Stephen Graham

Graham was born on 3 August 1973 in the Southdene area of Kirkby, Lancashire.[lower-alpha 1][1] He was raised by his mother, a social worker, and his stepfather, a mechanic who later became a paediatric nurse.[1] He maintained a good relationship with his biological father.[1] His paternal grandfather was Jamaican,[1][2] while his paternal grandmother was Swedish.[3] He attended Overdale Primary School in Kirkby, where he was encouraged to pursue an acting career at the age of eight by local actor Andrew Schofield, who had seen him perform as Jim Hawkins in a school production of Treasure Island.[1] He was subsequently introduced to Liverpool's Everyman Theatre at the age of 14, and would go on to train at the Rose Bruford College of Theatre & Performance.[1]

Graham has often portrayed characters from different British, Irish and American regions. He has played characters who are Cockney, Geordie, Scouse and Scottish, as well as an Irish gang member in 19th-century New York City, a 1930s Chicago bank robber, a Brooklyn mobster, a Texan, the short-fused English nationalist "Combo" in This Is England,[4] and a Jamaican gangster in Yardie.

Graham was nominated for an RTS Award for his work in The Street and a British Independent Film Award for his work on This Is England. He appeared in the music videos for "I Remember" by Deadmau5 and Kaskade,[5] both "Fluorescent Adolescent" and "When the Sun Goes Down" by the Arctic Monkeys, "Unlovable" by Babybird (directed by Johnny Depp), and Gazelle's single "Finger on the Trigger".[6] Graham also appeared in the music video "Soul Vampire" by Macclesfield-based neo-psychedelic band The Virginmarys, and the music video for "Turn" by Travis, also Kasabian's video "You're in Love with a Psycho". He appeared as an inmate within the open prison system for Goldie's "I Adore You" music video in 2017.

In 2011 Graham starred in the BBC Christmas show Lapland, but when the series was remade as Being Eileen, Graham's role was recast with Dean Andrews.[7][8] He also appeared on a promotional video for a DLC of the video game Call of Duty: Ghosts, titled "CODnapped".

In November 2019 Graham was the guest for BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs.[9]

Graham married actress Hannah Walters on 6 June 2008. They met and began a relationship while training at the Rose Bruford College of Theatre & Performance and currently reside in Ibstock, Leicestershire, having previously lived in the Beckenham area of London. They have a son named Alfie and a daughter named Grace.[10]

Graham is a fan of Liverpool FC and has made several appearances on the Sky Sports football show Soccer AM.

Graham has struggled with depression, which once led to a suicide attempt: "In my early twenties, I suffered from really bad depression and tried to take my own life once. Thankfully, the rope snapped and I'm here today. But I know the loneliness, isolation and feeling you can't cope in the world."[1]

Graham is teetotal.[1] He suffers from dyslexia and has said that his wife reads scripts for him and helps him decide whether to accept or decline a role: "She says, 'We're doing this,' and I say, 'OK.' [...] If I can find socially aware, political things that are saying something—well, that's where I'm from. It's what I know. So it's where I've tried to keep my base."[1]

• Stephen Graham at the British Film Institute
• Stephen Graham on IMDb