Drake worked “behind the scenes” on Top Boy’s third series and attended a cast read-through, according to the gritty crime drama’s star.
Kane “Kano” Robinson said the Canadian rapper kept his distance as he had wanted the east London show to maintain its unique style.
The first two series of Top Boy, which also stars Ashley Walters, originally aired on Channel 4 before it ended in 2013.
With the help of Drake, it was revived for a 10-episode run on Netflix with filming ending this year.
Top Boy stars Kano and Michael Ward lead a masterclass at #EdTVFest exploring the gritty London drama, Netflix and Drake’s recently involvement. pic.twitter.com/bQaYrTFmNU
— Alex Green (@alexjohngreen) August 22, 2019
Speaking during a Top Boy masterclass at the Edinburgh TV Festival, Robinson said: “I guess Drake is an executive producer so it might be more a question for the execs – but based on my part – I met Drake at the beginning when we was in discussions.
“When the Netflix deal came about, me and Ashley and him sat down and spoke.
“By the way Drake is aware of the talk, you know what I mean, the stuff going on – that he is jumping on the hype.
“He was like: ‘Look, I’m a fan of the show and I just wanted to see if there was any way I could help in any way and bring this back. You guys need to create the show just the same way for the same reason that I ended up loving it.’
“He was influential in acquiring the Netflix deal, as I hear. It’s not on a day-to-day level, like Drake is on set trying to tell us how to say and whatnot.
“He’s just supporting us from behind the scenes. Yeah, it’s just a good energy. He came to the read-through.”
Fellow Top Boy actor Michael Ward added: “It made it real for me, to be able to see someone of that calibre. It just secured it down for me.”
Rapper Little Simz, who joins the show for the latest series, also revealed she plays the love interest of one of the lead characters.
She said: “I play Shelley and she is essentially the love interest. A potential love interest. But Shelley, she gives a particular character a new found hope. She allows the character to dream and to visualise.”
She added: “And I think Shelley introduces a new way of dreaming.”
Top Boy series three debuts on Netflix in the autumn.