We often see him portraying a family man on the small screen, but actor Stephen Graham once offered to adopt one of his very own co-stars.
The beloved Liverpudlian TV star is a hot topic of conversation at the moment, having wowed in A Thousand Blows before the release of Adolescence on Netflix.
Starring alongside Erin Doherty, Ashley Walters, and Owen Cooper—plus his wife Hannah Walters—the powerful four-part drama follows a family’s world being torn apart as 13-year-old Jamie is arrested for murdering a classmate.
Each episode is shot entirely in one take, exploring the repercussions of the teen’s crime for his peers, parents, and police.
Of course, this is far from Stephen’s first rodeo, as the Kirky-born performer is known for a range of roles, including the 2007 movie This Is England.
The indie film also stars Thomas Turgoose, whose mother died shortly after work ended on the project in 2006.
In the wake of the tragedy, Thomas, who was just 13 at the time, received an extraordinary offer of kindness from fellow cast member Stephen and director Shane Meadows.
The youngster was going to live with his dad, but as he ‘didn’t know him’, the pair said they would take care of him if things didn’t work out.
Line of Duty star Stephen had already promised Thomas’ mum, who died of lung cancer, that he would look after her son.
‘When my mum died, I moved in with my dad, and I didn’t know him, so Shane Meadows and Steven Graham were going to adopt me if things didn’t work out with my dad,’ he told the podcast Private Parts in 2021.
The cast was incredibly close, and the director even dedicated the film to Thomas’ mum, Sharon, who did not get to see the finished product.
Cast members such as Stephen, Vicky McClure, and Jo Hartley remained close with the child star long after cameras stopped rolling, as they attended the Intergalactic actor’s wedding in 2018.
Before landing the breakout role of Shaun in the critically acclaimed film, about a young boy who falls in with a gang of skinheads in 80s England, Thomas confessed he was ‘destined for prison, shoplifting things I didn’t need.’
‘There was a hardware store in Grimsby that I used to steal spray paint from for no reason,’ he said.
He reprised the role of Shaun in TV follow-ups later on. This Is England ’86 was released in 2010, This Is England ’88 dropped the following year, and This Is England ’90 landed in 2015.
His acting CV also boasts roles in Eden Lake, Avengement, and Jackdaw.
Meanwhile, Stephen has also continued achieving greatness with roles in Little Boy Blue, Boiling Point, and Bodies, to name just a few.
As for his recent role in Adolescence, he’s been vocal about the importance of the drama, warning fellow parents to be ‘mindful’ about what their kids are consuming online.
It comes after the character of Jamie is heavily influenced by ideologies from the likes of Andrew Tate, which continue to harm young men and boys.
Dad-of-two Stephen, 51, told The Independent: ‘It’s just being mindful of the fact that not only we parent our children, and not only does the school educate our children, but also there are influences that we have no idea of that are having profound effects on our young culture.
‘Profound effects, positive and extremely negative; so it’s having a look at that and seeing that we’re all accountable.’
This article was first published on June 15, 2021.
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