Stephen Graham broke down in tears as he recalled an emotional phonecall with his dad. The 51-year-old from Kirkby has wowed fans with his latest performance in the hit Netflix show, Adolescence.
The actor plays Eddie Miller, a distraught dad whose life is turned upside down when his son, Jamie, is accused of murder. Stephen has appeared on Capital Breakfast today to talk about his role in the acclaimed show.
The Scouser spoke about his journey to break through into the industry and said he wouldn’t be anywhere without the support of his parents. Stephen’s dad harnessed his passion for film and bought his posters of Robert De Niro films, such as Taxi Driver, which adorned the walls of his rooms as he was growing up.
Stephen achieved his dreams when he got to work alongside his hero in 2019’s The Irishman, directed by Martin Scorsese. Stephen was emotional on Capital Radio today as he described the moment he called his dad to tell him he would be working alongside Robert De Niro.
He said: “I went ‘Dad, you’ll never guess who, I’m going to be working with!’ Marty’s asked me to a film and he’s like ‘that’s amazing son!'” Stephen become choked up as he told hosts Sian Welby and Jordan North: “oh…I’ve gone!”
He added: “He proper backed me. And my mum. They supported me throughout everything. Do you know what I mean? All the struggles you go through and everything.
“Sometimes all it takes is one person to help you achieve your goal, or to believe in the dream you have. It takes that one person and my dad was that person. And my mum.”
Jordan apologised as he praised the actor for his emotional response as he said: “We didn’t want to make you cry today.” Stephen’s contact lens fell out in the moment, which he apologised for and said: “That’s alright, you got me contact lens out”
People took to the comments to praise Stephen after the emotional moment. A Place in the Sun host Lee Juggurnauth said: “What a guy.”
A follower named Denise said: “Brilliant actor & lovely man. Well deserved recognition Stephen.” Hayley commented: “He really the best of the best.”
Delia posted: “Just love him! So talented and so humble with it.” Cal posted: “He is such a lovely, warm hearted, genuine man and he can not half act!.”
During his appearance on The One Show last week, Stephen shared the sofa with Robert De Niro and he thanked the actor for the influence he has had on his career. He said: “When I was a kid and I was a little bit younger than [Adolescence co-star] Owen [Cooper], I said to my Dad, I want to do this acting this thing properly.
“He said, ‘right, let’s go’. I got my coat and we went to Quarry Green video shop. We were walking up and down the aisles and he picked three films.
“It was The Godfather, Taxi Driver and The Deer Hunter.” Taxi Driver and The Deer Hunter feature powerhouse performances from Robert De Niro and Stephen said the 1970s classics changed the direction of his life and made him the actor he is today.
He said: “We went home and we watched those three films over a weekend. You were the beginning of my whole love affair with films so thank you from the bottom of my heart.”