Sam Brigger

That's Stephen Graham in the show A Thousand Blows. Stephen, you know, this character you're playing, Sugar Goodson, is an incredibly closed-off person. He's prone to rages. Like, he's... Something will click in him and he'll beat people to death, even if they're people he loves. And, you know, this could have been a pretty one-dimensional character. Like, play them as just a monster.

That's Stephen Graham in the show A Thousand Blows. Stephen, you know, this character you're playing, Sugar Goodson, is an incredibly closed-off person. He's prone to rages. Like, he's... Something will click in him and he'll beat people to death, even if they're people he loves. And, you know, this could have been a pretty one-dimensional character. Like, play them as just a monster.

But you bring out... And some humanity in him. And I just, can you just talk about like finding the complexity of the character?

But you bring out... And some humanity in him. And I just, can you just talk about like finding the complexity of the character?

But you bring out... And some humanity in him. And I just, can you just talk about like finding the complexity of the character?

You were probably on a very restrictive diet, probably like a lot of proteins and stuff like that and eating the same things day after day. It sounds like you've kept your physique up, so congratulations on that. But when you were done filming, do you remember like the first thing you ate that was like a milkshake or something like that?

You were probably on a very restrictive diet, probably like a lot of proteins and stuff like that and eating the same things day after day. It sounds like you've kept your physique up, so congratulations on that. But when you were done filming, do you remember like the first thing you ate that was like a milkshake or something like that?

You were probably on a very restrictive diet, probably like a lot of proteins and stuff like that and eating the same things day after day. It sounds like you've kept your physique up, so congratulations on that. But when you were done filming, do you remember like the first thing you ate that was like a milkshake or something like that?

You also said that shoes are really important to your characters. Yeah.

You also said that shoes are really important to your characters. Yeah.

You also said that shoes are really important to your characters. Yeah.

Well, if you're just joining us, we're speaking with actor Stephen Graham, who stars in two shows right now, one on Netflix, Adolescence, and the other on Hulu, A Thousand Blows. We'll be back after a short break. This is Fresh Air. Steven, I wanted to go back a little bit to one of your early successes, which is the movie This Is England from 2006.

Well, if you're just joining us, we're speaking with actor Stephen Graham, who stars in two shows right now, one on Netflix, Adolescence, and the other on Hulu, A Thousand Blows. We'll be back after a short break. This is Fresh Air. Steven, I wanted to go back a little bit to one of your early successes, which is the movie This Is England from 2006.

Well, if you're just joining us, we're speaking with actor Stephen Graham, who stars in two shows right now, one on Netflix, Adolescence, and the other on Hulu, A Thousand Blows. We'll be back after a short break. This is Fresh Air. Steven, I wanted to go back a little bit to one of your early successes, which is the movie This Is England from 2006.

And you play a racist and violent prone skinhead named Combo. And there's a pretty famous speech in the movie that's heavily infused with white nationalist ideology. We're not going to play it because I think there's an F word in every sentence. So there'd just be lots of bleeps.

And you play a racist and violent prone skinhead named Combo. And there's a pretty famous speech in the movie that's heavily infused with white nationalist ideology. We're not going to play it because I think there's an F word in every sentence. So there'd just be lots of bleeps.

And you play a racist and violent prone skinhead named Combo. And there's a pretty famous speech in the movie that's heavily infused with white nationalist ideology. We're not going to play it because I think there's an F word in every sentence. So there'd just be lots of bleeps.

But I imagine in an acting career, there's a lot of times where you have to espouse beliefs as a character that you don't hold yourself. But I was wondering if this one... may have been particularly hard, obviously in part because it's just racist, but also because you have a multiracial background and one of your grandfathers is from Jamaica.

But I imagine in an acting career, there's a lot of times where you have to espouse beliefs as a character that you don't hold yourself. But I was wondering if this one... may have been particularly hard, obviously in part because it's just racist, but also because you have a multiracial background and one of your grandfathers is from Jamaica.

But I imagine in an acting career, there's a lot of times where you have to espouse beliefs as a character that you don't hold yourself. But I was wondering if this one... may have been particularly hard, obviously in part because it's just racist, but also because you have a multiracial background and one of your grandfathers is from Jamaica.