Stephen Graham

Stephen Joseph Graham[1][2] was born on 3 August 1973 in Kirkby, Lancashire.[2][3] His paternal grandfather was Jamaican, while one of his grandmothers was Swedish.[4] He was brought up by his mother, a social worker, and his stepfather, a mechanic who later became a paediatric nurse.[3] He maintained a good relationship with his biological father.[3][5]

Graham 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.[3] He then continued his education at Ruffwood Comprehensive and was subsequently introduced to Liverpool's Everyman Theatre at the age of 14, later going on to train at the Rose Bruford College of Theatre & Performance.[3]

Graham has often portrayed characters from different British, Irish and American regions. He has played characters who are Cockney, Welsh, Geordie, Scouse and Scottish, as well as an Irish gang member in 19th-century New York City, a 1930s Chicago bank robber, a New Jersey mobster, a Texan, the short-fused English nationalist "Combo" in This Is England,[6] and a Jamaican gangster in Yardie. Graham appeared as the Scrum in the 2011 film Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, a role he reprised in the 2017 film Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, along with appearing with his wife Hannah Walters.[7][8][9][10]

Graham was nominated for an RTS Award for his work in The Street, and for a British Independent Film Award for his work in This Is England. He appeared in the music videos for "I Remember" by Deadmau5 and Kaskade,[11] "Fluorescent Adolescent" and "When the Sun Goes Down" by Arctic Monkeys, "Unlovable" by Babybird (directed by Johnny Depp), and Gazelle's single "Finger on the Trigger".[12] Graham also appeared in the music video "Soul Vampire" by Macclesfield-based neo-psychedelic band The Virginmarys, the music video for "Turn" by Travis, and Kasabian's video "You're in Love with a Psycho". He appeared as an inmate within the open prison system in the music video for Goldie's "I Adore You" in 2017. He also starred in Sam Fenders music video Spit of You.

In 2011, Graham starred in the BBC Christmas show Lapland. When the series was remade as Being Eileen Graham's role was recast with Dean Andrews.[13][14] He also appeared on a promotional video for a DLC of the video game Call of Duty: Ghosts, titled "CODnapped".

In 2019, Graham featured as DS John Corbett in series 5 of the BBC drama Line of Duty.[15][16][17] In November of that year, Graham was the guest for BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs.[18] In January 2020, he appeared in the ITV series White House Farm as Welsh detective "Taff" Jones. Despite his reputation for his ability to adopt different accents, a number of critics criticised his performance and stated that his Welsh accent was inauthentic.[19]

In 2021, Graham starred alongside his wife Hannah Walters in the film Boiling Point, directed by his Band of Brothers co-star and friend, Philip Barantini. It is a one-shot film set in a restaurant kitchen, expanded from a 2019 short film of the same name.[20][21] In October 2022, it was announced that the BBC would produce a sequel series, set months after the feature film, with Graham reprising his role.[22] The Boiling Point is due to air on BBC One from 1 October 2023.[23]

On 6 June 2008, Graham married actress and producer Hannah Walters, whom he had been dating since they met while training at the Rose Bruford College of Theatre & Performance. They live in Ibstock, Leicestershire, having previously lived in the Beckenham area of London. They have a son and a daughter.[24] They also appeared together onscreen in multiple films, like Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, and Boiling Point.

Graham is teetotaler and has dyslexia,[3] revealing in 2019 that his wife reads scripts for him and helps him decide whether to accept a role.[3] He has struggled with depression and once tried to hang himself in his early 20s, stating that he only survived because "the rope snapped".[3]

He is a lifelong supporter of Liverpool FC and has made several appearances on the Sky Sports football show Soccer AM.[25]

Graham was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2023 New Year Honours for services to drama, which he dedicated to his mother, who died in 2022.[26][27][28]

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