The role Stephen Graham didn’t think he could pull off: “It’s not gonna work, is it?”
Even now, 20 years on from his appearance in This Is England, the image of Stephen Graham as the violent white supremacist Combo is seared into our brains, unforgettable and unnerving as he leads impressionable young kids towards a dangerous ideology.
Graham had already appeared in various successful movies before Shane Meadows’ film, like Snatch and Gangs of New York, but This Is England really cemented his status as a sublime talent, able to shapeshift into something so terrifying that it has been hard to think of him as anyone else.
Of course, he is nothing like Combo, but the actor just seems to be best suited to roles in urgent, gritty projects that challenge him, which is why it came as a great shock to him when he was offered a role in a musical, something that he never thought possible for himself.
It’s a genre he’s never been too familiar with, but after some thought, Graham realised that this could very well be the most challenging role of all, more so than Combo, or even the Nazi Heinrich Himmler, whom he portrayed in The Man with the Iron Heart.
When you’re used to dramatic, violent, and difficult roles, being suggested a part in a comedic musical would surely come as some respite, but for Graham, this was something he just didn’t know if he was capable of pulling off, deeply worried if he was the right fit for a role in the film adaptation of Matilda the Musical
Based on Tim Minchin and Dennis Kelly’s hit musical, he was offered the role of the titular child’s father, Mr Wormwood, but he initially turned it down. Mr Wormwood might be a cruel character, a neglectful father who doesn’t see any potential in his daughter, but he still didn’t think this was a part suited for him in the slightest; in the end, though, he decided to take on the challenge.
“When it came in, I was like, ‘I can’t do this’,” he told The Independent, but with a daughter who loved the musical, he soon came around to the idea of playing such a vital character, adding, “Grace went, ‘What do you mean!?’ I went, ‘Nah, come on, me in a musical… it’s not really gonna work, is it?’”
Sometimes, a role that seems unfamiliar and daunting can be the thing an actor needs most to keep them going, so he gave in and accepted the part. After all, he’d be working alongside some great stars, like Emma Thompson and Andrea Riseborough. “I was like, ‘This isn’t me. I do social realism. I’ve done nothing but truth’,” he explained, “And they said, that’s exactly what we want for this. We’re gonna heighten it, and have the comedy behind it, but in essence, you know, it’s finding the truth about the character and that relationship.”
The film was a hit with audiences, and critics were impressed, too, so clearly, when you step out of your comfort zone, you can yield some good results, even if that means singing musical numbers and donning an egregious orange tan and green hair.
