Move Over, Asha Banks Is Now in the Driver’s Seat

Asha Banks is quite literally in the driver’s seat, not only with her career but also in the high-stakes romantic drama My Fault: London.

The 21-year-old English actress and singer, who got her start in theater productions at London’s West End, is now showing she’s a force on the screen and in the studio, with her upcoming music EP, Untie My Tongue.

Last year, she starred in Netflix’s hit show A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, which has already been renewed for a second season. Now she’s leading Prime Video’s new Wattpad film My Fault: London, based on the novel Culpa Mía, by Mercedes Ron, which follows her character, Noah, who is forced to move from America to London to live with her mother’s new husband and his son, Nick. She spends the summer adjusting to her new life, friends, complicated romance with Nick (Matthew Broome) and some illegal racing, all while having to deal with her devastating past.

Though both projects already have huge fanbases because of their respective books, with the latter also having a successful Spanish-language film series, Banks is ready to show what she brings to the franchise. “Having people that care so much about the project is exciting but also scary,” Banks tells The Hollywood Reporter. “But I couldn’t wait to kind of get into it and have people discover our version as well.”

Below, Banks opens up about creating her own version of Noah; the success of A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder; dropping her first two singles, “So Green” and “Feel the Rush”; where she hopes to take music in the future; and more.

Coming from a theater background, do you have a preference now between stage and screen performances?

I love that they are so different. It was quite a transition going from theater to more onscreen stuff because I was so used to doing stage performing. I was not educated in the art of screen acting or anything, so I really learned alongside the people that I was working with when I first started doing it, and was very lucky to be doing these jobs with some really amazing people and screen actors and directors and teams because it was hard. It was a transition. I found myself really overacting all the time when I first started auditioning for screen jobs, [and] I had to tell myself to rein it in and chill out a bit, because I was theater performing for the camera.

Last year, you starred in the hit Netflix show A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder. What was it like being a part of a series with such a huge fanbase because of the book?

It was kind of daunting going into it, I guess, like it’s got such an amazing fandom of people that were so excited for it to become a screen adaptation as well. So when I first got the part, I was a bit nervous because obviously I felt like I made sense as Cara and I loved the character and couldn’t wait, but I was kind of worried that people would not agree because when you read something, you have a vision of who you think the character will be and what you think it will look like and everything. So it was a bit scary going into it, but it was so exciting and having a fan base that already existed was just amazing because it meant that people were anticipating it and excited for it.

With My Fault: London, which also has a huge fanbase because of the books and Spanish-language movies, what are you most excited for fans to see with your installment?

I’m just excited for them to see the story and characters that they love, because obviously our movie is based on the book, and there’s a Spanish original movie that’s been done so well and people love, and I’m just excited at the chance to be a part of that. Our movie is so London-based, and London feels like another character and that’s something that I’m really excited for the fans of the different versions to kind of see and experience.

How did go about differentiating your version of Noah, compared to Spanish actress Nicole Wallace’s portrayal of the character?

I made a point to not watch the Spanish movie before I started filming because I felt like it would make me get in my head a bit and overthink before we started filming. So I tried to go into it with a fresh idea of the character from the book or the script. Then once I wrapped filming, I was like, “Yes, I can watch the Spanish movie now.” And Matthew Broome [who plays Nick] and I actually watched it together and it was so exciting watching it after filming because there were so many things that we were like, “Oh we did that scene, or oh that bit’s different in our movie,” and be able to appreciate it and find the similarities and differences as well.

There was also some online discourse around Prime Video reasoning’s for already making another movie in the franchise, despite the Spanish-language film, My Fault, only coming out in 2023. Did that add any pressure going into filming?

Absolutely! Similar to A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, having people that care so much about the project is exciting but also scary, it kind of works equally. But I couldn’t wait to kind of get into it and have people discover our version as well, because when I first got the audition, I had the same sort of thought. You think, “Oh, a version just came out. I wonder why they’re doing it again.” But I think it’s just because it was so popular and everybody just wants more people to be able to see it and experience it. So I was like, let’s do it!

My Fault: London includes so many different cinematic elements between romance, action, rivalry, etc. What was your favorite part to film?

That’s such a hard question because it’s got absolutely everything, so there was never ever a dull moment on set. It was always kind of switching between all the aspects. Matthew and I would always talk about how when we were filming, it felt like we were filming three different movies. And then when we watched it, it all obviously intertwined with each other. But it was so much fun. All the racing scenes were just incredible and something I’ve never obviously done before. So it was just surreal to be able to do that and be on a sound stage and film like car chases. It was thrilling!

Since there are three books total in the series, do you hope to reprise your character Noah in potentially two more films?

Absolutely, I’d love to do that! That would be an absolute dream. Hopefully, if it goes down well, if people want to see more, I hope that that happens.

Shifting to music, what’s your reaction to releasing your first two singles, “So Green” and “Feel the Rush?”

It’s just been so amazing and something that I’ve been looking forward to doing for ages. I’ve been writing music since I was tiny, so I’ve always loved doing it and been so excited to be able to release and have other people hear. But it’s just been overwhelming the amount of love and the response being sort of the same back has been really heartwarming. I just can’t wait to release more music. It’s something that I love doing and I love writing and I love being able to flip between both worlds, and I feel very lucky to be able to do that.

Can you tease anything about your upcoming EP, Untie My Tongue, which drops on March 7?

I’m just sort of a storyteller at heart and that’s why I love acting and I love writing music as well. So I think the EP kind of follows the story and you should be able to follow the story throughout. Oh, it’s so strange talking about it. I love it! But I can’t wait for it to come out, for people to be able to hear my music, and it’s sort of an introduction to me and my sound and my writing style.

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What do you love most about the songwriting side of music?

I love being able to sort of create in that way. I think with acting it’s a lot of helping somebody else’s creation come to life, and with music and songwriting especially, it’s nice to be able to be in the creative seat. And being able to write is such a creative outlet for me, and I just really love it and enjoy being able to experience things and then write about them and feel a positive result after. Making something that you love is just really rewarding.

When you get some free time, what does your perfect day off look like?

I just love spending time with my family. I live at home still, so my mum and I probably will just cozy up and watch TV or watch a film with my dog or go for a walk in the park or see friends. I just love having my loved ones around me, so doing as much as that as possible in my free time is ideal. Or writing a song, obviously, which, even though I shouldn’t probably be doing it in my free time, I am anyway. (Laughs.)

What’s one of the biggest challenges you’ve been able to overcome to help get you to where you are today?

Sounds so cliché, which is sort of carrying on and just letting the passion that I have for what I do kind of carry me through, ‘cause it can be quite ruthless at times. I feel like being a kid in the theater world is quite ruthless, so I think that taught me a lot about resilience.

If you had to describe what makes Asha Banks, Asha Banks, what would you say? 

Oh, really clumsy. I ramble when I’m nervous, it seems. And I’ve said this a million times, but the people that I have around me make me who I am, I think. 

My Fault: London is currently streaming on Prime Video.