He’s been the talk of the town since gracing screens on Netflix’s Adolescence, which blew up instantly over night.

But Stephen Graham’s path to stardom hasn’t been the most plain sailing after suffering racial abuse as a child because of his mixed race heritage.

Stephen, 51, whose grandfather was from Jamaica, previously recalled horrible memories of the abuse he endured in his youth.

He told The Sun: ‘I’m mixed race. As a kid, I was called horrible words that I don’t even want to say, and little monkey boy.’

The actor was brought up by his mother and stepfather Mike – who he calls Pops – but maintained a close relationship with his biological father, also called Stephen.

His stepfather was a head paediatric nurse and his mother, who pᴀssed away in 2022, was a social worker.

Stephen Graham, 51 has been the talk of the town since gracing screens on Netflix’s Adolescence (pictured in the show) – but his path to stardom hasn’t been the most plain sailing

Stephen, whose grandfather was from Jamaica, suffered racial abuse as a child because of his mixed race heritage (pictured with his father)

For Graham, the This Is England script would often leave him ‘crying his eyes’ because it would dig up painful nightmares of the racial abuse he suffered. 

‘After This Is England I could not get a job. For about eight months I couldn’t get an audition. I almost packed it all in. I was going to be a youth worker’, he added.

One scene which saw him attacking a black man was particularly tough for Graham because of his childhood trauma.

He said: ‘It was life-changing. I lost myself quite a bit within that character. 

‘I had moments of getting back to my apartment and phoning Hannah [Walters, his wife] and crying my eyes out, and I drank. 

‘For me that was where I really learned to dive into a character.’

As well as the racial abuse he endured, he has also discussed growing up as a ‘working-class from a block of flats’. 

While admitting working class families are often treated ‘like an art project’ and shown as ‘miserable’ in TV, Stephen claimed British dramas are ‘misinterpreted’. 

The actor was brought up by his mother (who pᴀssed away in 2022) and stepfather Mike – who he calls Pops – but maintained a close relationship with his biological father, called Stephen 

For Graham, the This Is England (pictured in the film) script would often leave him ‘crying his eyes’ because it would dig up painful nightmares of the racial abuse he suffered

In a recent interview with The Sunday Times, Stephen said: ‘Things can be hard but there’s also a lot of laughter. 

‘My childhood was full of it and being able to represent where I’m from is integral to me. Too often I’ll watch stuff and think they’re treating the working class like an art project.

‘It’s very condescending. “Ooh, look at the poor!” But I’m proud to be this mixed-race working-class kid from a block of flats. [Graham has a Jamaican grandfather].’

Graham has spoken candidly in the past about his struggles with mental health, revealing that in his early twenties, he battled ‘really bad depression’ and once attempted to take his own life. 

‘Thankfully, the rope snapped and I’m here today,’ he told The Sunday Times in 2019.

Graham also discussed how the intense method acting techniques he practiced during drama school affected him deeply, leading to what he described as an ‘induced psychosis’.

He explained: ‘Method acting is a wonderful practice, and I threw everything at it. I had a couple of incidents and then I felt like I couldn’t handle it anymore.’

He admitted ‘losing himself’ when he played his breakout role as racist skinhead Combo in Shane Meadow’s 2006 film This is England.

As well as the racial abuse he endured, he has also discussed growing up as a ‘working-class from a block of flats’

While admitting working class families are often treated ‘like an art project’ and shown as ‘miserable’ in TV, Stephen claimed British TV is ‘misinterpreted’ (pictured with his wife Hannah)

He said he used alcohol to cope with the pressure of the role, telling BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs: ‘It was life-changing. I lost myself quite a bit within that character.’

He said he would often come home and ‘cry my eyes out’ after filming intense scenes for the movie.

He said: ‘For me, that was where I really learned to dive into a character.’

Stephen broke down in tears as he spoke about his father being his biggest supporter during a heartwarming interview on Wednesday. 

The actor idolised Robert De Niro as a child and had a poster of him from the film Taxi Driver on his wall. 

Appearing on Capital Breakfast with Jordan North, Chris Stark and Sian Welby, Stephen told how his dad was his biggest supporter.

He said: ‘I had posters on my wall, of Taxi Driver, and different actors that my dad had got me.’

‘And then you ended up working with them,’ co-host Jordan North said.

Stephen broke down in tears as he spoke about his father being his biggest supporter during a heartwarming interview on Wednesday

‘Telling your dad…’ fellow co-host Sian Welby added. ‘It must have been the proudest moment.’

Becoming emotional, Stephen said: ‘It makes me….want to go on it…’

He went on: ‘I went ‘dad, you’ll never guess who, I’m going to be working with’ and he’s like ‘who’ and I went ‘Mary’s asked me to do a film again’ and he’s like ‘that’s amazing son!’

‘I went ‘yeah’ oh…I’ve gone! You know, he proper backed me. And me mum. They supported me throughout everything. Do you know what I mean?

‘All the struggles you go through and everything. Me contact lens has fallen out! And he was, yeah, you can imagine it was unbelievable.’

Adolescence, written by Stephen and Jack Thorne, was only released on Netflix last week, but has already made waves and earned huge praise for its storyline and videography.

Stephen takes on the role of Eddie Miller, the dad of a young boy called Jamie (Owen Cooper), who is suspected of stabbing one of his classmates Katie (Emilia Holliday).

However, the star’s triumphant successes have not come without challenges – one of those being that he suffers from dyslexia.

Adolescence, written by Stephen and Jack Thorne, was only released on Netflix last week, but has already made waves and earned huge praise for its storyline and videography 

Read MoreEXCLUSIVE Woman behind Stephen Graham: How Brit actor’s ‘rock’ has been at his side long before Adolescence

The learning difficulty poses obvious obstacles when it comes to reading scripts and learning lines, twin staples of the actor’s craft.

Stephen’s wife Hannah Walters, whom he has been married to since 2008, has offered her husband invaluable support, carefully vetting the scripts put before him and ensuring he makes the best decisions for his career.

‘I’m dyslexic, so I struggle,’ Stephen revealed on a Bafta Sessions panel in 2019.

‘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.’ 

The task is made easier by the fact that the couple have their own production company, Matriarch Productions, which they established in 2020.

Formed with the aim of providing a platform for underrepresented voices and stories, the collaboration yielded the Bafta-nominated film Boiling Point the following year, in which Hannah not only served as an executive producer but also appeared on screen.

As Stephen has revealed on Act on This, an online platform for TV actors, dealing with dyslexia necessitates a painstaking and methodological approach to his job.

Stephen takes on the role of Eddie Miller, the dad of a young boy called Jamie (Owen Cooper), who is suspected of stabbing one of his classmates Katie (Emilia Holliday) 

It is one he undertakes not only for personal reasons, but also out of a clear sense of collective responsibility to his colleagues.

‘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, said Stephen.

‘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 H๏τel room to sit and learn those lines for the next day, so when I come in the next day I’m ready to go.’

He continued: ‘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.’