Ashley Walters has admitted that it was "difficult to juggle" post-production on his feature directorial debut Animol and all of the acting opportunities that came his way after Adolescence.
The British star decided to step away from acting after more than 30 years and pivoted to directing with the gritty coming-of-age drama, which is set in a British juvenile detention centre.
However, after wrapping production on Animol, the Netflix TV sensation Adolescence was released, giving him a whole new audience and level of fame as well as invitations to awards shows and acting offers.
Walters accepted offers to act in the TV show Dune: Prophecy and M. Night Shyamalan's next movie, Remain, and ended up having to edit Animol in between shoots and awards shows.
Reflecting on juggling his acting and directing commitments, he told Variety, "I don't want to mess up future work so let me just say that I am dedicated and loyal! But yeah, it did get hairy. But I think everyone understood."
He continued, "It was all at the same time and it was very difficult to juggle. But I got it done. It was tough, but I was working with some great people. But I was Zooming in from planes and watching cuts from the train. It was nuts, but it had to be done. I wouldn't do it that way again."
Walters, who scored an Emmy nomination for playing police detective Luke Bascombe in Adolescence, admitted that he felt bored with acting after doing back-to-back shows like Top Boy and Bulletproof. However, acting is now back on the agenda following the success of Adolescence.
Asked if he prefers acting or directing, he replied, "If I am to be brutally honest, it takes a lot more out of me to act than it does to direct. I'm a very shy person and quite anxious. So it actually takes a lot for me to be in spaces and perform in front of people. But directing, I feel much more at peace. There's some level of serenity that I get in that madness."
Animol, starring Tut Nyuot and Vladyslav Baliuk, premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival last month. It does not yet have a release date.
