Stephen Graham reveals how his on-screen performances have helped other men confront their own issues after actor struggled with depression and a suicide attempt
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Stephen Graham has opened up about how his on-screen performances have helped other men who have issues with their mental health after battling his own demons.
The actor, 51, has spoken previously about his own early struggles with depression and even an attempt to hang himself at the height of his struggle.
Stephen, who is set to appear in A Thousand Blows as play bare-knuckle fighter Henry 'Sugar' Goodson, spoke to Radio Times about the impact his job has.
Candidly detailing how he views his career, he said: 'This is not a job, it's a vocation. I feel blessed and very honoured to be able to do what I do.'
Many of his performances, apparently hewn from somewhere deep within his own life, have resonated with the lives of others.
He said: 'There have been certain moments, especially with The Virtues, where men have come up to me, and it could be in a Co-op or whatever, and said that piece made them realise that they had issues.'
Stephen Graham has opened up about how his on-screen performances have helped other men who have issues with their mental health after battling his own demons
Stephen, who is set to appear in A Thousand Blows as play bare-knuckle fighter Henry 'Sugar' Goodson (pictured), spoke to Radio Times about the impact his job has
'If something that I've been a part of creatively can help put someone on a different path and change their lives, it doesn't really get better than that.'
In the virtues, Stephen plays Joseph, whose life breaks down when his ex-wife and young son move to Australia, leaving him behind in England.
After a drinking binge, he uses the last of his money to return to his native Ireland and seek out his estranged sister Anna, whom he has not seen in over 30 years.
Doing so causes him to unearth a horrific incident from his past, the memory of which he has long repressed.
Stephen has also played desperate DS John Corbett in Line of Duty, another intense and unsettling character who has drawn in viewers.
In 2019, Stephen previously spoke about how he heard his late grandmother's voice calling out to him as he tried to take his own life.
In a harrowing interview for BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs, he said that he attempted to hang himself while he was in the grip of a severe breakdown aged 20 – and only survived because the rope snapped.
He said: 'It was very calculated. I kicked the chair and I heard my nana's voice. I know this sounds strange and weird, whatever, but this is my truth. I heard my nana's voice and she shouted, "Stephen" and I thought I'd gone... I just come [sic] to and opened my eyes and the rope had snapped, thankfully.'
Line Of Duty star Stephen Graham reveals today how he heard his late grandmother's voice calling out to him as he tried to take his own life in a harrowing interview for BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs
His voice strained by emotion, the star remembered trying to hide the tell-tale marks of his suicide attempt from his parents.
He said: 'I put a high neck jumper on, one of those zip-up jumpers, and my mum and dad came back and then my mum saw it and she said, "What's that?" I then just really opened up and everything just came out and I said, "I don't know how to cope".
Graham revealed he suffered the breakdown while he was studying to be an actor, which included learning emotional memory recall techniques.
The lessons encouraged him to revisit a number of past traumatic events, including the stillbirth of a brother, the death of his grandmother and leaving home soon after the birth of his baby brother, Nathan.
He said: 'I had been through these few traumatic things and never really grieved. And then obviously this beautiful joyous occasion of this little boy coming into my life and my mum and pop's life and me having to leave was kind of difficult.
'I had a breakdown with all of these traumatic things that had happened from my late teens.'
In the interview, he says that he attempted to hang himself while he was in the grip of a severe breakdown – and only survived because the rope snapped
