Top Boy actress Jasmine Jobson has said working on the series ‘changed my life’ – after picking up a Bafta TV Award for her role in the Netflix hit.
The British crime drama premiered in 2017 and was set on the fictional Summerhouse estate in the London Borough of Hackney.
It focused on two drug dealers, Dushane (Ashley Walters) and Sully (Kane Robinson), along with others involved with drug dealing and gang violence in London.
After five seasons, it came to a close last year, going on to win two Baftas at this weekend’s awards ceremony.
It took out the Drama series category, while Jasmine who played Jacqueline ‘Jaq’ Lawrence from season 3 onwards, also took home the award for Best Supporting Actress.
Speaking after her win the actress, 29, said the job had been life-altering.
‘I was just a normal girl from west London that was just trying to do better for myself and was just wishing and hoping for the best,’ she said.
‘And one day I went from working in a bar full time and acting part time to suddenly acting full time and now acting pays my bills.
‘So Top Boy changed my life.’
Speaking about how she prepared to play Jaq, who has a love interest in Adwoa Aboah’s character Becks on the show, she said: ‘I spoke to quite a few of my friends that are part of the LGBTQ community as well and I was just questioning them and just trying to figure out the ins and outs.
‘And sometimes I could ask wrong questions, it’s all just a learning curve.’
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Speaking about the reaction from the LGBTQ+ community, she added: ‘It’s been insane.
‘The love is so, so real. I mean, I’ve spoken to a few people that have pulled me and they’ve said that, you know, with the character that I’ve had in Top it’s made them feel a little bit stronger in owning themselves, and I’m very happy that I’ve been able to be that person.’
After being announced as the winner, Jasmine nearly broke down in tears, then saying on stage: ‘Oh my goodness, I don’t even know what to say, I’m overwhelmed. I was not expecting this!
‘I wanna thank God, I wouldn’t be here today without him. Cowboy Films, Top Boy, Netflix, I don’t know where I’d be without you. Oooh, this was not expected!
‘Thank you BAFTA, I love you all, you mean the world to me. I just do what I do to try and change a life and save a life, I wasn’t expecting this!’
The other nominees in her category were Elizabeth Debicki (The Crown), Harriet Walter (Succession), Lesley Manville, (The Crown) , Nico Parker, (The Last of Us) and Siobhan Finneran (Happy Valley).
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She was previously nominated in 2020 and 2023.
Top Boy first aired on Channel 4, before it was revived by Netflix in 2019 following interest from rapper Drake, who serves as an executive producer on the new incarnation.
The series, created and written by Ronan Bennett, is set on the fictional Summerhouse Estate in Hackney and has focused on Dushane and Sully, played by Ashley Walters and Kane ‘Kano’ Robinson as they strive ruthlessly to become the local dominant ‘Top Boys’.
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Top Boy is streaming on Netflix. The Baftas are streaming on BBC iPlayer.
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