28 Feb 2025
Just a few weeks after its high profile Leicester Square premiere, the streaming debut of original film My Fault: London saw it hit the top of the charts for Amazon Prime.
Based on the first book of Mercedes Ron’s bestselling Culpables trilogy, Mea Culpa, it features St Albans actor Asha Banks in her first lead role as Noah Morgan.
Florida native Noah is forced to move to London with her English mother Ella, following her recent marriage to wealthy businessman William.
Noah soon finds herself in the orbit of his 20-year-old son, Nick – self-made but also self-entitled – and their initial antipathy for each other ultimately gives way to mutual respect before desire bursts forth across one long hot summer.
Speaking to the St Albans Times last year, Asha said: “It’s my first lead and like the whole film is from my character’s perspective, so a bit more weight to carry on my shoulders, I guess.
“The content of the film is more adult than I’m used to. I mean, it’s got a thriller aspect to it, it’s a bit more actiony, which was so fun to do. I’m a race car driver, which is amazing. And I drove a McLaren whilst I was filming, so that was wild.”
My Fault: London is co-directed by American-born Dani Girdwood and Charlotte Fassler – making their feature debut – who not only cast Asha but also her co-star Matthew Broome.
Dani said: “When you know, you know. When Asha walked in the room, when Matt walked in the room… they carried it in their very bones. There was a buzz, especially when they met for the first time at their chemistry test and we got to see that play out on screen. We couldn’t look away.”
She said casting the role of Noah meant finding someone capable of handling all facets of this unique teenager, who is capable of beating the best on a racetrack.
“In this film, a lot happens to her,” said Charlotte.
“She’s an incredibly strong character who also has to be believable as an exceptional racer, who is 18, falling for someone for the first time and has complicated past.
“Asha was able to bring all the sides of Noah together so effortlessly. She has a magnetism and personal style that instantly was Noah. She was the perfect fit.”
Speaking ahead of the film dropping, Asha said she had been thrilled by the idea of playing Noah.
“I read the script and I just thought it was so fun, exciting and thrilling and had a bit of everything…and I loved the character. I think she’s so cool. She’s smart. She’s funny. She’s a racer. She’s a surfer. She feels a lot and I just think she’s really fun and really familiar, but also challenging.”
The notion of working with Dani and Charlotte, who she described as “the coolest people ever”, was also intriguing.
“They’re two young, wonderful, powerful women. And that sold it to me even more.”
Asha was also taken by the undulating nature of the relationship between Noah and Nick: “I think it’s one of those classic ‘enemies to lovers’ things. It’s that kind of misconstrued tension of ‘Is this hate or is this attraction?’ And it finds its feet throughout the film.
“I think they both misunderstand each other a lot when they first meet and then the fun of the film is them shocking each other. I think they both feel this sense of adrenaline when they’re with each other.
“They set each other off, I think, in different ways. And it ends up happening in a good way.”
As intense as the action is throughout My Fault: London, the film also features some passionate exchanges between Nick and Noah, Asha’s first on-screen love scenes. To help this, the production employed intimacy coordinator Adelaide Wardrop.
“That was just so helpful,” explained Asha.
“Just talking through everything. And the prep that we did for that was really, really important, I think. There is a lot of intimacy in the film and approaching it in the right way was really helpful. She worked so closely with the directors and it was a really high priority to make sure it was right and done tastefully.”
She elaborated about this in her St Albans Times interview: “We were super comfortable and everybody cares a lot about it now, which is amazing. I mean, I still can’t believe that even 10 years ago, intimacy coordinators didn’t exist in film and TV, you just had to knuckle up and do it, which is crazy. Luckily everything is in place now, and it just feels like an extension of the part and another scene that you’re filming.”
The film has received 89 per cent approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with many reviewers praising Asha’s performance. Comments included: “Nick and Noah played their parts so well it’s hard to believe these two are not in love in real life”; “Both Matthew and Asha have blown me away. Best romance I’ve seen in years. Incredible chemistry, genuine, and spicy but really sweet”; “The chemistry between the two leads is incredible, emotional acting was beautiful especially by Asha Banks”.
Asha’s mother Sophie added: “I’m so proud of Asha. She has been acting and singing professionally since she was a little girl of seven, so we are used to her being in this world and she has always been very driven. But the success of the film has been incredible – Prime’s number one film worldwide since it came out – and we’re just so happy for her, and for everyone else involved who all worked so hard on the project.”
For Asha, the excitement of her first lead role in a feature film has also been accompanied by the debut of her first single, Feel the Rush (which also features in My Fault), ahead of the release of her album in March, which meant gigging at Soho’s The Lower Third venue for a BBC Introducing slot.
An interview with iconic magazine Cosmopolitan described her as a multi-hyphenate, adding ‘My Fault: London’s Asha Banks is about to be everywhere’.
Whether that includes a return performance as Cara in the second series of A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder has yet to be revealed, but in the meantime she’s making the most of her newfound fame in My Fault.
With the success of the film hopefully leading to adaptations of the other two books in the series, St Albans could soon have its very own bona fide superstar living here.
