Sam Brigger

Stephen, I wanted to talk briefly with you about A Thousand Blows. You're playing actually a real-life person named Henry Sugar Goodson, who was a bare-knuckle boxer in Victorian London. And I just wanted to play a scene from the show. You have been undefeated, but there is this newcomer from Jamaica named Hezekiah Mosko. And...

When you're fighting him, it looks like you're going to lose but someone in your corner trips him and you're declared the winner even though it was unfair. But you're really shaken by this – the fact that you thought you were going to lose so you want to fight him again. So in this scene, Hezekiah who's played by Malachi Kirby comes into your bar.

When you're fighting him, it looks like you're going to lose but someone in your corner trips him and you're declared the winner even though it was unfair. But you're really shaken by this – the fact that you thought you were going to lose so you want to fight him again. So in this scene, Hezekiah who's played by Malachi Kirby comes into your bar.

When you're fighting him, it looks like you're going to lose but someone in your corner trips him and you're declared the winner even though it was unfair. But you're really shaken by this – the fact that you thought you were going to lose so you want to fight him again. So in this scene, Hezekiah who's played by Malachi Kirby comes into your bar.

You're training in the back and he talks to your brother who says like, look, if you fall in the third round, I'll pay you. And Hezekiah doesn't like that so he calls to you out in the back.

You're training in the back and he talks to your brother who says like, look, if you fall in the third round, I'll pay you. And Hezekiah doesn't like that so he calls to you out in the back.

You're training in the back and he talks to your brother who says like, look, if you fall in the third round, I'll pay you. And Hezekiah doesn't like that so he calls to you out in the back.

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.

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.