Graham has been getting worldwide attention for his role as Eddie Miller in the new Netflix series, Adolescence, a series that follows a teenage boy who has been accused of murdering a classmate, and the turmoil that his family has to endure as a result.
If that wasn’t gripping enough, each of the TV show’s four episodes, each an hour long, were impressively shot in one continuous take.
The streaming platform even revealed which takes were used for each episode, with the second take of the first episode being used, as well as takes 13, 11, and 16 of the following three episodes being released.
But what made the show the most watched in the world in the past week was the performance from the actors, with Graham and child actor Owen Cooper gaining plaudits for their performances.
Graham has previously spoken about the emotional connection he’s had with the show, something that he has had with past projects.
The British actor’s breakthrough role came as Combo in the This Is England franchise, as he first portrayed the racist skinhead in the 2006 film.
He’s come a long way since then, but he formed a special connection to those in the film, and even to the character, as he explained in a 2015 interview.
Speaking to Channel 4 after reprising his role as Combo for This Is England ’90 – one of three This Is England sequel series – the 51-year-old admitted that it’s ‘the role that changed my life’, saying that it was ‘a wonderful gift’ to play the character.
The British actor admitted that the experience of playing Combo, a racist skinhead, changed his life (FilmFour)
When Graham was asked about the difficulty of emotional scenes – some of which included elements of racism and violence – he spoke about ‘trust on set’ and being ready to ‘open up little bits of yourself’.
“Without sounding too w*nky, you have to show bits of your soul,” he admitted.
However, Graham admitted that some of these difficult scenes – one of which saw Combo attack Milky in the 2006 film – can really bring out his emotions, adding: “If I’m really honest, there’s been many a time when I’ve gone back to my hotel room and phoned Hannah, my wife, and been in tears.
“And she’ll say ‘It’s okay, it’s only acting’. But sometimes you have to go to that level, in order to play the truth.”
Graham said that playing Combo in This Is England could take it out of him sometimes (Jeff Spicer/Getty Images)
He said that he would then try to play football or video games to get his mind off it, and admitted: “I’m very blessed, I’ve got Hannah and two beautiful children to help me with stuff like that.”
Speaking about how he would prepare for heavy scenes in the 2015 mini-series, Graham explained: “You try and play the truth in any situation, and Shane (Meadows) creates the environment for that.
“You talk about it, spend a lot of time analysing the scene.”
