'Top Boy' Star Ashley Walters Explains Why Drake Didn't Make a Cameo

As executive producer, Drake was a key part of reviving the Channel 4 series for Netflix.

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With the third season of Top Boynow available for consumption via Netflix, it's surely public knowledge that Drake had a hand in reviving the critically acclaimed series for new episodes after it was dropped by England's Channel 4. In a new interview with Charlie Sloth, star Ashley Walters elaborated on Drake's involvement as an executive producer and explained why an early idea about a cameo was ultimately tabled.

"He's Drake, at the end of the day," Walters said around seven minutes into the video up top. "He saw the show—I think it was via YouTube or whatever—and then it came out on Netflix and he was just a fan of the show, man."

From there, the two wound up in a DM conversation in which Drake expressed support for the furthering of his career and the revival of Top Boy. Less than two years later, Drake came through with a deal. "He made it happen, man," Walters said. "Touch of magic."

Later, around nine minutes into the Sloth chat, Walters was asked about any Drake cameo discussions that went down during production. Walters noted that Drake didn't have "any creative involvement or actual control" over the new season, but the idea of having him appear was considered.

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Walters noted there was indeed "talk of him being in it" in the beginning. "The part was there for him," he said, though he didn't reveal the role itself.

"It's touch and go for you," he recalled telling Drake. "He's such a good actor but will people let him shed that Drake skin? Is it right for the first thing for him to do going back into his acting career be Top Boy? Because people are gonna be waiting to kill him for it. Knowing how good he was and whatever, I just felt like—for him—it would have been best to wait for another time."

Catch the full interview up top. Top Boy is out now via a Netflix account near you.

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