Television In 1989, while at St. Wilfrids secondary school, Walters was cast in
ITV's British Children's anthology series
Dramarama where he portrayed Corporal Tomkins in the series seven episode entitled "Ghost Story". Walters' second professional role was in season five of another anthology series,
BBC's drama
ScreenPlay. He was featured in
Jimmy McGovern's episode
Needle (1990), which was based upon the
needle exchange programme and heroin epidemic in 1980s
Liverpool. After obtaining of a
BTEC in Performing arts at Southport College (1990–1992), Walters went on to gain a place at the
Bristol Old Vic Theatre School (1994–1996). In 1994 he starred as Joey Jackson, a poetic soul searching for the meaning of life, in
Jim Morris' television film
Blood on the Dole, part of the
Alan Bleasdale Presents series for
Channel 4. The performance garnered critical acclaim for Walters and on the advice of Bleasdale he decided to apply for drama school. Upon completion of drama school Walters appeared as Ian Glover in Jimmy McGovern's acclaimed television drama
Hillsborough (1996), based upon the
Hillsborough disaster at the 1989
FA Cup Semi-finals.
Hillsborough went on to win a
BAFTA for best drama. His next performance was the role of Jamie Johnson on ITV's drama series
Springhill (1996), though Walters did not return for the second series. In 1997 he would once again work with "Ghost Story" director
Julian Jarrold in ITV's police drama
Touching Evil. Walters would portray lead guest character Jack McCaffrey, a slippery cockney, in the two-part series one finale written by
Paul Abbott. Between 1998 and 2000, Walters appeared in several episodic performances such as BBC's
Pie in the Sky, opposite the late
Richard Griffiths, Mikey Sullivan in
Jimmy McGovern's crime drama
Liverpool 1, Technician Fifth Grade John McGrath in HBO's
WWII miniseries
Band of Brothers (based upon historian
Stephen E. Ambrose's 1992 book of the same name), and Scott in the BBC drama
Nice Guy Eddie. In 2001, Walters starred as Knockoff in the BBC television production of writer
Jim Cartwright's comedy
Strumpet, opposite
Christopher Eccleston. Directed by
Danny Boyle, the film was a contrast to the dramatic work Walters had done to date. He was then cast as a series lead, in the role of prison psychiatrist Nick Vaughan, alongside
Lennie James in the eight-part drama series
Buried (2002). The Channel 4 series, from producer Tony Garner, was awarded the BAFTA for Best Drama. Walters would go on to portray the guest starring role of Dylan Forbes in the premiere episode of ITV's drama
Murder City (2004)
, directed by
Sam Miller, before a turn as Lord
Gilbert Gifford in the BBC's 2005 dramatic mini-series
The Virgin Queen. After a two-year hiatus from television, Walters featured in BBC 3's six-part comedy series
The Visit (2007), which was set in a prison waiting room. Walters portrayed Splodge Costello, a troublesome yet likeable inmate. Later that same year he played the memorable character Maddison Twatter (AKA Mad Twatter) in a three-episode stint for E4's cult smash
Skins. In 2008's two-part series six finale of ITV's crime drama
Wire in the Blood, Walters played serial-killer-on-the-loose James Williams. It was the second time Walters had worked with series star
Robson Green, the first being ITV's 1997 drama
Touching Evil. Walters would go on to play gangster Callum Rose, opposite fellow actor
Stephen Graham, in BBC's 2012 production
Good Cop. The series, written by Stephen Butchard and directed by Sam Miller, won the
RTS award for Best Drama in 2013, though it only ran for one season. Convention in
Las Vegas,
Nevada on 15 July 2018.|alt=|left In the spring of 2013, Walters starred as real-life actor and activist
Ricky Tomlinson in
Ragged, a one-off drama for the
Sky Arts Presents series, directed by comedian
Johnny Vegas. The role dealt with Tomlinson's incarceration during the 1970s builders' strike. Walters was nominated for an
RTS Award as Best Actor in a single drama – and garnered praise from Tomlinson – for his performance. 2013 also brought Walters lead roles in two television series. First was the comedy
Great Night Out, from Jimmy Mulville's
Hat Trick Productions, where Walters played Daz Taylor. Second was
The Village, where he portrayed Crispin Ingham, a sadistic teacher from Derbyshire. Though a second series of
The Village was commissioned, Walters was unable to reprise his role due to a scheduling conflict with filming
Outlander (2014–2016). Walters also reunited with previous co-star
Sean Bean in "Tracie's Story", a critically acclaimed episode of 2013's
The Accused, penned by
Jimmy McGovern. Walters worked extensively with director Brian Kelly in 2014. He filmed three episodes of NBC's dramatic series
Dracula, opposite
Jonathan Rhys Meyers, as Hungarian detective Hackett. In a departure from the
novel, the series was set in Victorian England, though it was filmed in
Budapest, Hungary. Kelly then cast Walters as Simon the Sorcerer in
NBC's series
AD the Bible Continues, a sequel to Producers
Mark Burnett and
Roma Downey's miniseries
The Bible (2015). The series was filmed in
Morocco to preserve authenticity. From 2014 to 2016, opposite
Sam Heughan,
Caitríona Balfe and
Graham McTavish, Walters portrayed the featured role of Angus Mhor in the television adaptation of
Diana Gabaldon's best-selling Scottish time travel novel
Outlander. The expansion of Walters' Angus and Grant O'Rourke's Rupert MacKenzie is a favourite of Gabaldon's, who has described the television characters as "the 1800s' version of Laurel and Hardy". Between seasons one and two of
Outlander, Walters was featured in two stylistically different shows for the BBC. The first was an appearance in two episodes of
Dickensian (2015), a drama based upon the concept that author
Charles Dickens' notable characters lived in the same Victorian neighbourhood. He was featured, opposite
Stephen Rea's Inspector Bucket, as accused murderer Manning. Second, Walters guest starred as Borel in an episode of
The Musketeers (2015), a retelling of
Alexandre Dumas' classic French novel
The Three Musketeers. Set in seventeenth century Paris, the series was filmed in
Prague. In early 2017, Walters appeared in two episodes of
AMC's post-apocalyptic original series
Into the Badlands as The Engineer, an American warlord, opposite
Daniel Wu and
Nick Frost. He also appeared as DCI Mark Guinness in RTS Award-winning
Little Boy Blue, a four-part factual drama that was based on the
murder of Rhys Jones and written for ITV by
Jeff Pope. Summer 2017 saw Walters portray the role of failed rock star Johnny in
Rowan Joffe's
Tin Star. Already an accomplished musician, he was featured in the series both singing and playing the guitar. The production, filmed in Canada and starring
Tim Roth and
Christina Hendricks, has been described as a contemporary western. During the first quarter of 2018 Walters featured as lead guest in series four of the BAFTA winning BBC crime drama
Shetland. He portrayed Thomas Malone, a convicted murderer, who has his sentence overturned after twenty-three years behind bars. 2020 saw Walters return to BBC's crime pathology serial
Silent Witness. The two-part episode, entitled "Seven Times" (a reference to the average number of times a woman returns to an abusive partner), focused on the pervasiveness of domestic abuse. Filmed in late summer 2018 and released in early 2022, Walters appeared as Steve Williams in ITV's four-part factual drama,
Anne, alongside actress
Maxine Peake. From filmmakers
World Productions, the drama, written by
Liverpool author
Kevin Sampson (
Hillsborough Voices), centered on Anne Williams' crusade for justice after the death of her son Kevin in the Hillsborough disaster of 1989. The role earned Walters his second RTS Awards nomination, this time in the newly created Best Actor (Male) category. In February 2023, Walters guest starred as Nial Heslop on the season twelve finale of ITV's long-running crime drama
Vera.
Film Walters' first feature film was director
Jake Scott's 1999
anachronistic comedy
Plunkett & Macleane, where he played the role of Dennis opposite Robert Carlyle. Two years later Walters would feature in several films. He would portray Kick Box Stevie in the darkly comedic film
Kiss Kiss (Bang Bang), writer/director Stuart Suggs sophomore feature. From there he featured in producer
Matthew Vaughn's film
Mean Machine (2001), a remake of the 1974
Burt Reynolds classic starring
Vinnie Jones, as unpredictable bomb expert Nitro. He then played the role of Nazi skinhead Blowfish in
Ronny Yu's film
The 51st State (AKA-
Formula 51) opposite
Samuel L Jackson and Robert Carlyle. Both characters showcased the more unpredictable, dangerous type of characters that Walters often portrays. In 2004, Walters was directed by Matthew Vaughn in the supporting role of Shanks, opposite
Daniel Craig, in the feature film
Layer Cake. Vaughn, who had produced Barry Scholnick's
Mean Machine, offered Walters the role. His next project was
Guy Richie's 2005 crime thriller
Revolver where, opposite
Jason Statham, he portrayed Irish Joe. That same year saw a cameo appearance, as an Arkham Lunatic, in
Christopher Nolan's acclaimed feature
Batman Begins. 2007's feature film
Hannibal Rising, the final installment of the
Hannibal series, explored the origins of Hannibal Lecter and was Walter's next film role. He portrayed Zigmas Milko, a man of Eastern European origin, and one of Hannibal's main victims. The next year Walters appeared in science-fiction/noir film
Franklyn, director
Gerald McMorrow's debut, which premiered at the London Film Festival. His dual role as Bill Wasnik/Wormsnake was played opposite
Bernard Hill and
Ryan Philippe respectively. For
Splintered, a horror movie released to cinemas in 2010, Walters played dual roles as brothers Vincent and Gavin. This was particularly demanding as scenes with both characters were shot and edited without the use of digital effects.
Powder (2011), based on
Kevin Sampson's novel of the same name, featured Walters in the role of Johnny Winegums, a music journalist following an aspiring POP music group's rise to fame. The film was partially shot on location at the V festival in Suffolk. Later that year Walters featured in
Age of Heroes alongside
Sean Bean. The WWII drama, directed by Adrian Vitoria, highlighted the story of
Ian Fleming's
30 Commando Unit who were assigned to infiltrate behind enemy lines in the Nazi controlled snowy mountains of Norway. In 2012, Walters portrayed Gaz in the drama
Kelly + Victor, based upon
Niall Griffith's 2002 novel of the same name
. 2018 saw the announcement that Walters would be starring in
Outlander alumni
Graham McTavish's directorial debut
This Guest of Summer, along with Duncan Lacroix and McTavish's fellow
The Hobbit alumni
Adam Brown and
Dean O'Gorman. The film, which tells the story of three actor friends who end up in a creepy town together, was partially funded via
IndieGoGo, an online crowdfunding platform. ==Filmography==