Stephen Graham
/In this post, there is a list of the advanced words and phrases from the BBC Radio 4 Desert Island Discs interview with Stephen Graham, a well-known British actor. Aggie and I have created a podcast about Desert Island Discs called Radio English.
You can listen to the original BBC interview here
Here is the link to my podcast on itunes or just listen to it below:
INTRO
Hardest working British actors
Born in Kirby near Liverpool
0:54 cut his teeth at the city’s star-making theatre
Won critical acclaim ‘this is England’
1:11 Found success on big and small screen
1:14 gripped by his portrayal of an Undercover cop Line of Duty
1:27 He’s taken up cudgels for Martin Scorsese numerous times
1:33 Brilliantly unhinged Al Capone
“Hopefully I’m nothing like the characters I play, but with most of them I try to bring a bit of humanity and humility to them, just to make them interesting”
1:50 Not just to play them as one dimensional angry people
EMOTIONAL BREADTH/FLEXIBILITY
2:10 meticulous approach with Line of Duty
Love to improvise, and the freedom → not sure what’s going to happen next
2:37 Big on the ‘walk’
→ trying to change the physicality straight away
Big on shoes!
LL: I’m sure Al Capone had some pretty great shoes
2:59 Al Capone had some belters! They were all hand made as well
FIRST DISC (FIRE)
The joy this track has brought me and my family
Whenever Leicester Football Club score they play this song
The best band I’ve ever seen live
BIG FILMS, ROBERT DENIRO
4:44 on set with the likes of ^^, Al Pacino … THE IRISHMAN
4:53 Did you have to take a deep breath on that first day
The films I grew up on
5:16 Pops said to me “Are you really serious about this acting”
Went to the video shop, got The Godfather, Taxi Driver and Deerhunter and that weekend watched those three films, including Godfather twice
If you’re seriously, this is how it’s done seriously
V nervous walking into a job interview with Robert DeNiro
6:00 Wow he’s just dead normal
Something in common, you’ve both played Al Capone, and he turned to me and said yeah you were great!
SECOND DISC (Save the children Martin Gaye)
6:38 Mum used to play loads of motown
6:51 I’m mixed race and it was kind of frowned upon in those days
She got an education and became a nursery nurse
This one’s for your mum then
POPS (not biological father)
7:59 only child until I was 20
Pops was mixed race so that’s how I learned about my culture
8:11 was heritage similar to yours?
His dad was African, my dad’s dad was Jamaican
Slightly unsure where I fitted in
Helped me see who I am is good enough
8:51 Got that sense of self from my mother as well
BULLYING
9:04 That ‘n’ word popped up
9:07 And my Ma clocked it out the window
Got her coat on and we went to these people’s houses, and she said “I’m not having this”
TATTOO
9:42 tattoo in tribute to your nana
Why is it a fairy cake?
Sold things from her van
A great cook my nan
10:11 She used to make a boss pan of Scouse
In tribute to her fairy cakes
BIG FAMILY
10:22 Everybody’s making a bid for attention (big family)
10:27 I used to do impersonations
10:29 Little skits
THIRD DISC (YOUNG MC)
One of the only songs where I know all the lyrics
11:04 What was your killer move
11:08 And the caterpillar
Bad for the back and shoulders now. Can’t do it now I’m 46!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VkQ2zfZtE4
BORN IN 1973
Hard time for the region
12:19 Good reputation for groundbreaking theatre
12:33 How tangible did that feel
The voice that I spoke was on the telly!
Andrew Schofield, ‘Scully’ the lead in it, lived opposite my nana
Anything’s achievable
Did treasure island at school when I was 10
Andrew said that he thought I had some talent
Ever thought of going to the Everyman Theatre
YOUNG DRAMA
Mum and Dad used to drive him
Mum would get on the train
13:51 She’d take me all over the gaff
Came to Edinburgh festival
So supportive
show at the Everyman:
14:18 I don’t mean to sound pretentious
14:24 Had these monologues with the audience
I actually saw myself out of my own body
Out of body experience!
Saw my dad, he had tears in his eyes
“I’ve just watched you grow up on stage there”
FOURTH DISC (Shine on you crazy diamond)
An appropriate track to describe outer body experiences
DRAMA SCHOOL
Where I met Hannah
Waited until Nathan was born to go (little brother)
16:21 My mum had had a stillbirth maybe when I was 17
My nana passed away when I was 14
All these traumatic things that I didn’t have a chance to grieve
Bit difficult to leave when this beautiful child arrived
But when you’re 20 you’ve the world in front of you
Moved to Plumstead in South East London
17:03 Really immersed myself in acting
17:10 I love their philosophy on acting
BREAKDOWN
17:23 I had a breakdown from all these things that had happened in my teens
17:34 Also away from your support system for the first time [LL]
Mum and Dad, They were trying to understand what had happened
Both had tears running down their faces saying “what can we do to try and help you”
18:14 The next day I tried to hang myself
18:16 It was very calculated
It sounds strange but I heard my nana’s voice, she shouted Steven and I thought I’d gone
18:38 And I came to and the rope had snapped, thankfully
Put a high neck jumper on
19:01 I really opened up then
Lee and Jamie (2 best friends) were fantastic
Really brought me round to believe life is worth living
Grown up with a very clear vision
19:38 Got to drama school and felt like you couldn’t cope
HANNAH
Knew what had happened
Early 20s
You don’t know what you’ve got till its gone
She went to Spain for a bit
Hadn’t been on a date in these 5 or 6 years
20:37 Had a little bite to eat
I asked her: “Please don’t go to Spain”
And she said why and I said “I love you”
The next day we moved in together and we’ve been together ever since
FIFTH DISC (AIN’T NOBODY)
21:11 this is your song, this is our song yeah
21:21 We’re like two little meerkats
No matter where we are if this song comes on, or if I’m in the car I have to call her and put the phone to the speaker
BACK TO ACTING
22;17 And hustling for work
22:21 kick down doors
Finished at the end of 1st year
In an acting cooperative
22:40 Actors staff a hotline
An old posh lovey actor and he said no no
You’re not supposed to phone for yourself
23:18 I blagged it that I was someone else
About 2 weeks later I got an audition for the film
23:44 buzzin’ so I went for the audition
Didn’t last long with the Co op after that
THIS IS ENGLAND
Most important thing is trust
Trust the director, the other actors
25:04 Do you feel vulnerable [LL]
25:15 You lose yourself in the character
SIXTH DISC (I NEED)
LINE OF DUTY
Insight as someone as an undercover persona
26:26 Got a few friends who were in the forces
Had a great in depth conversation with how he went about it being undercover
You have to believe everything you say
26:53 It’s acting of the highest order
I took a lot from that
27:21 Got to see the duality of that character trying to live that persona
27:36 When we recorded the phone call to his wife, I’ll let a little secret out the bag,
that was Hannah on the other end of the phone and she had Alfie with her as well
SEVENTH DISC (Oasis)
I love the sentiment
Another song to Hannah I suppose
CAREER RECOMMENDATION
Follow it, go for it!
28:56 Need skin like a rhino
Don’t take things too personally, Believe in your ability
If we were painters and decorators you wouldn’t be fussy
29:10 Get experience, get stuff under your belt
Just do it, on the job
ISLAND
You never said how long I was going to be there for
29:27 It’s just away, it’s indefinite
Try and escape mentally and physically
EIGHTH DISC (DJ FRESH)
30:04 It’s our car tune
30:16 We all just go ballistic
I recommend, please turn the volume up to maximum
Book: Jonothan Livingstell Seagul
31:24 Not being part of the fold
31:29 The indoctrination we’ve had from all the different religions
31:40 Very apt (follow your own calling)
31:49 On a more frivolous note
Luxury: pillow
Chosen disc: Ain’t nobody