Adolescence star Stephen Graham makes heartfelt admission as he breaks down in tears

Stephen Graham, who is currently starring in Netflix's Adolescence, broke down in tears during a radio interview

Stephen Graham was overcome with emotion during a heartfelt radio interview as he praised his supportive father, ending up in tears on the live broadcast.

The Liverpool actor has captured audiences in Netflix's hit series Adolescence, where he plays the father of a teen accused of a classmate's murder. The acclaimed actor has previously starred Line of Duty, This is England, and Venom.

Graham joined Capital Breakfast's Wednesday show (March 19) with presenters Jordan North, Chris Stark, and Sian Welby to discuss acting in and writing the series that's got everyone talking.

In an emotive part of the chat, Stephen reflected on his parents' support throughout his career, recalling the eagerness to share the news of working with Robert De Niro on Martin Scorsese's The Irishman with his father.

"I went 'Dad, you'll never guess who, I'm going to be working with!' and he's like 'that's amazing son!' And I went 'yeah' oh...I've gone!", he said, before being overcome by tears, reports the Manchester Evening News.

Trying to regain composure, the 51-year-old star said: "You know, he proper backed me. And me mum. They supported me throughout everything. Do you know what I mean?

"All the struggles you go through and everything. Me contact lens has fallen out! And he was, yeah, you can imagine it was unbelievable."

Stephen explained how his father was "so proud" of him, while Jordan admitted they "didn't want to make him cry today". Despite the emotional subject, Stephen said it was "alright", although he struggled to recover his contact lens.

"Sometimes all it takes is one person doesn't it," he added. "To help you achieve your goal, or to believe in the dream you have. It takes that one person and my dad was that person. And my mum."

The poignant moment for Stephen came shortly after his heartfelt reunion with Robert De Niro on The One Show, where he took the chance heap praise his iconic co-star.

He said: "When I was a kid and I was a little bit younger than [Adolescence co-star] Owen [Cooper], I said to my Dad, I want to do this acting this thing properly.

"He said, 'right, let's go'. I got my coat and we went to Quarry Green video shop. We were walking up and down the aisles and he picked three films. It was The Godfather, Taxi Driver and The Deer Hunter.

"We went home and we watched those three films over a weekend. You were the beginning of my whole love affair with films so thank you from the bottom of my heart," he told De Niro.