Busy year for Ashlie

Dec 15 2009 Uxbridge Gazette

Ashlie Walker has starred in several of Britain's best known TV series. Now the Ruislip actor is hoping for a successful 2010 as she bids to break into British cinema. DAN COOMBS reports

ASHLIE Walker has been a busy woman - and her diary still looks as full of work engagements as her address book is of the British film industry's character actors.

Recently starring opposite Danny Dyer (Mean Machine, Dead Man Running), and scheduled to appear alongside Vinnie Jones (Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, also Mean Machine, Gone In 60 Seconds) she was delighted to also work alongside the late Mike Reid, of EastEnders fame.

Ashlie, 25, has lived in Sharps Lane, Ruislip, her whole life, and attended Whiteheath Infant and Junior School until the age of nine, when she started at drama school.

"I think it was the right choice. I still got really good GCSE grades, which is important - to have all-round skills," she said.

"I've been acting since I was young, and although I have an agent, I prefer to find my own work and find things I really want to do."

Prior to getting herself some meaty film roles, Ashlie, starred in TV drama Casualty for more than a year, and put in appearances on programmes Bad Girls, Hollyoaks, and A Touch of Frost.

She also believes she has appeared in more than 40 television adverts (it is easy to lose count), and has appeared in music videos, including one alongside former Boyzone star Ronan Keating.

Her diary for 2010 is already filling up. She has just heard that she is to co-present a new series for the BBC, called Word On The Street, which aims to help people learn languages in real-life situations.

Her latest film is Jack Said, a sequel to Jack Says, Bob Phillips' film noir released shortly before the death of Reid in 2007, and which has just come out on DVD in time for Christmas.

And speaking of Christmas, once the festivities are out of the way, there is no let-up for Ashlie. "It is going to be really busy next year. Our pilot for the show [Word On The Street] was well received, so I am looking forward to filming that, and I am going to be doing some more films, one of which is called Glamour Girls," she said.

Ashlie is also planning to undertake a psychology degree.

"I have thought about careers away from acting, to take the pressure off," she admits, well aware of the here today, gone tomorrow, flavour-of-the-month nature of the industry she is in, where unemployment, or 'resting', is the norm.

"I want acting to be something I can enjoy, not something I have to do to survive.

"Usually if I allow myself to take some time with things, I find I have better results." Spoken like a true psychology graduate.

So does she get starry eyed when on set with a household name? Is there someone she tries to emulate?

"I don't really have any idols, which is something I've always said to myself from when I got into acting," she confides.

"I believe everyone is unique and has something extra to offer."