Adolescence star Stephen Graham breaks down in tears during live interview

Stephen Graham broke down in tears on this morning’s Capital Breakfast radio show while talking about his dad.

This comes as the 51-year-old has rocketed to public consciousness in recent weeks for co-writing hit Netflix show Adolescence.

In it, Stephen plays the well-intentioned father of a 13-year-old son, Jamie Miller, who is arrested for murdering a teenage girl. The show has struck a chord with everyone who has watched it, with a call for further attention to be paid to the dangers facing school children when little boys get lured into dark, misogynistic corners of the internet.

In an interview this morning with Jordan North, Chris Stark and Sian Welby, Stephen broke down in tears while discussing how supportive his own father was to him.

‘[As a child] I had posters on my wall of Taxi Driver and different actors,’ Stephen said, explaining that when he went on to work with Robert De Niro his dad was so proud.

‘Can you imagine what that phone call was like?’ said Stephen, explaining how he told his dad the exciting news. ‘It makes me want to go,’ he added, his eyes filling with tears.

‘I said, “Alright dad. You’ll never guess who I’m going to be working with,”‘ recalled Stephen.

‘He was like, “Oh wow! That’s amazing son,”‘ Stephen said.

Referencing his tears and rubbing his eyes, Stephen added, ‘Wow, I’ve gone,’ continuing: ‘My dad, he proper backed me and my mum. They supported me throughout everything. All the struggles you go through.’

‘We didn’t want to make you cry today,’ said the presenters. ‘That’s alright,’ responded Stephen, quipping: ‘You’ve got my contact lens out!’

Of his dad, Stephen added: ‘Sometimes it just takes one person doesn’t it, to help you achieve your goal, or to believe in the dream that you have.’

Robert and Stephen have previously starred together in Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman, and the pair appeared on The One Show this week.

On the evening BBC show, Stephen recalled how when he was a teenager his father asked him if he was serious about pursuing acting. When he said yes, Stephen’s dad took him to the video store where they rented three films: The Godfather, Taxi Driver and The Deer Hunter, all starring Robert.

‘We watched them all over the weekend,’ Stephen said, adding: ‘You were the beginning of my whole love of favourite films, really.’

Turning to the actor, who is currently starring in The Alto Knights, Stephen added: ‘I don’t think I ever told you that. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.’

Stephen’s Adolescence character Eddie Miller – spoilers ahead – discovers his youngest child Jamie killed a teenage girl in cold blood, stabbing her multiple times in a carpark.

‘We wanted the audience to feel the same feelings that Eddie feels when he looks at it and realises what Jamie did,’ Stephen said in an interview with Tudum, while talking about the audience being led to believe Jamie couldn’t be capable of such a crime.

By the end of the first episode, the whodunnit is solved. But the question of why a 13-year-old boy did such a thing keeps the show gripping.

Stephen wanted to dispel any question of Eddie being a bad person, and so entirely to blame for his son’s murderous path. He is imperfect, but decent.

He said: ‘He’s a hardworking father who goes to work early in the morning, comes back late at night, and puts food on the table. Eddie brings in as much love as he can. He does to the best of his ability.’

Owen Cooper, who plays Jamie, told the outlet: ‘Jamie is always trying to impress his dad and make sure his dad is proud of him. But I don’t think he finds that.’

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