Stephen Graham

Stephen Graham OBE (born 3 August 1973) is an English actor, producer, and screenwriter. He has received nominations for seven British Academy Television Awards and one British Academy Film Award; has won three Primetime Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe Award among other accolades.

Graham began his career in 1990, with early notable roles in Snatch (2000) and Gangs of New York (2002), before his breakthrough role as Andrew "Combo" Gascoigne in the film This Is England (2006). His film appearances include Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011), Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011) and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (2017), Rocketman (2019), The Irishman (2019), Boiling Point (2021) and its sequel series of the same name (2023), and Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021) and its sequel Venom: The Last Dance (2024).

On television, Graham reprised his role as Combo in This Is England '86, This Is England '88, and This Is England '90. He also starred in the drama Little Boy Blue; the fifth series of Line of Duty; HBO series Boardwalk Empire; BBC drama Time; and the sixth series of Peaky Blinders. He created, co-wrote and executive produced the miniseries Adolescence (2025) on Netflix, in which he also appeared, and won all of three nominations at the 77th Primetime Emmy Awards for it. He also starred in A Thousand Blows, (2025) created by Peaky Blinders Steven Knight.

For services to drama, Graham was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2023 New Year Honours.

In 2020, Graham co-founded the production company Matriarch Productions with his wife and fellow actor, Hannah Walters.

Early life and education

Graham was born on 3 August 1973 in Kirkby, Merseyside to parents who spanned racial and national lines. He was raised by his mother, a white English social worker, and his stepfather, a mechanic who later became a paediatric nurse. Graham maintained a good relationship with his biological father. Graham's father was of dual heritage: his mother was Swedish and his father was Jamaican. Graham has discussed his experience being a light-skinned multiracial person in the UK. His brothers have skin that is much darker than his. Graham's stepfather also has African heritage, and he helped Graham accept this side of himself.

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 lived across the road from him and went to see him perform as Jim Hawkins in a school production of Treasure Island. He then continued his education at Ruffwood School. Aged 14, he was introduced to Liverpool's Everyman Theatre, and he travelled to a range of locations to perform, including at the Edinburgh Festival. He was part of a breakdancing crew called "The Bronx Breakers".

After his brother, Nathan, was born, Graham went to train at the Rose Bruford College of Theatre & Performance in Bexley, London. There he met actor, and future wife and collaborator, Hannah Walters. He then moved to Plumstead, South East London. He began learning about acting and was introduced to the work of Stanislavski and Uta Hagen.

Career

Graham has played notable roles across both film and television. Graham has often portrayed characters from different parts of Britain, Ireland, and America, receiving praise for his accent work.

In November 2019, Graham was the guest for BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs. He said he loves improvisation.

Graham is currently represented by Jan Epstein at Independent Talent Group (UK); ICM Partners and Link Enterainment (US).

Beginnings (1990–2006)

Graham began his career in 1990, with early notable roles including Tommy in Snatch (2000), Myron "Mike" Ranney in Band of Brothers (2001),[citation needed] and Shang in Gangs of New York (2002).

This is England (2006) and series (2010–2015)

Graham's breakout role was playing Andrew "Combo" Gascoigne in Shane Meadow's film This Is England (2006). He received a nomination for a British Independent Film Award for the role.[citation needed] He reprised his role as Combo on television in This Is England '86 (2010), This Is England '88 (2011), and This Is England '90 (2015).[citation needed]

Television

Graham has starred in further television roles including: as Det. Supt. Dave Kelly in the 2017 drama Little Boy Blue; John Corbett in the fifth series of Line of Duty (2019); Al Capone in the HBO series Boardwalk Empire (2010–2014); Eric McNally in the BBC drama Time (2021); and Hayden Stagg in the sixth series of Peaky Blinders (2022).

In 2011, Graham starred in the BBC Christmas show Lapland.[citation needed] When the series was remade as Being Eileen, Graham's role was recast with Dean Andrews.

In 2019, Graham featured as DS John Corbett in series 5 of the BBC drama Line of Duty.

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.

Film

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, starring alongside his wife Hannah Walters.

Other film roles include Anthony Provenzano, alongside Al Pacino and Robert De Niro, in The Irishman (2019) and Patrick Mulligan in Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021) and its sequel Venom: The Last Dance (2024).

Music videos

Graham has appeared in several music videos including those for:

• "I Remember" by Deadmau5 and Kaskade
• "Fluorescent Adolescent" and "When the Sun Goes Down" by Arctic Monkeys[citation needed]
• "Unlovable" by Babybird (directed by Johnny Depp)
• Gazelle's single "Finger on the Trigger"
• "Soul Vampire" by Macclesfield-based neo-psychedelic band the Virginmarys[citation needed]
• "Turn" by Travis[citation needed]
• Kasabian's video "You're in Love with a Psycho"[citation needed]
• Goldie's "I Adore You" (2017), as an inmate within the open prison system
• Sam Fender's "Spit of You", in which he plays Fender's father. This was also produced by his production company Matriarch Productions.

He also appeared in "CODnapped", a promotional video for a DLC of the video game Call of Duty: Ghosts.

Matriarch Productions

In 2020 he co-founded the production company Matriarch Productions with his wife, Hannah Walters. In 2026, Disney+ signed a first-look deal with the company.

Boiling Point (2019–2023)

In 2021, he played Andy Jones, a troubled chef, alongside his wife Hannah Walters in the film Boiling Point, directed by his Band of Brothers co-star Philip Barantini. A one-shot film set in a restaurant kitchen, the film was expanded from a 2019 short film of the same name. The film depicts a stressful night in a restaurant, where Graham's character covertly drinks and takes drugs until he collapses at the end of the film, in what appears to be a heart attack. Graham was nominated for a BAFTA for the feature film.

In October 2022, it was announced that Graham would reprise his role in a BBC One series airing in 2023 as a sequel to the film, also named Boiling Point. The series picks up six months after the film, where Andy's sous chef Carly is now head chef of her own restaurant, with many of Andy's original team. The Guardian said of the series that "it is a shame that Andy is a smaller part of this story, because it means that when the magnificent Graham does appear on-screen, you realise just how good he is."

Adolescence (2025)

In 2025, he created, co-wrote and executive produced the miniseries Adolescence on Netflix, in which he also appeared. Graham plays Eddie Miller, father of 13-year-old Jamie (Owen Cooper) who is accused of murdering a young girl.

The series was widely praised by critics and he won all of three nominations at the 77th Primetime Emmy Awards for it.

The series also started national conversations around violence, incel culture and online safety. Co-writer of the show, Jack Thorne, attended Downing Street to talk with prime minister Keir Starmer and culture secretary Lisa Nandy. Graham and Thorne also accepted an invite to a parliamentary meeting on the subject of online safety by Labour MP Josh MacAlister. The series has been made available free of charge for schools to use as a learning tool.

A Thousand Blows (2025–2026)

Graham also appeared in the British historical drama series A Thousand Blows.

Recognition

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.

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 has received nominations for five British Academy Television Awards and two British Academy Film Awards. He was made an OBE in 2023.

Personal life

Graham met actress and producer Hannah Walters while both training as actors at Rose Bruford College. After a five-year friendship, the started a relationship. They married in 2008. They live in Ibstock, Leicestershire, having previously lived in Beckenham, London. They have a son, Alfie, and a daughter, Grace, together.

Graham has dyslexia, explaining in 2019 that Walters reads scripts for him and helps him decide whether to accept a role.

Graham has shared openly that he struggled with depression, revealing that he once tried to hang himself in his early 20s, but survived because the rope snapped. He had a breakdown when he first moved away from home; he said this was because of trauma he had not dealt with, including his grandmother's death aged 14 and his mother's stillbirth of baby Kieran when he was 17.

He is teetotal. Graham and Walters have backed a new three-year arts programme that aims to support the mental health and well-being of disadvantaged young people in Leicester.

Graham is a lifelong supporter of Liverpool F.C. and has made several appearances on Sky Sports's Soccer AM. In December 2024, he faced an FA investigation after verbally abusing a referee at a non-league football match.

Filmography

Film

Television

Music videos

Awards and nominations

Notes

External links

• at the British Film Institute
• at IMDb