Stephen Graham’s wife plays a huge role in his career due to his struggle with dyslexia. The Boiling Point star is on screens with Netflix’s latest drama, Adolescence, which sees Stephen take on the role of Eddie, the father of a 13-year-old boy named Jamie accused of murder.
Fans also praise his performances in his many roles. The actor has been nominated for many BAFTA awards over the years, but he has help from his wife when it comes to reading the scripts. Stephen and his wife, actress and producer Hannah Walters, first met at drama school and have been by each other’s sides ever since.
Hannah, who has been married to the actor since 2008, has supported her husband throughout his career and even vets scripts given to him to help with his decision-making. In 2019, he revealed on a BAFTA sessions panel: “I’m dyslexic so I struggle. My missus actually reads the script and says whether or not I’m doing it. She’s made some good choices.
“I have to read it and read it and read it, then make it look like it’s the first time I’m saying it.” He previously discussed how he rehearses for roles while dealing with dyslexia.
Speaking on Act on This, he said: “I read the whole script and we can talk about the script and I find my way into my character and what’s happening through the journey. It’s a technique that me and Hannah have developed; it’s not just me, I know a few other people do it.
“I break it down in bite-size chunks, so I know exactly what I’m shooting on what specific day. If you’ve got a couple of big days on the bounce, it’s no good having it all in your head. It’s good to have it roughly there, but as soon as we finish work, I’m going back to my hotel room to sit and learn those lines for the next day, so when I come in the next day I’m ready to go.
“Different actors their own techniques, and I respect all of them. If I was to give any kind of advice to any actor, [it would be to] do the work – because you need to do the work in order to make it look like you don’t do the work.”
In Adolescence, Stephen portrays the father of a 13-year-old boy accused of murder, which has received top reviews so far. The gritty drama was produced in response to the epidemic of knife crime amongst teenagers across the UK, Stephen said. The actor said, in previous interviews, he typically adopts the method acting approach, which sees performers remain “in role” throughout the production and between takes – a challenge for dark dramas like Adolescence.
But Stephen, who was nominated for a BAFTA for his role in 2021’s Boiling Point, often lauded the support of Hannah through testing times. He says he has always been Hannah’s biggest fan. “I watched Hannah back in the day at drama school and always thought she was brilliant,” Stephen said.
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