Things that make you go hmmm… from a UK Telegraph profile of/interview with Brit star Ashley Walters, whose name has come up a number of times here on S&A in recent months:

He’s just written a script with Noel Clarke (who penned the 2006 film Kidulthood) which he calls “a UK version of Bad Boys. We’re playing cops, we’re trying to make police glamorous over here, trying to give an advert to the Met.”

A UK version of Bad Boys huh, starring Noel Clarke and Ashley Walters, huh? Ok. Why not. These two gentlemen are ruling the UK right now, when it comes to so-called urban fare, and Noel Clarke is something of a rennaisance man, wearing multiple hats – not only actor, but writer, producer, and director, and he just seems to be able to continuously get projects funded and distributed across the pond, while still remaining a largely unknown property here in the USA.

Maybe our UK readers can chime in on this.

Usually it's the USA making Hollywood versions of European titles; this must be a rarity.

And when I say Walters' name has come up a number of times here on S&A in recent months, I'm referring to his starring roles in new/recent films like the Idris Elba-produced Demons Never Die, Sket, Anuvahood, as well as on TV in Outcast and Top Boy – all 2011 titles we've covered.

The man's busy.

I also found this little bit in the Telegraph profile worth mentioning, if only as another piece to toss into our ongoing discussions on the "burden of representation," and the fact that the same concerns many of us have expressed here in the USA aren't strictly an African American *problem*.

Walters’s career saviour was director Saul Dibb, who had written the lead role in the 2004 film Bullet Boy especially for him. It won him a Most Promising Newcomer award at the British Independent Film Awards. He played a young offender who is drawn back into violent crime on the streets of Hackney. I ask him if there are too many roles as criminals for young black men. “I suppose there are, but I wouldn’t just blame that on the industry. A lot of black actors will sit there and go, ‘Every role is about being a gangster’ – then they get an opportunity to write a script and they write about a gangster. You know… write about a superhero.”

You can read the full piece HERE.

Meanwhile… no other details are available on this UK version of Bad Boys script Walters says he and Clarke have penned. But we'll be on alert for any future developments.