Stephen Graham | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Graham in 2025 | |
| Born | (1973-08-03)3 August 1973 (age 52) |
| Education | Ruffwood School |
| Alma mater | Rose Bruford College |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 1990–present |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2 |
Stephen GrahamOBE (born 3 August 1973) is an English actor, producer, and screenwriter. He has received nominations for sevenBritish Academy Television Awards and oneBritish Academy Film Award, and won threePrimetime Emmy Awards, and aGolden Globe Award among other accolades.
Graham began his career in 1990, with early notable roles inSnatch (2000) andGangs of New York (2002), before hisbreakthrough role as Andrew "Combo" Gascoigne in the filmThis Is England (2006). His film appearances includeTinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011),Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011) andPirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (2017),Rocketman (2019),The Irishman (2019),Boiling Point (2021) and itssequel series of the same name (2023), andVenom: Let There Be Carnage (2021) and its sequelVenom: The Last Dance (2024).
On television, Graham reprised his role as Combo inThis Is England '86,This Is England '88, andThis Is England '90. He also starred in the dramaLittle Boy Blue, in the fifth series ofLine of Duty, in theHBO seriesBoardwalk Empire, in the BBC dramaTime, and in the sixth series ofPeaky Blinders. He created, co-wrote and executive produced the miniseriesAdolescence (2025) onNetflix, in which he also appeared, and won all of three nominations at the77th Primetime Emmy Awards for it. He also starred inA Thousand Blows, (2025) created by Peaky BlindersSteven Knight.
For services to drama, Graham was appointedOfficer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the2023 New Year Honours.
Graham was born inKirkby, in theLancashire county ofNorth West England,[1][a] on 3 August 1973.[2][3] He was brought up by his mother, asocial worker, and his stepfather, amechanic who later became apaediatric nurse. He maintained a good relationship with his biological father.[4][5] Graham's paternal grandmother wasSwedish and his paternal grandfather wasJamaican, both on his biological father's side, and he has discussed his experience being a light-skinnedmultiracial person in the U.K., as he has brothers who have much darker skin.[6][7]
He attended Overdale Primary School in Kirkby, where he was encouraged to pursue an acting career at the age of eight by local actorAndrew Schofield, who had seen him perform asJim Hawkins in a school production ofTreasure Island.[4] He then continued his education atRuffwood School and was subsequently introduced toLiverpool'sEveryman Theatre at the age of 14, later going on to train at theRose Bruford College of Theatre & Performance inBexley, London.[4]
Graham began his career in 1990, with early notable roles including Tommy inSnatch (2000), Myron "Mike" Ranney inBand of Brothers (2001), and Shang inGangs of New York (2002), before hisbreakout role as Andrew "Combo" Gascoigne in the filmThis Is England (2006), the last of which garnered a nomination for aBritish Independent Film Award. He reprised his role as Combo on television inThis Is England '86 (2010),This Is England '88 (2011), andThis Is England '90 (2015). He also starred as Det. Supt. Dave Kelly in the 2017 dramaLittle Boy Blue, John Corbett in the fifth series ofLine of Duty (2019),Al Capone in theHBO seriesBoardwalk Empire (2010–2014), Eric McNally in the BBC dramaTime (2021), and Hayden Stagg in the sixth series ofPeaky Blinders (2022).
He appeared as the Scrum in the 2011 filmPirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, a role he reprised in the 2017 filmPirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, starring alongside his wifeHannah Walters.[8][9][10] Other film roles includeAnthony Provenzano inThe Irishman (2019) andPatrick Mulligan inVenom: Let There Be Carnage (2021) and its sequelVenom: The Last Dance (2024).
Graham has often portrayed characters from different parts of Britain, Ireland, and America, receiving praise for his accent work.[11]
He appeared in the music videos for "I Remember" byDeadmau5 andKaskade,[12] "Fluorescent Adolescent" and "When the Sun Goes Down" byArctic Monkeys, "Unlovable" byBabybird (directed byJohnny Depp), and Gazelle's single "Finger on the Trigger".[13] Graham appeared in the music video "Soul Vampire" byMacclesfield-based neo-psychedelic band the Virginmarys, the music video for "Turn" byTravis, andKasabian's video "You're in Love with a Psycho". He appeared as an inmate within the open prison system in the music video forGoldie's "I Adore You" in 2017, and also starred inSam Fender's music video for "Spit of You", in which he plays Fender's father.[14][15]
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In 2011, Graham starred in theBBC Christmas showLapland. When the series was remade asBeing Eileen, Graham's role was recast withDean Andrews.[16][17] He also appeared in "CODnapped", a promotional video for aDLC of the video gameCall of Duty: Ghosts.
In 2019, Graham featured as DS John Corbett in series 5 of the BBC dramaLine of Duty.[18][19][20] In November of that year, Graham was the guest forBBC Radio 4'sDesert Island Discs.[21] In January 2020, he appeared in the ITV seriesWhite 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.[22]
In 2021, he starred alongside his wife Hannah Walters in the filmBoiling Point, directed by hisBand of Brothers co-starPhilip Barantini. Aone-shot film set in a restaurant kitchen, the film was expanded from a 2019short film of the same name.[23][24] In October 2022, it was announced that Graham would reprise his role in aBBC One series airing in 2023 as a sequel to the film, also namedBoiling Point.[25][26]
Graham was nominated for anRTS Award for his work inThe Street, and for aBritish Independent Film Award for his work inThis Is England. He has received nominations for fiveBritish Academy Television Awards and twoBritish Academy Film Awards. He was made anOBE in 2023.
In 2025, he created, co-wrote and executive produced the miniseriesAdolescence on Netflix, in which he also appeared. The series was widely praised by critics[27] and he won all of three nominations at the77th Primetime Emmy Awards for it.[28]
Graham also appeared in the British historical drama seriesA Thousand Blows.[29][30][31]
In 2020 he co-founded the production company Matriarch Productions with his wife, Hannah Walters.[3][32] In 2026,Disney+ signed afirst look deal with the company.[33]
Graham was appointedOfficer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the2023 New Year Honours for services to drama, which he dedicated to his mother, who died in 2022.[34][35][36]
Graham began dating actress and producerHannah Walters after they met while training as actors atRose Bruford College, and they later married in 2008. They reside inIbstock, having previously lived in theBeckenham area of London. They have a son and a daughter together.[1]
Graham isteetotal and suffers fromdyslexia,[4] explaining in 2019 that Walters reads scripts for him and helps him decide whether to accept a role.[4] He has struggled withdepression, revealing that he once tried to hang himself in his early 20s, but survived because the rope snapped.[4]
Graham is a lifelong supporter ofLiverpool FC and has made several appearances onSky Sports'sSoccer AM.[37] In December 2024, he faced anFA investigation after verbally abusing a referee at a non-league football match.[38]
| † | Denotes works that have not yet been released |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Children's Ward | Mickey Bell | 2 episodes |
| 1993 | Heartbeat | Barry Ward | Episode: "Riders of the Storm" |
| 1996 | Devil's Food | WPKV News Director | Television film |
| 1997 | The Lakes | Graham | Episode #1.1 |
| 1998 | Brothers and Sisters | Andrew | |
| Where the Heart Is | Nick Bowen | Episode: "Darkness Follows" | |
| Liverpool 1 | Thewlis | 2 episodes | |
| The Jump | Peter McNulty | ||
| 1998–2002 | The Bill | Jezzo / Jason Barrett | 3 episodes |
| 1999 | Coronation Street | Lee Sankey | 5 episodes |
| 2000 | Forgive and Forget | John | Television film |
| 2001 | Band of Brothers | Sgt. Myron "Mike" Ranney | 2 episodes |
| 2002 | Flesh and Blood | Eddie | Television film |
| 2004 | Top Buzzer | Lee | 10 episodes |
| 2005 | Murder Investigation Team | Jason Phelps | Episode #2.3 |
| Last Rights | Steve | Miniseries | |
| Empire | Bazzer | ||
| 2006–2007 | The Innocence Project | Andrew Lucas | 6 episodes |
| 2008 | The Passion | Barabbas | 3 episodes |
| Occupation | Danny Ferguson | ||
| The Street | Shay Ryan | 2 episodes | |
| 2010 | This Is England '86 | Andrew "Combo" Gascoigne | 2 episodes |
| 2010–2014 | Boardwalk Empire | Al Capone | 36 episodes |
| 2011 | This Is England '88 | Andrew "Combo" Gascoigne | 2 episodes |
| Walk like a Panther | Mark Bolton | Episode #1.1 | |
| 2012 | Accused | Tony | Episode: "Tracie's Story" |
| Parade's End | Vincent Macmaster | 5 episodes | |
| Good Cop | Noel Finch | 1 episode | |
| 2013 | Playhouse Presents | Len | Episode: "The Call Out" |
| 2015 | This Is England '90 | Andrew "Combo" Gascoigne | 3 episodes |
| 2016 | The Secret Agent | Chief Inspector Heat | |
| The Watchman | Carl | Television film | |
| 2017 | Decline and Fall | Philbrick | 3 episodes |
| Taboo | Atticus | 8 episodes | |
| Little Boy Blue | Detective Superintendent Dave Kelly | 4 episodes | |
| 2018 | Action Team | Gavril | Episode: "Mind Games" |
| 2018–2020 | Save Me | Fabio "Melon" Melonzola | Main role |
| 2019 | Line of Duty | John Corbett | Series 5; main role |
| The Virtues | Joseph | 4 episodes | |
| A Christmas Carol | Jacob Marley | Miniseries | |
| 2020 | White House Farm | DCI Taff Jones | 6 episodes |
| 2020–2022 | Code 404 | DI Roy Carver | Main role |
| 2021 | Time | Eric McNally | Series 1; main role[40] |
| The North Water | Captain Brownlee | Miniseries | |
| Help | Tony | Television film[41][42] | |
| 2022 | Peaky Blinders | Hayden Stagg | Series 6; 2 episodes |
| The Walk-In | Matthew Collins | Main role[43] | |
| 2023 | Boiling Point | Andy Jones | Miniseries |
| Bodies | Elias Mannix | ||
| 2025 | Adolescence | Eddie Miller | Also co-creator, co-writer, and executive producer |
| 2025–2026 | A Thousand Blows | Sugar Goodson | Also executive producer |
| Year | Title | Artist |
|---|---|---|
| 1999 | "Turn" | Travis |
| 2006 | "When the Sun Goes Down" | Arctic Monkeys |
| 2007 | "Fluorescent Adolescent" | |
| 2008 | "I Remember" | Deadmau5 ft.Kaskade |
| "Soul Vampire" | The Virginmarys | |
| 2010 | "Unloveable" | Babybird |
| 2017 | "You're in Love with a Psycho" | Kasabian |
| "I Adore You" | Goldie | |
| 2019 | "Wandering Star" | Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds |
| 2021 | "Spit of You" | Sam Fender |
Graham, 46,
Stephen Graham, who plays Combo, he has a mixed-race heritage. He has a Swedish grandmother, a fully Jamaican grandfather [...]
His biological dad was half Jamaican and half Swedish and because of this he was targeted by racists.
