The Adolescence star’s grandfather was from Jamaica.
Stephen Graham has revealed the horrible racist abuse he endured as a child due to being mixed race.
Speaking to The Sun, the 51-year-old recounted the abuse that he suffered.
He said: “I’m mixed race. As a kid, I was called horrible words that I don’t even want to say, and little monkey boy.”
Graham’s breakout role was in 2006’s This Is England, however he struggled to find work after it and even considered quitting acting all together.
The Boiling Point star said: “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.”
A scene in which Graham’s character Combo attacks a black man really resonated with the actor.
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.”
Graham added that he enjoys working on dramas that offer some social commentary.
He said: “I love to go into people’s living rooms and create conversation and debate, try and bring about some discussion about what they’re watching.”
“It’s important for me, as an actor, to be part of something that’s a social commentary.”
The actor attempted to take his own life and has documented his struggles with mental health.
He told The Sunday Times in 2019 that: “Thankfully, the rope snapped and I’m here today,”
Graham added that he believes that British dramas can be misinterpreted with their portrayal of the working class.
The Liverpool native added: “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.”
