Defined Magazine

Stephen Graham: The Nicest Man In Television?

28th February, 2025

Words by Rebecca Cope

Photography by Rachell Smith

Styling by Mark Anthony Bradley

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Meet Stephen Graham. You know his face, of course. And his name. But when you think about it hard, you'll realise that - despite starring in Line of Duty, Peaky Blinders, This is England, Boiling Point and Boardwalk Empire – not to mention supporting parts in Hollywood hits like Snatch, Gangs of New York, Pirates of the Caribbean and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, he has still managed to keep a very low profile.

Despite so much success – including being awarded an OBE for services to drama in 2023 – he’s blissfully without ego. In fact, he might just be the nicest man in television, known for using his success to lift up others as a champion of the working classes – whether that’s craftsmen working on his sets, or a little known actress called Jodie Comer, who he mentored at the beginning of her career.

Sitting down to talk to him about his latest TV series, A Thousand Blows (a Victorian drama set in the world of bare-knuckle boxing), he’s quick to compliment everyone around him, from his wife, Hannah Walters, who co-produced and co-starred alongside him in it, to Erin Doherty and Malachi Kirby, two of its up and coming stars. It’s no wonder he’s had so much work: he must be a delight to be around at all times.

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I read somewhere that the idea for A Thousand Blows came from you, and that you took it to Steven Knight [creator of Peaky Blinders], is that true?

I’d love to take credit for that, but it was actually my wife, Hannah [Walters], who took the idea to Steven Knight. A producer who we’d worked with previously [Graham and Walters have their own production company, Matriarch Productions] came to us one day and said he’d had this idea for a TV show inspired by a photograph he’d found of a man called Hezekiah Moscow. He was a bare-knuckle boxer in the Victorian period. There were just a few paragraphs about him and these other characters, including my character, Sugar Goodman. And he asked if we’d be interested in looking at it. And look, I’ll be really honest with you, I kind of flippantly agreed – because we get hundreds of these a week. Hannah looked at it though and she thought it would be really good, but we needed someone to write it. And that’s when Steven Knight’s name came up, who I’d worked with on Peaky Blinders. She thought it was right up his street, his sensibility. And I just thought, ‘no chance is he gonna do it!’ Two days later, she had an email from him saying he was interested.

Your character Sugar is a boxer. What was the physical preparation like? Lots of chicken and broccoli?

Once the project got the green light, I had six months to get in physical shape. I wanted to be in peak condition when it came to filming. And to be honest that’s how long it took! I worked with a personal trainer, a dietician and nutritionist. I had to have five meals a day – I’ve never eaten so much! Chicken, broccoli, eggs, beef, fish, rice cakes, potatoes, oats, whey protein. I was constantly eating. It was a body builder’s diet in many respects. I had an amazing boxing trainer who was local to me, and I trained with him five times a week, a mix of boxing and weight training. I wanted to have that physicality – I felt that was integral to the character, because he’s a fighter. I wanted him to be a cross between Lenny McLean and Mike Tyson, with that low centre of gravity.

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Did you enjoy it?

You know what, I absolutely loved it to be honest. I loved the discipline of it. Don’t get me wrong, there were definitely days where I was sick of chicken and broccoli, or wanted more than a square of dark chocolate as a treat. But I’m keeping it up now – in case we get a second season!

What was the stunt work like?

It was amazingly choreographed. To be honest, Malachi [Kirby, who plays Hezekiah] and I could probably win Strictly now! We rehearsed our big fight scene endlessly. Everything was like 1,2,3,4 [Graham acts out dancing footsteps with punches]. We videoed it and watched it back. I’d just be on my own in the house, going through the moves. It took us a week to film that first big fight scene.

Were there any mishaps?

I cracked a stunt man’s rib – a complete accident I should say! It was really funny, because just before we were shooting, he was going, [Graham slips into a mock London accent to act out the stunt man]: ‘You know what, Steve, you can really hit me now.’ And I’d say, ‘But I don't want to hit you’. And he’d come back saying, ‘Don't be shy.’ Then he stepped forwards when he was meant to step back and I caught him. I’ve never heard a whine that nasty before.

The sets were amazing – where was it filmed?

We had this amazing studio that we built ourselves. We’d found an old brewery in Richmond that we turned into our set – it was like they do in America. We laid the cobblestones and everything. It was so beautiful and immersive, so good for your imagination. As an actor, your job is basically done, because it looks so real and you believe you’re there. The boxing ring was amazing, with all of these phenomenal extras making up the crowd.

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Do you think we’ve seen anything set during the Victorian period that’s quite like this before?

I don’t, and that’s why we wanted to do it. We’re famous for our period pieces, and for good reason, we’ve made some fantastic things in this country. But what initially drew me to this project was that it gave a totally different perspective on the Victorian period, one you don’t see often. All of these amazing characters were fighting to survive. There’s this menagerie of wonderful female characters, the ‘Forty Elephants Gang’, who are led by Erin Doherty’s character, Mary Carr. I don’t think I’ve seen such a – dare I say – ballsy female character on screen for a long time. No one’s pulling the wool over her eyes. She’s in control of her own destiny.

What is it like balancing being a star and an executive producer?

It’s a fine balance, but ultimately, everything you do is for the greater good of the production. You have to make sure that the atmosphere on the set is really good and be hands on in that respect.

Your wife Hannah is also an executive producer and stars as Eliza Moody, one of Mary’s Forty Elephants. It must have been nice to work so closely alongside her?

Yes it was really lovely to share that experience with her. The beautiful thing about it was that she had no ambition or desire to act in it. When she was reading the scripts, she thought Eliza Moody was such a great character and she’d say to me, ‘Oh I wonder who they’ll get to play her?’ And in the writing room, they were like, ‘You’re going to play her!’

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You’ve previously launched a competition to find more working class television writers - why do you think this is so important?

If I’m completely honest, it’s because I don’t think we see enough of that representation. I ask myself, ‘where’s the next Jimmy McGovern coming from?’ There are a lot of roles and opportunities in our industry, and I feel that needs to be shown to people from all walks of life. One of the objectives that we try to push with our production company is to make sure we have a lot of trainees on board, and give opportunities to those who might not normally get them. We have all of these amazing craftsmen in this country – carpenters, painter decorators, electricians. There were something like 65 scaffolders creating the sets on A Thousand Blows. It’s about making kids aware that there are all these other people behind the camera, bringing everything to life.

What would you have done if you weren’t an actor?

I’d probably have been a teacher or a fireman. But I always wanted to be an actor, ever since the age of 10. I was in a school production of Treasure Island, playing Jim Hawkins. The actor Andrew Schofield came to see it, because his nephew was in it. And he went to my parents afterwards and told them that I was really talented. Because he lived opposite my nanna, and was a local guy, it made me realise I could do it too, and that was that.

If you had to define yourself in this moment, which three words would you use?

Grateful, content and happy.

A Thousand Blows is out now on Disney+.