‘It’s very condescending,’ the actor said. Stephen Graham has claimed working class families are misrepresented by always being made to look miserable in British dramas. The This Is England star, 51, who describes himself as a “mixed-race working-class kid from a block of flats”, was born in Kirkby, six miles outside of Liverpool, and was raised by his mother, Marie, a social worker. Graham claimed downbeat on-screen depictions of working class families are “condescending” and said his own childhood was filled with joy, despite the challenges his mother faced.
![[Stephen Graham has said working class families are made to look ‘miserable’ in British dramas]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2023/09/27/17/GettyImages-1430753530.jpg)
”The actor, who is set to star in Steven Knight’s series A Thousand Blows after reneging on his plans to retire from acting, added: “Too often I’ll watch stuff and think they’re treating the working class like an art project. “It’s very condescending,” he continued. “‘Ooh, look at the poor!’ But I’m proud to be this mixed-race working-class kid from a block of flats.”. Graham has a Jamaican grandfather on his dad’s side, who he was told came over in Windrush. “Pops was a head pediatric nurse and Mum was a social worker,” he said.
![[Graham as Sugar Goodson in ‘A Thousand Blows’]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2024/08/23/09/newFile-6.jpg)
“She worked really hard and wanted a better life for herself and me.”. The Peaky Blinders star’s mother died in 2022. “My mum was a wonderful woman, God bless her soul,” he said. “One of my heroes. I saw how much she worked and wanted to bring about change for children. She was an inspiration to me.”. Elsewhere in the interview, Graham said he got into drama acting “through plays that put a mirror up to society” and “create a conversation”.
“I’m not saying what I do saves people in a third world country,” he added. “I wouldn’t have the audacity. All I’m saying is that we should tell stories that give us a full kaleidoscope over the people that live in this country.”. It comes after Graham recently recalled the extent of Daniel Day-Lewis’s method acting habit while working on Gangs of New York. Graham, who played the smaller role of criminal Shang opposite Day-Lewis’s William Cutting said: “On the day of filming, I’m sitting in the chair in makeup, and Daniel comes walking through in full regalia.
