The actor recalled a very special phone call with his father.
Now an acclaimed actor with plenty of notable TV shows and films under his belt, Stephen Graham has revealed the emotional moment that he informed his father he was about to work with one of his major idols.
At the moment, Graham is receiving his rightful dues for his work on Netflix's Adolescence and in an interview with Capital Breakfast, he revealed that his childhood bedroom was filled with film memorabilia, including a special film poster of Taxi Driver, bought by his father.
He went on to recall how his father once took him to the local video shop, where they picked three films – Taxi Driver, The Deer Hunter and The Godfather.
Clearly a fan of Robert De Niro, Graham then got teary as he remembered telling his father about the news that he was to work with De Niro in Martin Scorsese's The Irishman.
He said: "Can you imagine what that phone call was like? It makes me want to go. I said, 'Alright dad. You’ll never guess who I’m going to be working with.' He was like, “Oh wow! That’s amazing son.'"
He continued: "My dad - woah I've gone - he proper backed me, and me mum. They supported me throughout everything, you know what I mean? The struggles you go through and everything - my contact lens has come out - you can imagine, yeah, [the phone call] was unbelievable."
Although hosts Jordan North, Chris Stark and Sian Welby admitted that they didn't want to make Graham cry, he went on to praise his father's support: "Sometimes it just takes one person doesn’t it, to help you achieve your goal, or to believe in the dream that you have."
More recently, Graham also appeared alongside De Niro on The One Show, where he recalled the story of his father and admitted how much of an influence the iconic actor had on him when he was a boy.
He told him: "I don’t think I ever told you that. Thank you from the bottom of my heart."
Currently, Graham can be seen in Netflix's hit series Adolescence where he stars as plumber Eddie, who must face the reality of his son being accused of the murder of a female classmate.
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Adolescence is available to stream now on Netflix. Sign up for Netflix from £5.99 a month. Netflix is also available on Sky Glass and Virgin Media Stream.
Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
Morgan Cormack is a Drama Writer for Radio Times, covering everything drama-related on TV and streaming. She previously worked at Stylist as an Entertainment Writer. Alongside her past work in content marketing and as a freelancer, she possesses a BA in English Literature.
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