Christopher Walken Paints Over Authentic Banksy While Filming ‘The Outlaws’

Christopher Walken destroyed an authentic Banksy graffiti painting in the final episode of The Outlaws.

The anonymous street artist Banksy has many art creations that have been sold for millions of dollars. “The Rat,” his latest offering, appears at the end of the final episode of the BBC show. It is written, directed and starred by Stephen Merchant, co-creator of the British comedy series The Office.

The Outlaws takes place in Southern Bristol, U.K. Bristol is home to many of Banksy’s earliest murals, leading to speculation that the artist is from the city.

Walken stars in the drama as one of seven bickering lawbreakers forced to work together in a community service program. In the final scene of the episode, the group is completing their service by painting over graffiti displayed on a street wall.

Walken’s character, Frank, pulls away a piece of wood, and finds a rat with two cans of spray paint with “Banksy” written above it in orange spray paint. Hesitant, he turns around and asks probation officer Diane, played by Jessica Gunning, for further instruction.

“Diane, look at the rat I found,” he says.

“Any vermin under 10 kilos are yours, bag it and bin it,” said his supervisor.

Walken explains it’s a graffiti rat to which Diane responds, “Council said paint over any graffiti so crack on.”

Walken tries to say Diane to leave the art alone but she ends that thought, and says “less debating, more painting.” Walken shrugs his shoulders and starts to paint over the image, ending the last episode of the season.

A spokesperson for The Outlaws confirmed that the piece destroyed by Walken was a genuine Banksy.

The spokesperson said in a statement, “We can confirm that the artwork at the end of The Outlaws was an original Banksy, and that Christopher Walken painted over that artwork during the filming of this scene, ultimately destroying it.”

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