EMPIRE’SPHONE
conversationwithStephen
Grahamhasbeendelayed.
“Idroppedmyphoneina
pond,” herevealsapologetically.
“Whata dickhead.”Pond-based
techfailsaside,thingsaregoing
swimminglyforGraham.The
Lancashire-born45-year-old
recentlyheadlinedShane
Meadows’acclaimed,deeply
movingTVdramaTheVirtues,
aswellasguest-starringinthe
buzziestseriesyetofLineOf
Duty. Andina fewmonthshe’ll
beseeninMartinScorsese’s
TheIrishman, alongside
a murderer’srowoflegends.
Humbleasever,hetalksus
throughhisinsaneyear.You’reina filmwithDeNiro,
PacinoandPesci.Wherewere
youwhenyougotthatcall?
FilmingTheVirtues. I gota call
fromJane,myagent,saying,
“IneedyoutoflyouttoNew
Yorknextweektomeetwith
MartinScorsese.”AndI was
like,“Okay,niceone.”Not
flippantly,justbecauseit
hashappenedbeforewith
BoardwalkEmpire. ThenJane
said,“You’vealsogottomeet
theexecutiveproducer,whois
alsotheleadinthefilm,andit’s
RobertDeNiro.”AndI went...
[explosionnoises]. DeNiro’s
a heroofmine.SomebodyI’ve
beenwatchingfromtheage
of14.I wassonervouswhen
I landed.Andthentheysaid,
“Bobmighttalk.Hemight
not.He’snota big talker.”Didhetalk?
Intheendtheyhadtopullme
outoftheroom!I waswithhim
atMarty’shousefortwo-and-a-
halfhours,justchatting.He
wasadorable,solovely,asking
mewhatit waslikewhereI
grewupasa kid,andhowI got
intoactingandeverything.We
justhitit off.Attheendhesaid,
“We’llsee,we’llsee.”AndI was
like, “Hang on, mate. You can’tsay,‘We’llsee.’Justletme
know:amI inorout?”Hegoes,
“Okay,givemea minute.”SoI
godownstairswhileBoband
Martyspeak,thenthey
summonmebackupstairs.And
Martysaid,“Right,kid,you
wannadothis?”I feltlikeI’d
been made in the Mafia.Top:Stephen
Graham— who
is settoplaya
mobenforcerin
TheIrishman.
Above:Asthe
troubledJoseph
inThe Virtues.Youdidn’tevenneedtoput
somebodyina carboot.
It’stheclosestthingtobeing
a mademan,man.“I’vejust
beenmadebyDeNiroand
Scorsese.”That’sit —bang.
I’minthefamily.That’sexactly
howit felt.I wasfuckingflying
backtoEnglandbefore I even
gotontheplane.Youplaya Mobenforcer
calledAnthonyProvenzano,
akaTonyPro.Whichis an
excellentcharacternameby
anystandards.
JoePesciactuallyknew
Provenzano.I thinkatfirst,
[Pesci]wasa bitapprehensive
becauseI wasn’tItalian.And
this story is very close to his[THE Q&A] From breakingdowninTheVirtuestobreakingballs inThe Irishman,
STEPHEN GRAHAM is having a moment
heart.Sohewaskindofsizing
meup:“Well,whatcanyou
do?”Butwehada reallygood
chatandattheendofit heput
hisarmaroundmeandsaid,
“Okay,okay.”Someofthe
clothesI wore[asProvenzano]
wereunbelievable.Salmon-pink
Gucciloafersfrom1963.And
they’dspraymewitha spray
canaswell.Theygaveme
thiskindofleatheryskin.
Theattentiontodetail
wasunbelievable.Didyoufeelextrapressureon
TheVirtues, givenhowpersonal
thestoryis forShane?
I definitelyfelta dutytobeas
truthfulandhonestasI could.
Thereweremomentswhenit
wasreallyhard.Alotoftears
onset.Butwelookedafter
eachother,meandtherest
ofthecast.AndI trustShane
implicitly.He’salwaysgoing
tolookafterme,andI’m
preparedtodoanythingfor
him.I feltveryhonouredt
hathehadallowedmetobe
partoftheprocess that told
hisstory.WiththatandLineOfDuty,
you’rehavinga realmoment.
It’sbeengolden!I’vehada hell
ofa year.I feelblessed.The
sceneI remembermostfrom
LineOfDutyis theonewith
meandMartin[Compston,DS
SteveArnott]inthecarpark.
Therewasa takewhereI had
a guntomyhead.I finishedthe
sceneandcameoutwithtears
inmyeyes.AndourDOPwent,
“Youknowwhat?Fora minute
I thought,‘Fuckinghell,he’s
goingtokillhimself.’”I ran
overtoJohn,ourdirector,and
went,“Pleaseputthattakein,
mate.Thatwasthebestwork
I’velaiddown.”Hesaid,“We’ll
see.”ButI knewhewasalways
going to useit.NICK DE SEMLYENTHEIRISHMANISINCINEMASAND ON
NETFLIX LATER THIS YEAR ELLIOTT MORGAN/KINTZING, CHANNEL 4PREVIEW