Considering Stephen Graham’s impressive career as a film actor over the years, including in Martin Scorsese’s Gangs Of New York and The Irishman, and acclaimed breakthrough roles in Guy Ritchie’s Snatch and Shane Meadows’ This Is England, it is perhaps surprising his first Bafta Film Award nomination should be for a low-budget UK indie drama from a director previously unknown to the British film establishment.
But it is as head chef Andy Jones in Boiling Point, facing a stressful 90 minutes on arrival at his own London restaurant, that this particular recognition has come to the 48-year-old Liverpudlian. Gratifyingly for Graham’s own producing ambitions, this is only the second film where he is credited as executive producer (via his Matriarch Productions), following 2015 David Leon-directed indie drama Orthodox.
Graham first met Boiling Point writer/director Philip Barantini in 2000 as fellow actors on the set of Band Of Brothers, both arriving late, having missed the boot camp due to other filming commitments.
“From that moment, we became close friends,” says Graham, “and over the years we kept in touch and helped each other out. I have a lot of friends who are actors, and you spend a lot of time helping each other to stay positive and focused. It’s a very precarious industry. Having been on the other side of it, when I was ready to pack it all in and become a youth worker, after This Is England, because I couldn’t get a job, I understand the frustrations and the effect they can have on you.”
Graham encouraged Barantini with his filmmaking ambitions, but when the latter told him about the short Boiling Point, the actor was slow to get the hint — assuming that his friend, who actually was a chef, would want to play the lead. But Barantini wished simply to direct, and the part was Graham’s for the asking.
In 2020, the short led to the Boiling Point feature — and Graham jumped at the chance once it was decided that, like the short, it would be shot in one take. “The excitement is instant,” he explains. “For any actor who wants to challenge themselves and be involved in a collaboration that’s brave and frightening at the same time, it’s a no-brainer. You want to try and push yourself and test yourself as best you can.”
Graham developed the character in conjunction with Barantini and co-writer James Cummings — for example giving his character a broken marriage and a son he rarely sees. “It’s [inspired by] all of those great directors that me and Phil grew up watching, and the reason we wanted to be an actor. So it’s got Ken Loach and Mike Leigh elements. It means that every actor comes with a solid character that you have conversations with Phil about way before you get anywhere near set. And then just allow it to be as real and as free and as organic as possible.”
The outcome impressed Bafta (this first film nomination follows four for his TV work), but more gratifying is the impact at home. His teenage son fist‑bumped Graham after he scored the nod, while his daughter said, “When I saw this, I realised how good you are.”
“This has given me more than the Bafta nomination, if I may say,” asserts Graham. “Accolades from my children. I’m a cool dad now, so that’s all right.”
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