Legendary actor Christopher Walken is currently starring in two very good television series, Apple TV’s Severance and Prime Video’s The Outlaws, which also airs on BBC One in the U.K.
The latter is about to return for its second season on Aug. 5 (having already run in the U.K), so series co-creator and star Stephen Merchant stopped by The Late Show With Stephen Colbert on Wednesday to talk a little about the show, and in doing so revealed one heck of a stunt they were able to pull off in the first season.
The Outlaws is about a ragtag group of low-level criminal offenders who, instead of going to jail for their crimes, are tasked with cleaning up a recreation center as part of a community service program. However, while on the job, the group stumbles upon a life-changing bag full of money, unaware that the very dangerous owners want it back.
To make the set as realistic as possible, Merchant told host Stephen Colbert that they were actually able to track down the mysterious street artist Banksy — who hails from Bristol, where the series is set — to contribute an authentic piece of graffiti to the building. And of the cast, Walken was given the honor of painting over it.
“In the show, they’re renovating a building, and they’re painting this building, and we thought wouldn’t it be fun if they unearth a Banksy,” Merchant explained. “And then within the show, they paint over it, they don’t realize it’s a Banksy and millions are just ruined.”
Somehow, they managed to reach Banksy through his people, who said that he would do it if he had time. And then miraculously, he delivered.
“We showed up one morning and there was an original Banksy painted on the building we were using as a set,” he continued. “We covered it up, hid it from the cast and crew. Like six weeks later, I went to Christopher’s trailer and said, ‘We’ve had a Banksy here for six weeks. We’re going to paint over it this morning, no one knows about it.'”
“And we had like one shot to get it right,” Merchant added. “And we got it and we included it in the show and we kept it secret.”
Christopher Walken has had an incredible, seven-decade acting career, but painting over a Banksy? We’d have to imagine that would be one of his career highs.
And it’s no surprise that Banksy would be into the idea, since he’s a bit of a mischievous imp who loves toying with his fans — such as the time he intentionally shredded a painting that had just sold for $1.4 million at a Sotheby’s auction. Though in a twist, the mechanics malfunctioned before the piece could be fully destroyed, and the half-shredded piece was later sold again for a record-breaking $25.4 million.
At least Walken finished the job!