Why 1 'Adolescence' Actor Nearly Had to Quit the Hit Netflix TV Show

Adolescence is one of the big new hits on Netflix, although one of the stars nearly quit the TV show.

The four-part series follows the story of a 13-year-old boy who is accused of murdering a girl at his school, and is quickly gaining attention and critical acclaim. The drama’s episodes are notably done in all one-shot, continuous takes.

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In a new interview, Ashley Walters, who plays DI Luke Bascombe in the series alongside co-stars Stephen Graham and Owen Cooper, spoke out why he nearly had to leave the acclaimed show.

Ashley revealed that he had a back injury while speaking at the Adolescence premiere in London, via The Mirror.

“I took it for granted, I’m not gonna lie. Because I wanted to do the one-shot process so much. And I turned up to set with a bad back, by the way. My back had gone. I’d just been playing basketball with my daughter before I got on the train and my back was completely gone. I suffer with sciatica,” he revealed.

“So I kind of got out the car, and I think Jo [Johnson, producer] and Hannah [Walters, executive producer - no relation] were standing there like, ‘For f–k’s sake!’ Excuse my language. It was really bad. It nearly didn’t happen, but we found a good chiropractor and it worked.”

He went on to say that he still found the experience quite difficult, regardless of his back problems.

“When I got there… I f–king regretted it,” he remarked.

“Every day, Phil [Barantini, director] will tell you, I was in tears! Every day I was going home, crying in my script. Rocking, you know. It was the hardest thing in the world. No, no it was. I was so insecure. I was so insecure, and it’s a lot. I had to learn the whole script,” Ashley went on to say.

“And I had a lot to say in that first episode. And you’re leading a lot of it, as well. A lot of it is police jargon and whatever.”

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