife from my two youngest kids yeah it was lovely it was amazing 22 years yeah yeah long long way do you play anymore no no and I wasn't good when I played so I'm not one of those people that I know what I'm talking about to do you well my my mate was in Oliver with you oh wow jack piniarte I'm not gonna I remember and I'm so sorry okay so you were in Oliver I was I was in Oliver. Like the first... I was in the first cast in the London Palladium.

Jonathan Price. San Mendes directed. And it was amazing. Yeah. Well, my name was one of Fagan's gang, which I think you were... I was as well, yeah. So Jack was part of the Fagin's gang.

And so... Did he tell you the character he played? Because they didn't have names. He was a Blackheath boy. And he taught like a... Hold on. South London. He didn't wear like a...

Like a blue costume with a blue hat. or something like that. I remember. I had a fight with him. Probably. What? On stage or off? Okay, fine.

I was telling me like, oh God, should I ask, I'll ask Jack. No, maybe it was. What was your character called? Mine was Hand Walker. Do you got to mate them up or not? Well, no, they were made. Basically, we had like a North and a Southcast. So because you're so young, you can't do all the days by law.

So you had to split them up with another guy. The other guy who was playing my character could walk on his hands. Oh, my. had this little moment in the show where he'd like start walking on his hands for like five minutes or something and I obviously couldn't I couldn't do it. They tried to train me up to do it but I couldn't do it. So I was called handwalker but I never walked on my hand. So my son's been auditioning for Lion King. Oh my God. For Simba for the last maybe year. So he's just he's just about to be called back next year. Is that how long the audition process? Well no but they're always turning them

over so they're like it didn't work out for your neck this time come back again a few months or whatever so he's got his next run coming and i've been kind of rehearsing with him at home how's that going it's amazing it's like you know it's my son so i'm a bit biased is he going to acting classes he doesn't but we've we've had him in like little you know stage coach and you know the little drama stuff that you have in in your local area so he's been doing it he's been singing and doing drama since he was like three, four. And how is it acting opposite your son? It's amazing. We actually nearly ended up in the same movie. So I went up for a big film. It was like a Denzel Washington film. And I went up to play his brother. And the next day, my son got the call from his agent to play my character

younger. So it was like, I don't know, it was such a coincidence. Did either of you get the part? No, we didn't know. Oh, shame. Well, it's still. I don't even, tuck that out. I always get past. Did you go to Sylvia Young? I did, yeah. I can't believe that you're still having to audition, mate.

Yeah, it happens. It happens. It's how it goes. I mean, I mean, maybe it's just for me. I don't really talk to other actors about it. Now you're a director. You can put yourself in it. Well, that's it. That was the whole point of your directing was like,

just the case the work dries up, I can give myself work. Yeah. Well, let's talk about, we'll talk about food in a minute, but let's talk about animal. Yeah. Congratulations, by the way. It's the directing, the acting is phenomenal. And it slaps you around the face and is really quite upsetting to watch a lot of it.

Whilst there is also like real beauty and that relationship between Christian and Troy, like that was incredibly beautiful. And even the ending that scene with Stephen Graham about joy. Yeah, shame. And so congratulations. Thank you. Thank you. why, firstly, we both want to know why animal with a no, but that's just because we want to know.

Yeah. Sorry, I just need to know that. Well, listen, I'm glad we did it because there are like two other films called animal and animals that are coming out like around the same time, which always happens. So, so I'm glad we kind of made a difference. But that was just Nick Love, like the great Nick Love. I mean, sometimes I don't understand a lot of the decisions he makes. And we haven't really had a conversation about it, but I do know that I suffer with dyslexia.

He suffers with dyslexia, you know, and it was, I don't think he did it by accident. He did it on purpose, but it was just to signify, like, what a lot of the boys, I guess, are going through in the prison. And probably had a bit more significance in the first draft because there was loads of stuff that we kind of took out, you know, loads of storylines of themes that we took out.

And one of them was that Troy couldn't read or write. Right. And in the end, I didn't want that in there. Can we talk about, I mean, why did you, I think I know why you chose this as a subject, but can you tell us why you chose to do your debut? I mean, from, I got the opportunity to direct. I always said that I didn't want to do anything that anyone would expect me to do. I've done a lot of, you know, crime dramas and gang dramas and stuff.

And I just thought it would be so easy for me to go into something like that. So I was trying to avoid scripts like Animal, to be honest. But Nick was adamant that we had to work together and I had to direct this film. And he sent it to me and I just thought it was beautiful. And it was, you know, we have so many prison drama films that come from the UK. We do them quite well, you know. But never one that kind of sees it from this sort of perspective. You know, I was, I went to prison early 2000s.

How old were you? Well, it was 2000. one. So I was like 18, 19, I think. So like, was it prison or young offenders instead? So I started in the young offenders. I was on the cusp of the age group. So I started in the young offenders for like two months. I was in Felton for a month. I used to visit Felton. I was a social worker. Okay. So I used to visit. It was tough. It was tough in there. I feel like younger prisoners have a harder time. Everyone's got something to

prove. Like older prisoners are more relaxed. But anyway. But you're going in there off the back of also being famous. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. You are Ashadee at that point having hits. So I can imagine that may have been even harder or was there a kind of power there? I don't know. It was just a huge target on my head to be honest, you know. And everyone had a, had a point to prove, I guess.

But I managed to survive that experience. But it was, I mean, it was really important when I read this script for me to tell the story because I was really vulnerable in there. Although I had this sort of gangster image on the outside, I was in Sylvie Young doing theatre and, you know, tap and ballet on the weekends and stuff that my friends didn't know about. And my kind of jail time was a real shock to my family and to my close friends. They didn't realize what I was going through.

So the experience was harrowing. I was really vulnerable in there. And, you know, in order to survive, I had to befriend people and just, like, you know, act a different way than I actually am in order to get through. And I saw that in this script. And I don't think I actually felt that from other scripts before. Without being too personal, since you had success and things were going well, what do you think went wrong that you ended up?

Oh, that was, I mean, the music game and the music group that I was in, although Soul Solid were really good. A lot of the guys had come from crime. You know, they'd already been in gangs. A lot of them had been into prison, you know, some for attempted murder. There was like, it was like a huge group of people that had, one common goal to kind of get themselves out of the area and the position they were in, but there was a lot of trauma and a lot of people kind of delving back into it. And I got really

drawn up in that year. I just got drawn into it. So I made some decisions that weren't great. And I was eventually arrested for possession of a firearm over an altercation I had with a traffic warden in London, which is like, you know. But yeah, so that all happened and I had that experience. And one thing I always say about life is that, and that would be a, which was, you know, which was, which I know a lot more now in my 44 years, but I've never been in control of anything that's happening around me, right? You do the best you can do with what you've got and you know, and you better yourself every day,

but people, places and things, other things that exist, I have no control over, and I was trying to control a lot of what was going around me, and in turn, maybe blocking a lot of my blessings, you know? Do you think they were making an example of you because you're in so solid crew to send you to prison? I'm sure. I'm sure I was tried by media.

Yeah, I think that you would have got a suspended sentence. Maybe, maybe. I mean, it was a loaded firearm. It was dangerous. And I, like, you know, especially because there'll be other kids that age watching me, I would never say, you know, it was the right thing to do. So I deserved to get time. And I could have got a lot longer.

I think after my case, they sort of changed a lot of the laws. And, you know, I could have. have got seven years for it. Yeah, I only got a year and a half. So I was happy about that. Did you, when you saw the script, did you help them adapt anything? Being like, hang on, that isn't how it would have been. I would, is there any of your story in there?

Did you weave any of that in to Choice Character? I think so. I think everything you see, like visually is my memory of prison. I spent maybe six months trying to find the right. jail because it had to look the way it looked for me. Right, okay. Didn't get the prison I wanted, to be honest, but that intention made everyone kind of want to get that image out of my head.

So we kind of designed everything to the way I see. Like even the, you know, the kind of set up of the armbands that the kids are wearing and they're on, you know, advanced beginner and stuff. That was from my memory. Do you want to start cooking? Yes, okay. And actually, whilst mum cooks, I, it feels, I understand why you maybe wanted to distance yourself from these stories.

However, I do think it's incredibly profound you directing something of this, like this subject. And also, we both were involved in a fundraiser for Dusty Knuckle. I sung there and you spoke. And you spoke and introduced my old neighbour on stage to show what Dusty Knuckle, the bakery does. Max sends his love, by the way. I love Matt. But Dusty Knuckle, I feel like we talk about their. sourdough all the time on this, but actually what they do is really amazing and they help

reintegrate young offenders. I think it's between 18 and 25. Yeah, yeah. Post prison to feel like they can get back into society working. So like you've been doing the work. Yeah. And you are, you speak about it. You've, you've written a book. Like I understand wanting to separate it, but it does feel right for you to do, have done this. No, no, 100%. And it's so affecting. Yeah. I know and I get that. And I think my avoidance is. never been because of like the subject or you know what I can do to help but it's about the box that you get put in sometimes and as a director coming into it I was like this is my opportunity actually to be very selective about what I do with my acting career at some points you know you're like

I've got to pay the bills next month so you kind of there's a job you don't really want to do maybe but you do it because you know and and I was like I'm finally in a position kind of financially where I can like I want to curate this experience and make it what I want it to be. So I've been very picky about it, but I understood the importance of this film and obviously on me directing it with the experience I've had, do you know what I mean,

and being able to relate. And it was such an amazing process. I mean, just like working with the young, new actors. They were so good. Oh, man, I mean, I... Did you help with casting? I did, yeah. It was like a long casting process

and took our lead, who plays Troy. Yeah. It was so beautifully actually He was amazing It kind of goes back to what I was saying About blocking your blessings Because he won't hate me saying this

Because I was well going to him by it But I didn't want him Oh Because he was too tall He's like six foot He didn't look tall He next to Stephen Graham He's huge

And I was like He's not going to look right against You know I need him to be vulnerable But that's interesting Because I thought of him As quite little Until he was next to Stephen

In that shot And I was like, oh my God, but that kind of, that had even more impact, I feel, because he was this big guy, but actually he looked like a scared young man. Yeah. And it made, you know, if he could, I knew he could get there. And when he did, it was much more powerful for that, for that reason. Yeah. And great actor, just a really, really great actor, instinctive actor. And I was lucky to cast loads of great actors who, all I needed to do really was turn on the camera. How much of the film was improvise? I'd say 70% Yeah 70% I mean I'm an improvise I come from improvisation

That's how I started an independent film With a director that was like Never made a film before He'd only done documentary Bullet Boy Which Saul did Was really I remember going to the cinema As like you know

With my husband who I'm still with Who's the South Londoner Us being like Gotta go and see Ashley Ditt I mean you were Ashley Borders by that point But it was like you know We went to the cinema and it was a brilliant film. Yeah, it was great fun. And I feel like it totally inspired Top Boy.

Yeah, I feel like it did. I mean, it inspired a lot of films that came after that, I think. Yeah. It was kind of like the start of that sort of genre, if you want to call it. So yeah, it was good to be a part of that. But that was a huge inspiration for me. And I've had the best times on set when working with directors that kind of just set up an environment for you to win and just kind of let you go.

I mean, adolescence was one of those experiences. You know, I know that you don't want to be pigeonhole, but I thought that was so exciting to see you in that role of the law. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And you were so fantastic at it. Like, was it, am I wrong in thinking that they're, because you did it in a one take, of court, but was it on your episode where you did a take

and it was fucking perfect and then something happened at the end? Yeah, it was my episode. It was your episode. And then something that happened was me fucking up. What did you fuck up? How did you fuck up? So right at the end, you know that in this episode, two at the end.

I chased the kid. I come back to my car. My son's there. We have that whole conversation. When I saw my son, I called him the kid I was chasing. By the name of the kid I was chasing. And that was right at the end.

Can you have just done a bit of like audio? Yeah, Phil came up to me and was like, don't worry. Because I was crying. Oh, me. You know, the weight of that was like, oh, man, I fucked up. And I was so upset and he came in my trailer. You gave me a hug. And he was like, don't worry.

We can do ADR. It'll be fine. And next day he was like, we can't do ADR. It's done. It's gone. And the next day was our last chance. Do you think, which take do you think was better? The take I said the wrong name on was like, like, was the one.

Well, you were still fantastic. That episode is like, yeah, it's a fantastic episode. You're only human, Ashley. No, I know. I know. I like to. I try and be perfect. Oh, so annoying.

Well, we should talk about food a bit. Yeah. Okay, so let's talk about... It smells good. Let's talk about Peckham. Who was around the dinner table? What is a memorable dish from your childhood? Memorable dish from my childhood would be...

Mum's going to kill me for this. But Spag Bowl. Why is Mom going to kill you? Well, because... Was it Mum Spag Bowl? It was Mom Spag Bowl, and it was great Spag Bowl. Would she have liked you to have said? She probably...

would have wanted me to talk about her more like refined dishes and stuff like that. But that was comfort food for me and when I smelled it in the house, you know, the memory of that and the warmth of it and kind of how easy it is to kind of play up for everyone and eat. I mean, we didn't do too much sitting down at tables to eat. Were you watching telly? Were you eating alone? I was eating alone. I'm my mum's only child.

And my dad's sixth child. So at home was pretty lonely Okay If I'm honest And I kind of really learned to love my own company To be fair So it was get my food from the kitchen Go into my room

You know Homework and eat and stuff Okay So usually if you were around the table Would it be you and your mum then? It'd be me and my mum My stepdad was around at the time My mum's partner at the time

And yeah just us three Like you know Shooting the Breeze really I have a really cool relationship With my mum Although she was really strict, she taught me to have conversations. So anything that happened in my day was there was like an extensive conversation about it. Anything that had gone wrong, if I was five minutes late, it was like.

Interrogation? Yeah, yeah, yeah. It was like, what happened in those five minutes? It was just the bus. Well, what could you do better next time to make sure? You know, that was my life. How are you as a parent? The same.

Okay. It's rubbed off. But a bit more, I guess, There's a lot of guilt for me because I'm away a lot. You know, I mean, since adolescence, I've maybe been home three months. Is that because of the success of it? You're booked and busy, baby? Yeah, yeah.

So it's not, it's not complaint, you know, being booked is amazing. But it's tough, you know, and you miss key moments. You miss things. My 10-year-old son, he's like, we're really close. So I know he kind of suffers when I'm not around and stuff. So, you know, like, I'm really, I try my best not to be critical. like too judgment or too you know

too strict I guess but you have to be a parent I'm the boring strict one I am and I'm the one that goes away more because I sing as well so I um yeah I mum thinks I'm way too strict but

I want them to have good manners obviously I want them to be happy but I do think it's interesting I've got a 10 year old too she's my eldest and I feel they kind of even more so now they need us I feel like this kind of time yeah where they're working stuff out of course boys as well I feel like that's I'm terrified about my boys being a bit older too but yeah it's a pivotal time I know I know exactly what you're saying

my daughter is 12 and it's like she's like 17 or something does she still want to hang out with you it's stopping now she's still Like she still sees me as cool, isish. And her friends, like, come to the house and be like, I'm really, you know, because they kind of know as well. So it's kept me in good stead with her. Well, yeah, great. But she's getting, you know, hard to, she's getting cheeky.

Oh. She's getting cheek and a bit sassy. You want a strong woman, right? Of course. I love it. Yeah. I love it. I love it. I love it.

Mommy doesn't like it too much. Can we talk about your wife? Yes. I loved her in chewing gum. Yeah, she's amazing. She's amazing. Yeah. Is she doing any projects at the moment?

She is. She's doing bits and pops here and there. I mean, she's really dedicated to her acting career. I loved her in that so much. I think for women, especially for black women in the industry, it's really tough. If you go away, you kind of stop for a bit to have a child. It's like starting from square one when you come back.

It's really hard to build it up. So we've really been kind of dedicating a lot of space and time for her now to kind of push a bit more. So she's writing, she's producing, she's kind of trying to push herself in that way, and she's working here and there. But she's great. Have you got a production company? I do, yeah, yeah.

Do you work together then? No. That's not going to happen. We haven't yet. Not that I wouldn't. Not that I wouldn't. I know it would be difficult. I know it would be difficult.

We are that couple. We're a fiery couple. We debate a lot. We bicker a lot. You know, we have that sort of energy. And it scares me kind of working with her. Although I know I would love to do it. I think it would be great for both of us.

And she's my best friend. I always think about like awards and stuff and my speech in my head would always be dedicated to her because the sacrifices that she's made, you know, throughout the process of me getting there and also my, you know, my addiction and my sobriety troubles and stuff like that. So like we've been through a lot and she sacrificed a lot for me to do what I'm doing.

So I would love to kind of be in a space where we, with her we could work together like that. Can you cook? I feel like I can. Like if we were coming around, what are you cooking us? Probably be like a surf and turf. Ooh. Yeah, that's simple.

That looks great, Mom. It looks beautiful. Yeah. I don't believe you could just cook that. No way. That looks gorgeous. I mean, there's a bit of prep. There's a little bit of prep.

We've been doing this for about 10 years now, so we've learned the hard way. Like when we had loyal caner and we were frying lacquers whilst he was here for the whole episode, we've learnt that you have to prep. I say, doing none of the prep. This looks beautiful.

Yeah, it looks gorgeous, mum. It's sea bass with a salsa and a tomato salad with an anchovy dressing and just green beans and potatoes done with mint. This looks so gorgeous, I hope so. This is beautiful. Do you want to know what mum nearly made you until she read the notes?

What was it? I'd ordered, and we have five minutes on the Akado cutoff. I hadn't read the notes And I read, I was just reading the whole notes that we got Lactose intolerant I thought fuck What were you going to make? Fish pie with a pint of milking

And parmesan cheese And then cheesecake with sour cream It would have killed you You wouldn't have eaten it No, I would have What would have happened after? You would have died or shat yourself Oh my gosh, yeah I would have shacked myself

In the car and I would have done that for you That's really, help yourself, darling. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much. So, okay, we're talking about what Ashley would cook for us if we were coming over. Yes, I said surf and turf.

Surf and turf. I love a surf and turf. A good piece of a good steak. Yeah. How long are you cooking yours for? I'm a medium, medium temperature sort of guy. Okay. And yeah, lovely, lovely half a lobster with like some garlic sauce.

Someone else talks about lobster. Stephen Graham. I love lobster. I live by the sea and I'm moved by the sea for that reason. For the lobster? Yeah. There's an actor called Tanya Frank. Do you know her?

Maybe I know by face. Great, great actress. And she was in chewing gum, but she would, she lives in Whitstable. Oh, yeah. And she would invite us down. And she was like, just come down on weekends. And, you know, they have like the largest oyster farm in Europe. It's just all seafood orientated.

And we'd spent so many summer weekends there just. eating oysters and drinking bear when I drank. And then we decided to move there. Couldn't afford it. So pick the next town on, which was Hearn Bay. And I've lived there for seven years now. And that's got the best crab, hasn't it? Yeah, yeah.

Best crab. It's beautiful. So I moved there for oysters, basically. I'm a huge fan of oysters. Mom can't get into them. No, I can't really. Have you, but I do like lobster. This is lovely, ma'am.

Gorgeous. I love a good bit of sea bass. This is amazing. God, Stephen got it right. You and Stephen are quite kind of. I know you're long-time friends now and collaborators, but you could have a lovely date night with Stephen because he loves oysters and he loves lobster.

So there we go. And his wife. And his wife. He loves him a bit of honour. Okay, so you're going to do a surf and turf. Are you a sweet kind of guy? Nah, you don't get body like this eating sweets. Oh, no boring, Ashley.

I'm only joking. I'm a huge fan of sweets. That you have to stop them. It is my problem. chocolate and like gelatin, you know, like jelly, jelly sweets, like Harrybo. And sometimes, I mean, some weeks I can do

like a pack of Harryboa night. But I guess like you're not, you're not, but it's, you're not drinking. No, no, no. And you know, it's sugar. I need sugar. Basically, that's what it is. Last supper, you're going,

I don't, I don't think we'll do Defro today. Stephen's like, let's do Defro, I know this one. Desert Island for a very long time. Starter, main, per drink of choice. Starter would have to be oysters. Okay, how are you taking them? I live next door to Worcesterball,

which is a great oyster farm. So I'd have like six natives. Okay, are they the big ones? No, they're the smaller ones. I can do the small ones. They're the cute, small ones. And they may be like six, like, what they call them, like Jersey Rocks.

Okay, they're the bigger ones. Do you put hot sauce sauce? You do 12 oysters in a city. Oh yeah, easy. Easy. How are you having them with? I'm having them with like some vinegar, vinegar and loads of tabasco. Yeah.

And I've loads of tobasco. I like it hot and spicy. So that would be for my starter. Yeah. My main has to be laxar. What? Oh, oh, I love a laxia. I could have made that for you.

Laksa is beautiful. I mean, it is, there's cream in there. So it's... But coconut. cream now? Yeah, but I mean, whatever cream it is, I'd still risk it for a laxar. I had a place it's called... Some water. Yeah, please. Sambal shike. It was on, it's on Holloway Road. I was on Holyrood, because it recently shut down after eight years. And there was a chef there called Mandy

Yin, who used to make the laxia there. So I'd get one before every Arsenal game. And it's just like beautiful comfort food, man. I love it. Like the broth and, you know, drink it. Have you ever tried to make it? Never, never. Oh gosh, it's like a paste. You can like, it's not too. The Sugar Club cookbook is, makes a fabulous. You should try and make one and do it with all the beautiful fish from Kent.

Okay, so Alaxa. No one's ever done Alxa. Thank you. And then Pud? Pud, you've already said it actually. My favorite pudding is actually eat a mess. And I didn't even know that. Jesus, you'd be dead or you'd be on the Lou the whole time.

I mean, I very rarely order a dessert, unless it's like a birthday or something if I'm in a restaurant. But if I was to have a dessert or I had to have one, it would be an eaten mess. Because, and a deconstructed one as well. Oh, okay. fancy. I had that, like, maybe two years ago. Where? Where?

Where? I can't remember where. It might have been Soho farmhouse, you know? And it was just great, you know, because you get a bit of the sweet. And then you've got, like, you know, the crunch. The crutch. The acidiness of the straw. So you don't really like any Caribbean food.

I do. I love Caribbean food, but I wouldn't have it as my last meal because I have it so much. Have it all the time. Which place in Peckham would you go to? What for food? Do you go back there? Not really. Is your mum still there?

No, my mum lives in Hagerston now. Oh wow, the other side. Yeah, yeah, she went over. Before me, way before me. She went over. Yeah, yeah. Went to the dark side. We would never leave South London.

You know, once you're a side. She's on east. She's on east. I mean, you're just further south now, so I still feel like you're within. I mean, I did North London for a while. My wife is from Old Street. So, yeah, like, are there any spots? I'm in New Cross, so.

Okay. Are there any memorable food places from Peckham that used to love? Such good places in Peckham now. My mum was so dedicated to, like, how I fell in love with oysters was, I bad, I saw oysters on TV, and I said to my mum, so I was like around 9-10 and I was like, I have to have oysters. So every day for like two months, I was battering her about oysters. And she took me to a restaurant here,

well, on the common actually called La Rueida. La Rueida. Oh, you're like, the Spanish place. Yeah, the Spanish place. And she took me all the way up there from Peckham one evening after work. And she's like, there you go, shat your fucking mouth about oysters. Go on here, eat them now. It's a nightclub on Friday night.

Is it still there? Yeah, it's smaller and it's a Spanish restaurant. and then they close it all down. I didn't. Why did you get? Because I ordered like a, no, I ordered like a dozen oysters and I didn't eat one of them. Oh, no.

Like doing all that over the food. And my mum was very upset. I remember that. She wasted her time. But the point I'm trying to make is she always tried to like push me and push the boundaries, you know, holidays, taking me to different cultural places and whatever. So I really respect her for that.

And that's how I have my love for like, restaurants and like trying food you know so which place in herne bay do you go to herne bay um we i mean there's not really great great restaurants there's a little sportsman there the sportsman there the sportsman is our go-to so i was going to say that and probably our only go to we go there we've gone there for the last five anniversaries um and sportsmen is lovely they're so lovely that yeah and they'll be great people as well okay we have um a few more food questions Ashley.

Go for it. What's so wrong but so right? It's going to be another boring one for you guys. Tiroles. Crisps?

They're not wrong. What flavor? Sweet chili. Oh, delicious. Why? So moorish, man. They're delicious. Calories.

But you never eat there. You're now sounding boring. No, I know. I said it was going to be boring. I warned you. I was like,

everything for me is about it's not actually about the flavor or anything anymore. Well, it is about it. It's like anything that tastes good is bad, isn't it? Is that from having addiction? Is that like that feeling of like? I think the control is from having addiction.

And I have an addicted personality. You know, I'm addicted to people. I'm addicted to my job, you know, all that stuff. So I have to be really careful about the things. You know, that's why I can like, I can be in bed and finish a packet. Harrabeau and be like, it's one in the morning. I could still go shop and get more if I need.

You know, that's how my brain works. I should have more and maybe I don't want to eat them now, but in the morning I might want them. So they should be next to me now. And it's like, it's a really obsessive thing. So when I get into Tyrell's and I might go to someone's house and my kids call him Terrell's. And I'm like, it's not a black man.

It's not a black man. Sounds like Farrell. Thorell. Dad is Terrell. I love that. Your cousin, it's not, it's not, do you come from a big family?

I don't, my family is quite small. Yeah. Yeah, it was my mom, my mom's sister, my aunt, and my two uncles

and my grand. So what's your celebration meal? Celebration meal. Like if it was a birthday. Probably would get into some, like, maybe some West Indian food then. I love,

I love curry goat. Oh, yeah. I think you've just answered. I've got a question. Hold the phone there. Stephen has a question for you. Ash, they'd say it is. Chechen or Corrigal? It's a good question.

Well, my... There's a war over this question in the Caribbean community, but... Is there? I would definitely pick curry gold. Okay. Definitely. There's something about it that it's kind of like the spaghetti bolognaise and kind of like the laxar. It's like comforting.

It's braille. love broth and like and soup and stuff like that people have it for a wedding don't they it's a celebration meal curry good yeah i guess so i mean like all caribbean food is kind of like the worst it's always like the worst parts of than me and you know because it all comes from people having to make do yeah and you know having to make do but yeah i love a love a curry goat jerk chicken is good but it's a bit too common you know a bit too commercial okay so where's the best curry goat Oh, the best curry go to I'd say, I mean I'll probably get killed for this

But one love Do you know one love in North London It's on Crouch Hill It's right by Crouch Hill station And it is just sublime Everything in there is levels You can sit in and eat But it's more of a takeaway joint

So yeah that would be my kind of go-to place Okay I'm going to clear the table and get some dessert going on Thank you so much You might have to help me because it will take me a while. Yeah, it's fine. Ooh.

This looks gorge. So it's an apple and apricot warm cake. Beautiful. Without any, it might not be, who knows. Help yourself. Shall we test it? Yeah. I'm going to go small first.

Go small, I think. No, I'm not offended at all. It might be horrible. I mean, it's very crumbly. Yeah, what is it made with oil then? It's made with oil. And thank you. And, ooh, it's quite brown.

Oh, it's probably from the apple. There are a lot of apples in. And you put apricot jam in and apple sauce. Ooh. Oh, Mom. Is it nice? Quite autumnal. Do you want ice cream?

Do you want normal ice cream or do you want to be? This smells American. Does it? Yeah. This could be in Gilmore Girls. Going to kill me. Oh. Well.

You know. Not because it's bad, but because it's sweet. Let's enjoy it, shall we, Ashley. It's an American recipe. It's an American recipe. We've got to let this melt a bit, don't we? What's it taste like? This is a great recipe.

What do we think, Ashley? It's lovely. It's sweet. Very sweet. She's happy. It's beautiful. I think it's too sweet, I think. It's cozy.

It's like hunker down. It's autumn. Where's the recipe from? New York Times. It's good. Back to Animal When is it released? It's going to be at the BFI

The 11th of October is our launcher, our premiere and then actual release the 30th of October and be in the cinema. How are you going to celebrate? Kind of hide. Oh really? That's what I do.

Really? Yeah, I'm like, I'm really, I get really nervous about like projects I do, acting or directing because you're always, you know, it's really enthusiastic doing it. and it's like it's all about the craft.

And then at some point, as a director, especially, you realize I have to give this to the world now. And then I have no longer have any control over what people say about it, what they do. And it just kind of goes into the ether. So that process was really hard for me. I think I stayed in the edit longer than I needed to because I was like, I don't want to do the next bit.

I don't want people to judge me. But that's like making an album too. Of course. Of course. It's that thing of like, you're like, hang on, is it ready? Is it ever ready? Is it ever finished? Yeah, I mean, the same thing.

Being afraid. But, you know, as a new director, it's a new piece of work, you know that if it's not great, it could mean a big struggle for you after to kind of get your next one off the go. But I think, yeah, I feel like I made a movie. I definitely made a film.

I mean, it's, you can watch it. It's fantastic. It is fantastic. And it is arresting. And the performances, which you obviously, you know, helped these young actors create like such brilliant characters. And that's on you, I think.

And so I think congratulations. No, thank you. I have to get used to that as well. I think humility as a director, it doesn't really work. You know, and you're like, you don't want to accept the wins and whatever. directing is all about your vision and it's all about pushing your vision and one thing I think few family members

came to see it that not really in the film or TV world and after they said it felt like every one of those actors were they were acting like you like I see you acting so it kind of made me think I was like okay so I pretty much put a bit

myself in each of these performances somehow which I think is yeah it is great and to have the ability to do that and to have great actors that are willing to let you kind of push them a bit. It was amazing. Were you tempted to have a cameo in it at any time? Stephen's part was written for me. Interesting.

It was. You won't mind me saying it. So it was up until I asked Steve to do it. Because I just didn't want to take the risk of being in something that I was directing. Would the directing side of it lose a bit? Because, you know, I'm focus on that. So I asked Steve. And he jumped at the chance.

Obviously, he read the script and loved it. But, yeah, before that, Nick was like, this is your part. You know, it's your part, it's your part. Did you make this post-adolescence? Post-adolescence. No, no, it was way before. Oh, interesting.

We've had this film. The film was written in 2020, 2019, 2020. When did you shoot it? We shot it a year and a half ago. It's kind of timeless, though, isn't it? It is. It is. I didn't want it to feel like set in any sort of space of time, really.

But, you know, the time period for him is like 65 days in the film. So it spends. What next? What next? Is it more directing or acting? Both, really. Since adolescence, just before I did adolescence, I was thinking about quitting acting. And I wanted to like direct just.

Because you were fatigued by Top Boy. I was fatigued by anxiety. I'm an anxious actor. And like even coming here for me, I had a panic attack in the car. Oh, me. Driving down there, I'm like, ah, oh, gosh. You start sweating and you're like, oh, God, I can't do this. Do my breathing exercises.

By the time I got here, I was fine. But acting for me was like that, it's like that every day. You know, that's what I go through in the morning. I wake up and it could be a job that I'm loving. But it's like to get to work and to actually leave is a lot because I know how tense is going to be for me and I bring a lot of it home. So I was getting to the point where I was like,

I don't know whether I really want to do this anymore or how much I'm enjoying it. And I love directing. Like as chaotic as it is, it's so peaceful for me. I really enjoy being behind the camera, answering all the questions and, you know, just doing what I do. So I was nearly there. And then adolescence came.

And since the award kind of run that we did, and I've just been getting really good offers for work, so I've had to change my plan. Is the anxiety still there, though? Yes, still there. Can you take beta blocker? I think he does breathe breathwork instead. Okay.

What's Stephen's retreat? He does, he, he's Moogie, the guru, muji. Yeah, Stephen is very, very spiritual. And I'm kind of maybe 25, I have like maybe 25, 30% of his spirituality, but he shares a lot of it with me. but that's what my life kind of revolves around a lot of like meditation a lot of prayer and stuff that kind of blows my mind that you still get so out i mean i it's because you care of course but i just thought me well i don't know whether you should care if you enjoy doing something else

and it makes you less stressed out yeah i mean that was a thing that was a thing but set the good roles how you're going to turn them down i love i love like i don't necessarily love the process of acting, but I love seeing the end product. You're so good. Well, thank you. He'll be such a shame. Maybe I need to believe that myself. That might help my anxiety.

Because a lot of anxiety for a lot of actors is about... Impostas. You're in front of a camera. There's 50 people on the other side of it. And sometimes all I can think about is what do they think? Of course. And what are they thinking? You know, everyone's just staring at you.

Sometimes they're like that. You know, they're probably talking about their day last week. or football or whatever, but to you in that moment, you're like, I'm not good. Maybe they're doubting me and a lot of that goes through your head. Well, for me, anyway,

I shouldn't speak for everyone. And all your characters that I've seen you in, they're so, I mean, there's so much to all of them. And I think you're a brilliant actor and I think that I don't know when you start believing that. I mean, you must deep down know that you...

I'm milking it a bit. People wouldn't offer you stuff if you were shit, would they? No, I don't. Wow. I mean... I mean, you are handsome. But besides that, you're a great actor. Before we let you go, Ashley, congratulations on everything.

It's been so wonderful hearing you speak, and you're speaking so openly about everything. So thank you. Thank you. What is a nostalgic taste that can transport you back somewhere, happy or sad? There's two things, but I will go away. Cherry drops. Oh, I love.

Cherry drops. I love cherry drops. Remind me of school. Just, I used to buy a hat. What age? Well, like from 11 to like 13, secondary school. Can I ask you, if you have a people around for dinner, what sort of soundtrack you have on in the background? What music is it?

I am like, I'm a huge jazz. Jazz. Italian jazz. Oh, wow. specifically probably i mean like my favorite probably artist was piero yomiliani okay and he's got um a beautiful album what's it called la leg la leg la lege la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la gistess um it's an amazing album what's your name pierro piero piro umiliani oh yeah yeah yeah um And he has a, there's a beautiful song he has called, I think it's Crep Sikulo, Sulmari or something.

Yes, prepciculo, Summari. And who would you have at the dinner table, dead or alive, someone? That's a question. I'm about to bury my uncle on Monday. So probably my uncle. And my granite I lost earlier on this year and I was, you know, she was mum to me when my mum had me. we had a really close relationship. It'd be nice to dine with them one more time.

Yeah. Ashley, thanks so much. Thank you. Good luck with Animal. Thank you so much. I think you're going to be fine. Thank you. And I think you are going to have to carry on acting though. But you can do both.

Cool. Okay, cool. Excellent. Great. Ashley Walters on Table Manners. He was such a great guest. A delightful, delightful person. I really appreciated how open he was and how much he shared with us.

He's so interesting. He really has lived a life. Yes, he hasn't. You like it when they've lived a life, don't you? I like someone when someone's lived a life. Ashley's directorial debut Animal is out on the 30th of October. It's a brilliant watch, painful, beautiful, heartbreaking. And I think it's quite important.

And very touching. Absolutely. Mum, the food was delicious. Was it? I thought that was a really good recipe. The sea bass. He was thrilled. He had two sea basses.

I don't usually like sea bass, but that was quite nice, wasn't it? What's her name? I've got the book. Alexandra Dudley has done it again. She sent me her cookbook. It's a really good dish. It's so good. Yeah.

No, really delicious. And I loved that pudding. Did you? Yeah. See, I wasn't sure about it So I put cinnamon and icing sugar on the top Because I went Oh, because I just wondered whether it needed a little bit more of a kick

But it looks like I've used brown sugar But I didn't, it's just apples It's really, it's a lovely, lovely dish Good, take some home Okay, thank you to Ashley for coming on And we will see you next week for more Taver Mumners Don't forget to subscribe Bye.