Stephen Graham is hugely proud of Adolescence
Stephen Graham is extremely proud of the hard-hitting Netflix drama 'Adolescence', which has resonated with audiences after its release on the streamer earlier this month.
Stephen Graham is "very proud" of Netflix drama ‘Adolescence’.
The 51-year-old actor – who has Grace, 19, and 17-year-old Alfie with wife Hannah Walters – created and stars in the new Netflix miniseries as Eddie, the father of 13-year-old murderer Jamie, and he hopes the hard-hitting saga can spark family discussions about the unseen influences of the online world.
He told Rolling Stone UK: "I’m very proud to have been a part of it.
“I just hope it can raise some extremely important conversations.”
Stephen can understand how young boys can be influenced by misogyny online without realising, especially if their own family relationships are not close.
He said: “It was just about looking at the influence that certain people can have upon our children without our knowledge, do you know what I mean? Boys are very influenced in many ways, and even if the relationship with your father isn’t a tactile one or you don’t see him regularly, if there’s a slight fraction in that relationship, then surely, you’re going to seek that somewhere else, you know what I mean?
“I was looking online at a workout thing that our Alfie sent me, and it was a good workout. Three or four days later, the algorithm — which I don’t understand — showed me the same gentleman again, and he was telling me his misogynistic opinions and views.
“I was able to say, ‘Yeah, that’s not for me,’ but what if I was a 13-year-old boy who didn’t really have an ideal relationship with my father, and all of a sudden I’m seeing this man who has everything I aspire to have — a fancy car and loads of money — this man who is everything I, maybe, aspire to be.
“If you’re influencing the youth with your own views and opinions, then surely you know that we need to be mindful of what’s being said?”
Stephen felt it was important to portray Jamie’s family as ordinary, hard-working people to show such a tragedy can impact anyone.
He said: “I’m 51 years of age, and I’m in a good place mentally, spiritually, physically, and I try not to judge in any way shape or form, but when I hear these things on the news, I know I’m not alone in blaming the parents sometimes.
“And then I thought to myself, ‘What if it’s not the parents?’ I wanted the dad to be a hardworking man, the kind of man that I was brought up with, like my uncles and my dad, who used to go to work at, like, six in the morning and not get home till 8 o’clock at night, Monday to Friday.
“I didn’t want him to be a violent dad who would raise his hand to his children. It’s the same for the mum too; we imagined her as a manager for John Lewis.
“Let’s take all of those normal common denominators away from the table, and let’s just concentrate on something that’s happened with the boy here.”
