Quotes from Ashley Walters

When I was released from prison, I didn't want to leave my house for the first three months.

I grew up part of the MTV generation. I saw Biggie Smalls and Jay-Z on TV and I thought: 'Wow, look at these powerful black people.' I wanted that.

As a rapper, you're taught and you practice being hard all the time. You're not crying on your tracks, you don't sound like Neyo singing an R&B song about what you've lost or whatever.

I had a good three or four months of mad depression where I thought, I'm not doing this any more, it's brought me nothing but problems, I can't take it. My own label didn't want to touch me. A lot of people just shut doors.

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.

I hoard and buy loads of the same things over and over - DVDs, clothes, trainers.

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.

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.

The main thing I learned in jail was how much I love my kids, that I never want to be away from them again.

I am not about airs and graces, fancy cars or jewellery. I am just about my family and my kids.

I remember at a very early age ringing up record labels I found in the Yellow Pages, and asking them for a record deal.

As an actor you pull your socks up and look for the next job.

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 wanted to show that I could take on roles that were a bit softer and more caring.

With So Solid, we had overnight success and I bought stupid stuff with my money, I bought a 35k car while I was still living in a council flat.

When I was in So Solid Crew, people were always asking if we were associated with the rise in gun crime.

There was a danger when I was in So Solid and we made '21 Seconds.' But we're just showing a slice of life.

Music for me, it's pretty annoying, because I've never had a successful solo career and it bugs me.

Top Boy' didn't try to glamorise anything. It gave it to you how it was. But it also dealt with mental health, social situations, immigration.

In my opinion, gentrification can sometimes affect what's happening on the ends. You're placing people in different places, moving them around, and you're taking them out of their comfort zone and into places they're not used to being in.

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.

Selling out is a myth. Bill Gates isn't selling out, is he? Richard Branson isn't selling out. Why can't black people make money?

The only TV show that I've been in that my uncle gives me recognition for is 'Doctor Who.'