Aman Goyal
Ashley Walters is set to wear a feature director’s hat for the first time! The Cinemaholic can announce that the actor-rapper will direct the coming-of-age prison drama ‘Hard Boiled.’ The project’s filming will start in the United Kingdom in January 2025. Popularly known by his stage name Asher D, the filmmaker also wrote the screenplay with frequent collaborator Nick Love. The plot is currently under wraps.
‘Hard Boiled’ will leverage Walters’ experience behind the camera, having previously directed episodes of Channel 4’s comedy-drama series ‘Ackley Bridge’ between 2017 and 2022. Although set in a high school, the series features a similar coming-of-age backdrop with comparable conflicts involving the merger of people from different socioeconomic backgrounds. The upcoming Disney+ drama ‘A Thousand Blows’ is another television show in which Walters is involved as a director. The series explores grittier themes within its story of immigrants from Jamaica fighting for survival in the violent gangster scene of Victorian London.
Additionally, Walters’ first directorial credit, the short film ‘Boys,’ also deals with concepts such as coming-of-age and manhood. He rose to prominence by starring in the 2004 film ‘Bullet Boy,’ earning critical acclaim and winning the Most Promising Newcomer award at the British Independent Film Awards. After spending more than a year in a young offenders’ institution, the actor-rapper utilizes his experiences to bring authenticity to his performances, and he is expected to repeat the process in ‘Hard Boiled,’ giving it a personal touch. His recent acting outings include the lead role of Dushane in Netflix’s ‘Top Boy,’ which he also executive produced, and NCA Officer Ronnie Pike in Sky One’s ‘Bulletproof,’ which he co-created.
Walters’ ‘Bulletproof‘ co-star and co-creator Nick Love is returning to feature-film screenwriting through the project after ‘American Hero,’ which he wrote and directed nearly a decade ago. Love has directed many of his own screenplays, such as ‘The Sweeney,’ ‘The Football Factory,’ ‘Charlie Bright,’ and ‘The Business.’ He also created Sky Max’s crime drama series ‘A Town Called Malice,’ which takes place in the 1980s and follows a family of petty thieves.
Recent years have seen a rise in grittier stories that take place in prisons, with the most recent example being the acclaimed Colman Domingo-starrer ‘Sing Sing,’ which was shot inside an actual New York-based confinement center. As for ‘Hard Boiled,’ Walters and his crew are expected to utilize numerous locations across the United Kingdom, where he was born.
The United Kingdom has no shortage of natural surroundings, historical sites, and enormous studios. Among the many films and television shows that leveraged these resources in recent times are ‘Deadpool & Wolverine,’ ‘A Quiet Place: Day One,’ and ‘Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.’ Moreover, TV shows like ‘My Lady Jane,’ ‘Supacell,’ and the latest season of ‘House of the Dragon‘ have also utilized the UK’s Atlantic coasts and islands.
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