Stephen Graham was born August 3, 1973, in the small town of Kirkby, in Lancashire, to a paediatric nurse mother and a social worker father. His paternal grandfather was Jamaican, and one his grandmothers was Swedish. After years of small parts, he finally got his big break in an unexpected way, playing the dim-witted Tommy in Guy Ritchie's film Snatch - Tu braques ou tu raques (2000). Apparently Graham didn't even audition for the role as Tommy--he accompanied a friend to an audition for Ritchie one day and was asked if he was next. When Graham replied "No," Ritchie told the then-unknown actor, "I like your face," and was asked if he could start work Monday.
So much is to be said of this actor, who started his career with bit parts on ITV (he played Lee Sankey on Coronation Street (1960) in 1999, and smaller films like Pit Fighter (2005). Graham has also appeared in the critically acclaimed Gangs of New York (2002), directed by Martin Scorsese, and has been on television, playing Sgt. Myron 'Mike' Ranney in the HBO mini-series "Band of Brothers". This actor, though still relatively unknown, is climbing the ladder to the top, very quickly. With roles in some of the most groundbreaking film and television projects.
