Stephen Graham, one of the most acclaimed actors on U.K. TV and a regular in both major studio titles and smaller indie features, is set to receive the highest honor at this year’s British Independent Film Awards.
The Richard Harris Award, named after the late star, recognizes an outstanding contribution by an actor to British film and sees Graham join a list of fellow honorees that includes the likes off Judi Dench, Daniel Day-Lewis, Emma Thompson, Vanessa Redgrave and Riz Ahmed.
The actor, a six-time BAFTA TV nominee, recently landed his first BAFTA film nomination for his lead turn in hit 2022’s one-shot kitchen drama Boiling Point, which was also the first project from Graham’s own banner Matriarch Productions, set up with his wife and fellow actor Hannah Walters with the aim of providing opportunities for underrepresented talent. The film has since been spun off into a BBC mini-series, in which Graham also stars.
Recognized as one of the most versatile performers working today and someone able to bring emotional depth to even the toughest of characters, Graham first made a name for himself on Guy Ritchie’s 2000 gangster thriller Snatch, playing Jason Statham’s partner in crime, Tommy. He would soon head to Hollywood for Martin Scorsese’s Gangs of New York (2002), working again with the icon on Boardwalk Empire (playing Al Capone) and The Irishman opposite Al Pacino and Robert De Niro. His status on home soil was cemented thanks to his performance as a troubled neo-Nazi in Shane Meadow’s groundbreaking 2007 feature This Is England (for which he received his first BIFA nominations) and its subsequent TV mini-series.
While other film roles would come, including Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Michael Mann’s Public Enemies, the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise and Rocketman, it was the small screen where Graham’s leading man credentials were forged, with notables roles in Jack Thorne-penned Help alongside Jodie Comer, Jimmy McGovern’s three-part prison drama Time, ITV drama Little Boy Blue, Meadow’s The Virtues, and Line of Duty.
Highlighted by the success of Boiling Point, Graham’s presence in the film world has expanded over the last few years. Other recent appearances include Marvel’s Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021), while he had a scene-stealing role in 2022 smash Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical.
Graham can currently be seen starring in Netflix’s global hit Bodies, an adaptation of Si Spencer’s mind- and time-bending graphic novel. He’s set to lead opposite Daisy Ridley in Disney’s Young Woman and the Sea, chronicling the daring journey of the first woman to swim across the English Channel in 1926 and will also be seen starring with Saoirse Ronan in Steve McQueen’s highly anticipated London-set WWII drama Blitz. His own Matriarch Productions is currently working on A Thousand Blows with Disney+, a 12-part series set in the perilous world of illegal boxing in 1880s Victorian London, in which Stephen will also star.
He was appointed Order of the British Empire for his services to drama in 2023.
“To be recognised for this year’s Richard Harris award alongside the immense talent of the previous recipients, is truly humbling and overwhelming. I’d like to give a heartfelt thanks to BIFA and the Harris family for this acknowledgment,” said Graham.
“Throughout his long and successful film career both at home and abroad, Stephen always brings an edge to his characters, something that our father would have appreciated very much,” said Damian, Jared and Jamie Harris, in whose father’s memory the award is presented. “He is a British independent national treasure and we’re delighted to present him with the Richard Harris Award this year.”
The 26th British Independent Film Awards will take place Dec. 3 at London’s Old Billingsgate.
