‘Adolescence': Why Do Detectives Investigating Jamie Look So Familiar?

Forbes

31-03-2025

Ashley Walters and Faye Marsay in "Adolescence."
Netflix
The first two episodes of the Netflix hit Adolescence feature Ashley Walters and Faye Marsay in the key roles of the detectives investigating Jamie. What else have the actors appeared in?
Adolescence was released on March 13 and has since become a global streaming sensation on Netflix. Owen Cooper is at the center of the four-part limited series as Jamie Miller, a 13-year-old boy in England who is accused of stabbing to death a female classmate.
Each of the four episodes is presented in real-time and unfolds in one take. Walters and Marsay star as Detective Inspector Luke Bascome and Detective Sergeant Misha Frank, who in Episode 1 apprehend Jamie and his family's home and interrogate the teen in the presence of his father, Eddie (Stephen Graham) at the police station.
In Episode 2, which is Day 3 of the case, Bascombe and Frank go to Jamie's school to gather information and with any luck, find the murder weapon.
Episode 3, which is set seven months later, finds Jamie being interviewed by child psychologist Briony Ariston (Erin Doherty) at a juvenile detention facility. Episode 4, set 13 months after the murder, finds Eddie, his wife Manda (Christine Tremarco) and their daughter and Jamie's sister, Lisa (Amelie Pease), as they continue to cope with murder as the teen awaits trial.
Both Walters and Marsay have had prolific screen careers. Walters' first role dates back to 1992 when he played Omar in a guest role in the ABC-TV adventure series The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, which starred Sean Patrick Flannery as the young Indy.
Since then, Walters has appeared in more than 80 roles, but largely in British film and television productions.
Among his U.S. credits are the Lana and Lilly Wachowski 2008 live-action adaptation of the hit manga series Speed Racer (in which he played the small role of Prince Kabala) and 2006's Stormbreaker — aka Alex Rider: Operation Stormbreaker — (where he plays the minor character of Wolf).
More recently, Walters appears in a supporting role A Thousand Blows, a historical drama series that made its debut on Hulu on Feb. 21. A Thousand Blows also stars Graham and Doherty.
Marsay's career dates back to 2008, when she appeared in a small role in the British drama Helen. Since then, Marsay has amassed 27 more screen credits in British and American film and television, including guest roles on Black Mirror and Doctor Who, and supporting roles in such films as Pride and Darkest Hour.
Marsay also starred in the 2014 British miniseries Glue, an eight-episode crime drama that was created by Jack Thorne, the writer-producer who teamed with Graham to create Adolescence.
Below are some of Walters and Marsey's biggest roles before their starring turns in Adolescence.
Ashley Walters plays Antwan, who is a close friend of Marcus (Curtis '50 Cent' Jackson) in Get Rich or Die Tryin', a crime drama that contains autobiographical elements of 50 Cent's life.
The name of the film — which marked 50 Cent's acting debut — was inspired by the rap star's 2003 multiplatinum debut album. Directed by Jim Sheridan (My Left Foot, In America), the film also stars Terrence Howard, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Joy Bryant and Viola Davis.
Faye Marsay (center) in "The White Queen."
BBC/STARZ
Faye Marsay's breakthrough role happened in 2013 when she was cast as Anne Neville, The Kingmaker's Daughter, in the British drama series The White Queen opposite Rebecca Ferguson.
Marsay appeared in all 10 episodes of the miniseries, which also stars Max Irons, Aneurin Barnard, Juliet Aubrey, Eleanor Tomlinson and Janet McTeer.
Ashley Walters stars as Police Constable Ryan Draper in all eight episodes of Cuffs, a British miniseries that examines frontline policing in Bristol, England.
Also starring Jacob Ifan and Amanda Abbington, Cuffs ran on BBC One and streams on Acorn TV.
Faye Marsay in "Game of Thrones" Season 6.
HBO/Macall B. Polay
Faye Marsay appeared in the recurring role of The Waif in four episodes of HBO's Game of Thrones Season 5 in 2015 and seven episodes in Season 6 in 2016.
The Waif perished at the hands of Arya Stark (Maisie Williams) in Season 6 Episode 8.
Ashley Walters in "Top Boy."
Netflix/Chris Harris
Ashley Walters stars as Dushane, who along with Sully (Kane Robinson) are a pair of drug kingpins in London in Top Boy, a British crime drama that ran for five seasons.
The first two seasons of Top Boy ran on Channel 4 in the U.K., and in 2019 Netflix acquired it at which time it became a Netflix original. The series streams on Netflix as Top Boy and Top Boy: Summer House.
Faye Marsay in "Andor."
Disney+/Lucasfilm Ltd.
Faye Marsay stars as Vel Sartha, a Rebel leader on the planet Aldhani in eight episodes of Season 1 of Andor, which is a Disney+ prequel series to the 2016 movie hit Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.
Vel, who is a cousin of Mon Mothma (Genevieve O'Reilly) will return in the second season of Andor, which will begin streaming on Disney+ on April 22. Andor, of course, is named for series star Diego Luna's character Cassian Andor and also stars Stellan Skarsgård, Fiona Shaw, Denise Gough and Varada Sethu.
All four episodes of Adolescence are streaming on Netflix.