Check Out Billy Walker’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Billy Walker.

Hi Billy, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
“I’ve been called a ‘working-class hero’, which is cool, as I’m really proud to British and working class, but a hero? I’m not so sure about that.”

I was born and raised by a single mother in Cumbria, England. After living in L.A. since 2013 I found myself ‘stuck’ back in my hometown after a Christmas visit when the covid lockdown hit. I knew how hard the government restrictions would be on local people – particularly those in Care Homes who couldn’t even see their loved ones. It was way more strict over on that side of the Atlantic.

So. determined to do all I could to raise spirits, I took action – in song, performing for free more than eighty times in car parks and gardens of Homes and Hospices all over the UK. I also recorded and released a very special Lockdown album of songs and managed to raise £22,000 for Hospice at Home west Cumbria. Here’s a link to the album – https://open.spotify.com/album/3AI8tS4mXQ9lGE5qHbbr6s

As you might guess, I love an audience, and I was just a teenager when I first trod the boards at the National Youth Theatre of Great Britain. I’ve been centre stage ever since. Most recently in two back to back productions at Playhouse West, my creative home here in L.A.

In 2019 I won Best Actor award at the California Independent Film Festival for portraying Max in the film Night Shift. In 2023 I picked up Best Proof of Concept at the Houston Comedy Festival for Linda Evans Is My Spirit Animal – which I not only starred in but also wrote, produced and directed. This year I’ve been presented with Best Featured Performance at the Stage Raw Theatre Awards for playing The Boss in the Playhouse West Production of Jason Milligan’s Men In Suits, directed by Wolfgang Bodison (A Few Good Men)

Right now I’m fine-tuning a one-man show for a three-week run at the Edinburgh Festival this year. Entitled Joan Collins Blocked Me on Twitter, it’s a one-hour Fleabag-inspired theatrical extravaganza which spotlights a certain Theodore Emery Jones, when he arrives in Hollywood with the burning desire to land a starring role in a reboot of the 80’s TV classic Dynasty. Only one thing stands in his way – Dame Joan Collins!

You can catch the June 21st and 22nd previews of the show in Los Angeles at Playhouse West before it lands on British shores in August. I am Playhouse West alumni having studied since 2013 at the Meisner Studio which produced some of Hollywood’s finest talent; Michelle Pfeiffer, Jeff Goldblum and James Franco to name but a few.

My first job in the city was working as a tour guide for TMZ, which also meant appearing on the show. That’s something I never felt comfortable with as I didn’t want to be the British guy on tv throwing shade on the Royals and Gordon Ramsay. There’s no integrity in that. I had to rely on guests on the tour bus pointing out celebs in Beverly Hills as I don’t watch any reality TV!

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The heat!!! The LA heat in July and August is too much for this English flower, haha…
I also struggle with being understood! Not in an artistic la-di-da way but, literally because of my thick northern English accent, which I haven’t lost. I constantly have to repeat myself, and restructure sentences, even to people I’ve been friends with for ten years. I remember when I first arrived in L.A. in 2012. I couldn’t work legally, and couldn’t get an apartment or even a phone. No credit etc. It was hard to establish myself, constantly subleasing, and the public transport is tough – in JULY – IN THE HEAT – LOL!!! Then comes all the Actor / Agent / SAG stuff, and it’s just an ever evolving journey full of contrast!! I love America though. And I love my life here.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Billy Walker was born in Northern England, and raised by a single mother on a council estate in an industrial town called Workington on the West coast of Cumbria. He is fiercely proud of his working class roots. He has just won ‘Best Featured Performance’ at the Stage Raw Theatre Awards 2025 for his portrayal of ‘The Boss’ in the Playhouse West Production of Jason Milligan’s Men in Suits. He won Best Actor at the California Independent Film Festival in 2019 for his portrayal of Max in the film Night Shift. He picked up ‘Best Proof of Concept’ at the Houston Comedy Festival in 2023 for ‘Linda Evans is my Spirit Animal’, a film he wrote, produced, directed and starred in. Billy is an accomplished singer, and during the lockdown of 2020 he recorded an album which raised over twenty thousand pounds for ‘Hospice at Home West Cumbria’ – a charity close to his heart. Billy began his professional career at the age of sixteen as a member of the National Youth Theatre of Great Britain, and at seventeen, began working on the Cabaret circuit all over the UK and internationally in Dubai, Turkey and Spain. He also played The Butler in Andrew Lloyd Webbers Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat.

Can you talk to us a bit about happiness and what makes you happy?
Food! I love food. Also, good coffee and conversation. When I was a kid growing up I only ever had instant coffee, now I’m a total coffee snob. Sunsets are great here in LA, but the sunsets over the Solway in Cumbria where I’m from rival anything you will see down PCH!.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: mr.billy.walker
• Facebook: mr.billy.walker
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTjFthPgY9yRC8HCOIGxFwQ
• Other: https://open.spotify.com/album/3AI8tS4mXQ9lGE5qHbbr6s

Image Credits
Sheila Ivison, Anton Meller, Grant Terzakis