Stephen Graham offered to adopt child co-star after motherâs death
â??He promised to stick by me and support me,â?? actor told â??The Independentâ??
Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter for all the latest entertainment news and reviews
Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter
Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter
I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy
Stephen Graham is receiving huge acclaim following his new show Adolescence, for which he plucked newcomer Owen Cooper from obscurity to overnight stardom.
Cooper, who is 15, is being tipped for Bafta victory for his debut acting performance as Jamie Miller, a child accused of murder, in the sleeper Netflix hit, which has become the most-streamed title in both the UK and the US within its first week of release.
Graham told The Independent that the team behind the series were adamant that they would âcreate opportunitiesâ through the showâs production, giving a chance to people âwho may not normally have those opportunitiesâ. Despite theâs showâs impressive one-shot filming technique, Graham has branded Cooperâs performance Adolescenceâs âbiggest achievementâ.
But this isnât the first time the showâs production company, Warp Films, have unearthed talent. In 2006, This is England introduced the world to Thomas Turgoose, who developed a close bond with Graham throughout filming.
Turgoose was 13 when he first played Shaun, a teenager who finds companionship in a group of older skinheads in the 1980s, led by Grahamâs Combo â and Graham grew so close to his co-star that he once offered to adopt him after the death of his mother.
Speaking on the Private Parts podcast in 2021, Turgoose said he had to move in with his father, whom he barely knew, when his mother died of cancer shortly after This is England finished filming.
âI remember. I sat in my bedroom for days and weeks, and I was so confused,â he said. âThis isnât the lifestyle that Iâm used to.â
Stephen Graham once offered to adopt âThis is Englandâ co-star Thomas Turgoose (Getty Images)
âI spent a lot of time with Shane Meadows and Stephen Graham. They agreed between them that if they didnât get on with my dad, or if they didnât see my dad fit to bring me up, they was gonna adopt me.â
He added: âBut they met my dad. And my dad is a proper bloke! Heâs worked his arse off his whole life, and heâs respectable. Me and my dad are best friends now, whereas, when I moved in with him, I didnât know him.â
Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 days
New subscribers only. £8.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelled
Try for free
Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 days
New subscribers only. £8.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelled
Try for free
Turgoose also told The Independent that Graham and another of his co-stars, Vicky McClure, assured him they wouldnât just drop him after cameras stopped filming.
âI was made a promise by Stephen Graham and Vicky [McClure] that when This Is England was released, it wasnât just gonna be âThatâs it,ââ he said, adding: âThey promised to stick by me and support me.â
Itâs certain Graham would have made the same promise to Cooper, who doesnât need to worry: after hearing rumblings of his performance in Adolescence, Saltburn writer-director Emerald Fennell cast him in her forthcoming adaptation of Wuthering Heights, starring Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi.
Stephen Graham and Owen Cooper in âAdolescenceâ (Netflix )
Cooper will play a young version of Heathcliff.