This man got his first role in a major film by plain luck, was the son of a social worker and a mechanic, with no ties to the film industry and no place at a posh private school to help grease the wheels – he has since gone on to become quite possibly the best actor from the UK –
I am of course talking about the incredibly talented Stephen Graham.
Hi first major role was in Guy Ritchie’s Snatch – a role he only got as a result of tagging along with a friend of his who was auditioning for a role in the movie. Graham had no intention of auditioning, and when asked if he would, stated he was only there with a friend and couldn’t audition even if he wanted to because his dyslexia meant he could not read from the provided script.
He was allowed to improvise an audition and won a role in the film as “Tommy” alongside Brad Pitt and Jason Statham
He followed this up with a role in Band of Brothers and Gangs of New York but got his true breakthrough role in 2006 – as the skinhead with neo-nazi leanings ‘Combo’ in the truly astounding “This is England” – ironically Stephen Graham is himself of mixed race origin, with Jamaican heritage on his fathers side.
He would play this role three more times in the equally brilliant and harrowing This is England ‘86, ’88 and ‘90.
From here he has played everything from a Victorian Boxer in A Thousand Blows, to Al Capone in Boardwalk Empire, a Caribbean Pirate, a chef in Boiling Point and arguably, in his most powerful work yet, the father of a young boy accused of murder in Adolescence – a series that Graham also helped write and recently won three Emmys for.
This series also generated an Emmy win for the excellent Owen Cooper – a child actor who also does not have ties to the film industry. Graham had requested that they cast an unknown child actor from the North of England for the role.