EMPIRE’S PHONE
conversation with Stephen
Graham has been delayed.
“I dropped my phone in a
pond,” he reveals apologetically.
“What a dickhead.” Pond-based
tech fails aside, things are going
swimmingly for Graham. The
Lancashire-born 45-year-old
recently headlined Shane
Meadows’ acclaimed, deeply
moving TV dramaThe Virtues,
as well as guest-starring in the
buzziest series yet ofLine Of
Duty. And in a few months he’ll
be seen in Martin Scorsese’s
The Irishman, alongside
a murderer’s row of legends.
Humble as ever, he talks us
through his insane year.You’re in a film with De Niro,
Pacino and Pesci. Where were
you when you got that call?
FilmingThe Virtues. I got a call
from Jane, my agent, saying,
“I need you to fly out to New
York next week to meet with
Martin Scorsese.” And I was
like, “Okay, nice one.” Not
flippantly, just because it
has happened before with
Boardwalk Empire. Then Jane
said, “You’ve also got to meet
the executive producer, who is
also the lead in the film, and it’s
Robert De Niro.” And I went...
[explosion noises]. De Niro’s
a hero of mine. Somebody I’ve
been watching from the age
of 14. I was so nervous when
I landed. And then they said,
“Bob might talk. He might
not. He’s not a big talker.”Did he talk?
In the end they had to pull me
out of the room! I was with him
at Marty’s house for two-and-a-
half hours, just chatting. He
was adorable, so lovely, asking
me what it was like where I
grew up as a kid, and how I got
into acting and everything. We
just hit it off. At the end he said,
“We’ll see, we’ll see.” And I was
like, “Hang on, mate. You can’tsay, ‘We’ll see.’ Just let me
know: am I in or out?” He goes,
“Okay, give me a minute.” So I
go downstairs while Bob and
Marty speak, then they
summon me back upstairs. And
Marty said, “Right, kid, you
wanna do this?” I felt like I’d
been made in the Mafia.Top:Stephen
Graham — who
is set to play a
mob enforcer in
The Irishman.
Above:As the
troubled Joseph
inThe Virtues.You didn’t even need to put
somebody in a car boot.
It’s the closest thing to being
a made man, man. “I’ve just
been made by De Niro and
Scorsese.” That’s it — bang.
I’m in the family. That’s exactly
how it felt. I was fucking flying
back to England before I even
got on the plane.You play a Mob enforcer
called Anthony Provenzano,
aka Tony Pro. Which is an
excellent character name by
any standards.
Joe Pesci actually knew
Provenzano. I think at first,
[Pesci] was a bit apprehensive
because I wasn’t Italian. And
this story is very close to his[THE Q&A] From breaking down inThe Virtuesto breaking balls inThe Irishman,
STEPHEN GRAHAM is having a moment
heart. So he was kind of sizing
me up: “Well, what can you
do?” But we had a really good
chat and at the end of it he put
his arm around me and said,
“Okay, okay.” Some of the
clothes I wore [as Provenzano]
were unbelievable. Salmon-pink
Gucci loafers from 1963. And
they’d spray me with a spray
can as well. They gave me
this kind of leathery skin.
The attention to detail
was unbelievable.Did you feel extra pressure on
The Virtues, given how personal
the story is for Shane?
I definitely felt a duty to be as
truthful and honest as I could.
There were moments when it
was really hard. A lot of tears
on set. But we looked after
each other, me and the rest
of the cast. And I trust Shane
implicitly. He’s always going
to look after me, and I’m
prepared to do anything for
him. I felt very honoured t
hat he had allowed me to be
part of the process that told
his story.With that andLine Of Duty,
you’re having a real moment.
It’s been golden! I’ve had a hell
of a year. I feel blessed. The
scene I remember most from
Line Of Dutyis the one with
me and Martin [Compston, DS
Steve Arnott] in the car park.
There was a take where I had
a gun to my head. I finished the
scene and came out with tears
in my eyes. And our DOP went,
“You know what? For a minute
I thought, ‘Fucking hell, he’s
going to kill himself.’” I ran
over to John, our director, and
went, “Please put that take in,
mate. That was the best work
I’ve laid down.” He said, “We’ll
see.” But I knew he was always
going to use it.NICK DE SEMLYENTHE IRISHMANIS IN CINEMAS AND ON
NETFLIX LATER THIS YEAR ELLIOTT MORGAN/KINTZING, CHANNEL 4PREVIEW