This Is England role almost cost Stephen Graham acting career

British actor Stephen Graham almost “lost” himself after drowning his sorrows in alcohol while portraying a racist thug in hit drama This Is England.
The Boardwalk Empire star won huge acclaim portraying ex-convict Andrew ‘Combo’ Gascoigne in Shane Meadows’ 2006 movie, in which his character violently attacks a black man.
However, the role took an emotional toll on Graham, and he turned to booze to try and escape the tough gig, which left him crying his eyes out over the phone to his wife Hannah Walters, who had a minor role in the film.
“It was life-changing. I lost myself quite a bit within that character…,” he told The Sun. “For me, that was where I really learned to dive into a character.”
But the high praise the 45 year old received for his performance as a white nationalist onscreen didn’t initially help his acting career – and Graham was almost forced to quit.
“After This Is England I could not get a job. For about eight months I couldn’t get an audition,” he said. “I almost packed it all in. I was going to be a youth worker.”
Despite the tough time he endured as Combo, Graham went on to reprise the role for three spin-off mini-series, beginning in 2010 for This Is England ’86. This Is England ’88, and This Is England ’90 followed in 2011 and 2015, respectively.
He has since also featured in blockbuster movies like Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides in 2011 and 2017’s Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, as well as upcoming Elton John biopic, Rocketman, starring Taron Egerton as the rock legend.