Stephen Graham

Stephen Graham Kelly (born 3 August 1973) is an English actor, producer, and screenwriter. He has received nominations for seven British Academy Television Awards (winning one) and one British Academy Film Award. He has also won three Primetime Emmy Awards, one Golden Globe Award and two Actor Awards, among other accolades.

Graham began his career in 1990, with early notable roles in Snatch (2000) and Gangs of New York (2002), before his breakthrough role as Andrew "Combo" Gascoigne in the film This Is England (2006). His film appearances include Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011), Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011) and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (2017), Rocketman (2019), The Irishman (2019), Boiling Point (2021) and its sequel series of the same name (2023), and Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021) and its sequel Venom: The Last Dance (2024).

On television, Graham reprised his role as Combo in This Is England '86, This Is England '88, and This Is England '90. He also starred in the drama Little Boy Blue; the fifth series of Line of Duty; HBO series Boardwalk Empire; BBC drama Time; and the sixth series of Peaky Blinders. He created, co-wrote and executive produced the miniseries Adolescence (2025) on Netflix, in which he also appeared, and won the awards for Lead Actor, Writer and Executive Producer for a Limited or Anthology Series at the 77th Primetime Emmy Awards. He also starred in A Thousand Blows (2025), created by Steven Knight.

In 2020 Graham co-founded the production company Matriarch Productions with his wife and fellow actor, Hannah Walters. For services to drama, Graham was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2023 New Year Honours.

Early life and education Stephen Graham Kelly was born on 3 August 1973 in Kirkby, Lancashire, to parents who spanned racial and national lines. Graham's father was of dual heritage: his mother was Swedish and his father was Jamaican. Graham has discussed his experience being a light-skinned multiracial person in the UK. His brothers have skin that is much darker than his. Graham's stepfather also has African heritage, and he helped Graham accept this side of himself. He then moved to Plumstead, South East London. He began learning about acting and was introduced to the work of Stanislavski and Uta Hagen.

Career Graham has played notable roles across both film and television. Graham has often portrayed characters from different parts of Britain, Ireland, and America, receiving praise for his accent work.

In November 2019, Graham was the guest for BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs. He said he loves improvisation.

Graham is currently represented by Jan Epstein at Independent Talent Group (UK); ICM Partners and Link Entertainment (US).

Beginnings (1990–2006) Graham began his career in 1990, with early notable roles including Tommy in Snatch (2000), Myron "Mike" Ranney in Band of Brothers (2001), and Shang in Gangs of New York (2002). He reprised his role as Combo on television in This Is England '86 (2010), This Is England '88 (2011), and This Is England '90 (2015).

Television

Graham has starred in further television roles including: as Det. Supt. Dave Kelly in the 2017 drama Little Boy Blue; John Corbett in the fifth series of Line of Duty (2019); When the series was remade as Being Eileen, Graham's role was recast with Dean Andrews.

In 2019, Graham featured as DS John Corbett in series 5 of the BBC drama Line of Duty.

In January 2020, he appeared in the ITV series White 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.

Film Graham appeared as the Scrum in the 2011 film Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, a role he reprised in the 2017 film Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, starring alongside his wife Hannah Walters.

Other film roles include Anthony Provenzano, alongside Al Pacino and Robert De Niro, in The Irishman (2019) "Fluorescent Adolescent" and "When the Sun Goes Down" by Arctic Monkeys "Unlovable" by Babybird (directed by Johnny Depp) Gazelle's single "Finger on the Trigger" "Soul Vampire" by Macclesfield-based neo-psychedelic band the Virginmarys "Turn" by Travis Kasabian's video "You're in Love with a Psycho" Goldie's "I Adore You" (2017), as an inmate within the open prison system Sam Fender's "Spit of You", in which he plays Fender's father. This was also produced by his production company Matriarch Productions.

He also appeared in "CODnapped", a promotional video for a DLC of the video game Call of Duty: Ghosts.

Matriarch Productions

In 2020 he co-founded the production company Matriarch Productions with his wife, Hannah Walters. In 2026, Disney+ signed a first-look deal with the company.

Boiling Point (2019–2023)

In 2021, he played Andy Jones, a troubled chef, alongside his wife Hannah Walters in the film Boiling Point, directed by his Band of Brothers co-star Philip Barantini. A one-shot film set in a restaurant kitchen, the film was expanded from a 2019 short film of the same name. The film depicts a stressful night in a restaurant, where Graham's character covertly drinks and takes drugs until he collapses at the end of the film, in what appears to be a heart attack. Graham was nominated for a BAFTA for the feature film. The series picks up six months after the film, where Andy's sous chef Carly is now head chef of her own restaurant, with many of Andy's original team.

The series was widely praised by critics and won all three awards for Lead Actor, Writer and Executive Producer for a Limited or Anthology Series at the 77th Primetime Emmy Awards.

The series also started national conversations around violence, incel culture and online safety. Co-writer of the show, Jack Thorne, attended Downing Street to talk with prime minister Keir Starmer and culture secretary Lisa Nandy. Graham and Thorne also accepted an invite to a parliamentary meeting on the subject of online safety by Labour MP Josh MacAlister.

Recognition Graham 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.

Graham was nominated for an RTS Award for his work in The Street, and for a British Independent Film Award for his work in This Is England. He has received nominations for five British Academy Television Awards and two British Academy Film Awards. He was made an OBE in 2023.

Personal life Graham met actress and producer Hannah Walters while both training as actors at Rose Bruford College. After a five-year friendship, they started a relationship. They married in 2008. They live in Ibstock, Leicestershire, having previously lived in Beckenham, London. Together they have a son, Alfie, and a daughter, Grace.

Graham has dyslexia,

Graham is a lifelong supporter of Liverpool F.C. and has made several appearances on Sky Sports's Soccer AM. In December 2024, he faced an FA investigation after verbally abusing a referee at a non-league football match.

Filmography +Key Denotes works that have not yet been released Film Year Title Role NotesRef. 1990 Dancin' Thru the Dark Football Kid 1991 Blonde Fist Son 1997 Downtime Jacko 1998 Joint Venture 2000 Snatch Tommy IbelinRobert Steen Post-production

Television