Legendary Hollywood actor Christopher Walken paints over a piece of real Banksy artwork in the final episode of BBC show The Outlaws.
A spokesperson for the show confirmed that the artwork was a genuine Banksy piece, and that it was destroyed during filming.
The anonymous street artist from Bristol painted a rat with a can of spray paint, with the words "Banksy" written above, although it was, fortunately, a piece of work specifically for the series.
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In the final episode of Bristol-legend Stephen Merchant's six-part series, Walken's character Frank is seen completing his community service painting away graffiti.
Upon discovering the artwork, he asks probation officer Diane (played by Jessica Gunning) if he should paint over it, to which a distracted Diane explains that any graffiti must be painted over.
The series, and final sixth episode, then ends with Frank painting over the graffiti.
A spokesperson for The Outlaws said: “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.”
The series was created by Bristol-born actor Stephen Merchant, and he plays lawyer Greg in the series that follows a group of convicted criminals completing community service in the city.
Pulp Fiction star Christoper Walken plays conman Frank in the series, having been convinced to join the show by Stephen Merchant who travelled to the U.S. to get him on board.
This is not the first time Banksy has created artwork to be destroyed. Last month a partially shredded Banksy painting sold for £18,582,000 at auction in London.
His artwork Love Is In The Bin was sold by auction house Sotheby’s, who cited the fee as a record for the street artist.
The painting, which was originally titled Girl With Balloon, made headlines in 2018 when it partially self-destructed at the end of a previous auction in which it had been sold for £1.1 million.
The canvas was passed through a secret shredder hidden inside the large frame, leaving the bottom half in tatters and only a solitary red balloon left on a white background in the frame.
Love Is In The Bin outperformed its price estimate of between £4 million and £6 million.
Girl With Balloon, which depicts a small child reaching up towards a heart-shaped red balloon, was originally stencilled on a wall in east London and has been endlessly reproduced, becoming one of Banksy’s best-known images.
The Outlaws is available on BBC iPlayer and the series will be available in the US on Amazon Prime in the new year.
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