Stephen Joseph Graham was born on the 3rd of August 1973 in Kirkby, and was brought up by his mother, a social worker, and his stepfather, a mechanic who later became a paediatric nurse. He 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'. Continuing his education at Ruffwood Comprehensive he was subsequently introduced to Liverpool's Everyman Theatre aged 14 and later trained at Rose Bruford College of Theatre and Performance, London where he met and, six years later, began dating actress and producer Hannah Walters. They were married on the 6th of June 2008 and lived in the Beckenham area of London before moving to Ibstock, Leicestershire and have a son and daughter together. Steven is of mixed race, with Jamaican heritage on his father's side, and this wasn't always easy for him as a child. He also revealed on Desert Island Discs that, "I used to be at me nana's all the time, because my school was round the corner, she used to make a boss pan of scouse and these little fairy cakes." He also spoke about being at his lowest ebb after a series of difficult events, including his mother having a stillbirth when he was about 17 and his nana's death. "I'd been through these few traumatic things and never really grieved," he says. "I had a breakdown, with all of these things that had happened – traumatic – from my late teens that I hadn't really dealt with or I hadn't come to terms with." He returned home and things got worse: "I tried to hang myself. I went in and it was very calculated. I kicked the chair. And then I heard my nanna's voice, and I know this sounds strange and weird and whatever, but it's my truth – she shouted 'Stephen!' And I thought I'd gone, you know what I mean, because I'd tried to do that, and I just came to and opened my eyes. Thankfully the rope had snapped." Steven has a fairy cake tattooed on his arm in tribute to his nana.
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| as Andrew "Combo" Gascoigne in 'This Is England' |
When he was 15, he was doing a play by Willy Russell called 'Our Day Out' in Chester, and he and another lad took a starter pistol from a prop table. The next day, the police were waiting for them and gave them a big talk about how it was classed as a firearm and very dangerous. To teach them a lesson, they took them to a police cell where they spent two hours ( a great scare tactic ). He began his TV career as a 'football kid' in 'Dancin' Thru the Dark' (1990), with other appearances in 'Children's Ward' (1991), 'Liverpool 1' (1998), 'The Jump' (1998) and 'The Bill' (1998-99). Then in 6 episodes of 'Coronation Street' (1999) he played the part of Lee Sankey, a drug dealer who worked with Steve McDonald to sell tobacco in Weatherfield. After years of small parts, including his first film 'Blonde Fist' (1991), playing a young boy, he finally got his big break in an unexpected way, playing the dim-witted Tommy in Guy Ritchie's film 'Snatch' (2000). He had accompanied a friend to the audition for Ritchie and was asked if he was next. When he replied "no", Ritchie told the then-unknown actor, "I like your face", and he was asked if he could start work on Monday. Following 'Band of Brothers' (2001), he then played Shang in 'Gangs of New York' (2002) before again dealing drugs as he starred in the sitcom 'Top Buzzer' (2004), styled as television's first ever 'dope opera'. Then came his break through his role as Andrew "Combo" Gascoigne in the film 'This Is England' (2006), in which he was nominated for a British Independant Film Award. More TV work followed with 'The Innocent Project' (2006-07), as Barabbas in 'The Passion' (2008), as Billy Bremner in 'The Dammed United' (2009) then playing Shay in Jimmy McGovern's 'The Street' (2009), an alcoholic coming-to-terms with finding out he has a son with Down’s syndrome, a role which won Stephen an RTS nomination.
Appearing as Scrum in the 2011 film 'Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides', he reprised the role in the 2017 film 'Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales' starring alongside his wife. It seemed at this time he was the hardest working man on TV as he had roles in 'Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy' (2011), 'Accused' (2012), in which, although he graced only one episode of Jimmy McGovern’s drama, it earned him his first Bafta nod. There were also 'Good Cop' (2012), 'Parades End' (2012) and 'Boardwalk Empire' (2010-14) in which he played Al Capone. He had worked with the executive producer Martin Scorsese before on 'Gangs of New York', and Martin had promised they'd work together again. He rang Steven and said, "I want you to play Al Capone – see you in a couple of weeks."
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| in Boiling Point |
The Secret Agent (2016) was followed by 'Little Boy Blue' (2017), the well-judged mini-series set in his home city, Liverpool tackled a tough subject: the 2007 murder of 11-year-old Rhys Jones. The following year he played Atticus in the TV period drama 'Taboo' (2017) and more TV roles followed over the next few years as he produced some memorable and prodigious performances. 2019, saw him as DS John Corbett in series 5 of the BBC drama 'Line of Duty' and that year also in 'The Virtues' (2019), 'The Irishman' (2019) and 'Rocketman' (2019). In January 2020, he appeared in the ITV series 'White House Farm' as Welsh detective "Taff" Jones and later that year co-founded the production company Matriarch Productions alongside his wife. A very busy year in 2021 saw him in 'Help', 'The North Water', 'Time' and during this period he had turned his hand to comedy in 'Code 404' (2020-22) where a British detective killed in action is brought back to life using experimental Artificial Intelligence. 'The Walk-In', 'Peaky Blinders', and Roald Dahl's 'Matilda the Musical' followed in 2022 before he reprised his role on TV, again alongside Hannah, in a 4 part series of 'Boiling Point' (2023), as a talented chef spirals inexorably towards destruction, as his life descends into chaos during one night's service at his fancy London restaurant. The film was met with critical acclaim, receiving four nominations at the 75th British Academy Film Awards, including Outstanding British Film and Best Actor in a Leading Role for Steven. The same year he starred in the Netflix mini-series period drama 'Bodies', as four detectives, living in different eras; 1890, 1941, 2023 and 2053, find the body of the same murder victim in Whitechapel. There is plenty more in the pipeline, including Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight's upcoming period drama series 'A Thousand Blows' (2025).
Steven 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. He commented on Twitter, "For you mum... And to all those kids that are told to 'get a proper job' this is for you too."
He is without doubt one of the most magnetic and visceral forces to emerge in British film and television in recent times.
see also :- http://www.thefootballvoice.com/2024/11/a-history-of-liverpool-thespians-alicya.html
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