Micheal Ward has reflected on 2019 film Blue Story saying ultimately the “controversy helped push the film”.
Ward, 24, rose to prominence after starring as Jamie Tovell in the Netflix reboot of Top Boy and later secured a role in Blue Story, which followed the rivalry between two postcode gangs in London.
In a new interview with GQ Hype, Ward opened up about the controversy surrounding Blue Story after the film was temporarily pulled from cinemas in 2019 due to violence at screenings.
Ward said: “At the time I was filming in America. I remember waking up and hearing all of this, and I was so upset.
“You have to understand, it’s my first movie. It’s my first movie in the cinema. This is my moment on the big screen.
“I was phoning everyone trying to figure out what’s going on. But, at the end of the day, all of that controversy helped push the film.”
Blue Story, directed by Rapman (real name Andrew Onwubolu), was later reinstalled in cinemas and in 2020 Ward was named the winner of the EE Rising Star award at the Bafta film awards.
The actor also revealed what can be expected from the upcoming second season of Top Boy.
He said: “This season has been a mad learning curve but everything just makes sense. Jamie this season is building a lot of bridges that were broken in the last, although they’re not all entirely his fault.”
He added: “When you’re involved in that life, that’s your duty now. It’s either you’re going to let it eat you up, or you’re going to get back on your feet and fight back. You see a lot more of that this season.”
Top Boy was first broadcast on Channel 4 in 2011, with a second season following in 2013. Following interest from Canadian rapper Drake, Top Boy was rebooted and relaunched on Netflix in 2019, with the second series arriving on the streaming service on March 18.
The full interview with Micheal Ward is available online in GQ Hype.