Stephen Graham had fans in hysterics as he shared a story of the time he “almost killed” Leonardo DiCaprio. The 51-year-old from Kirkby has earned rave reviews for his performances in the new Netflix series, Adolescence.
The four part series has been a global success and Stephen jetted across the Atlantic to promote the show on Wednesday’s edition of The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. Stephen has enjoyed a legendary career in showbiz as he has worked alongside greats such as Robert De Niro, Al Pacino and Leonardo DiCaprio.
Talk show host Jimmy praised how Stephen has forged close bond with all these iconic actors. Stephen worked with Leonardo DiCaprio on 2003’s Gangs Of New York and he explained how he earned his nickname “Ani”, which is short for animal.
He said: “What happened was Leo used to drive a golf cart. You know the way they drive golf carts on big sets and stuff like that. So I asked him for a go.
“I was driving it and we’re going around Cinecitta studios where they filmed Ben Hur and [Federico] Fellini did all all his films. We get to the top of this hill. It’s a big hill and golf carts aren’t that fast, are they?
“But going downhill, they are. So we’re sat in the golf cart. I’ve floored it. We were like The Flinstones basically. We’re trying to get down this hill.
“Do you know when you knock a golf car in reverse and it takes its time. If you knock it into reverse when you’re going into reverse, the back wheels lock. As the back wheels lock, I’ve turned it, the whole thing’s just started to fall.
“But a golf cart falling is kind of slow motion in itself. So it’s falling really slowly and [Leonardo DiCaprio] looks at me and he goes “what the f**k” As it’s falling, it looks like it’s going to break his leg so he just manages to get out of the way and we’ve got up.”
The two actors were joined by another member of the cast in the golf caddy named Alec. Stephen added: “I can’t say exactly what he said, can I? He goes, ‘You’re an animal.’ And so my nickname became Ani after that.”
Saturday Night Live alumni Jimmy was in stitches after the story, adding: “That’s a good story but be careful, you almost killed [Leonardo DiCaprio.]” Stephen responded: “We would have had to stop filming.”
Stephen went on to explain the inspiration behind his new Netflix show, which has been hailed as a “modern masterpiece” by fans. The actor was visibly moved when Jimmy said people on social media have branded Stephen as “the greatest British actor of all time.”
The actor stars as Eddie Miller in the programme, a distraught dad whose life has been turned upside down after his son, Jamie, has been accused of murder. Speaking about the inspiration on the show, he told Jimmy: “I read an article in the paper.
“It was about a young boy who stabbed a young girl to death. A couple of months later on the news there was a piece about a young boy who stabbed a young girl to death.
“And these were at opposite ends of the country. If I’m really honest with you, it hurt my heart and I just think what kind of society are we living in at the moment where young boys are stabbing young girls.
“You know that beautiful saying, ‘It takes a village to raise a child.’ I just thought what if we’re all kind of accountable. The education system, parenting, community, the government.
“Also, when we were kids, we didn’t have social media. We were either playing out in the streets or, we were in our rooms, drawing pictures. We didn’t have the accessibility to all of this stuff in the world that really influences young minds.