Stephen Graham offered Jodie Comer a sweet gesture after the pair filmed a dark scene together when she was just a teenager, and the scene ended up changing her career.
The pair starred together in 2012’s Good Cop, a TV series following a police officer who snaps after his best friend is murdered.
At the time, Graham was best known for Snatch and This is England, but he wasn’t exactly a household name - while Comer was an unknown teenage actress.
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Now, Graham is the star of Adolescence, one of Netflix’s most successful series ever and their most successful British show of all time.
Comer herself has also taken off, starring in the new 28 Years Later that came out today worldwide.
The pair starred together in the BBC drama Good Cop in a shocking scene in which Graham’s character, Noel Finch, sexually assaults a young waitress, played by Comer. Warning, the below scene contains depiction of sexual assault:
The gangster character corners her, touching her inappropriately and intimidating her after she says she’ll be ‘right with him’.
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Speaking about filming the scene in an interview with Josh Horowitz, Graham said she was only ’17 or 18’ at the time.
He went on to say: “My character was kind of a horrible man, kind of very grotesque, you know what I mean.
“He was meant to grab hold of her in a certain area, and this was before the days [of intimacy co-ordinators being the norm in film and TV.”
Graham then described how he introduced himself and, prior to the cameras rolling, explained to her how he would use the camera angle to make it appear he was touching her, but he actually wouldn’t.
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The actor said that Comer was ‘lovely’, and he was impressed with her, leading to the heartfelt gesture.
After filming he called her up, imploring her to take a meeting with his long-time agent, Jane Epstein.
Graham even convinced her to bail on an audition she was travelling to in order to take the meeting, leading her to be picked up as a client.
This led to many of her stand-out roles and, eventually, Killing Eve, which landed her multiple awards.
The pair have remained good friends over the years off the back of this, eventually filming the heart-wrenching COVID-19 drama Help together, with Comer saying she ‘owed him a pint’ when accepting a BAFTA award.
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Speaking during the press tour for 28 Years Later, Comer called him a ‘beautiful man’, saying: “He's beautiful, he has helped me out so much and he is a dear, dear, friend now. He gives back to the community, the city and encourages young talent.
“He is a beautiful, beautiful man, he is like so ridiculously talented but equally such a lovely human being. It's lovely to have those people kind of lead by example.”
Comer has gone on to have a vastly successful career off the back of this one kind gesture, receiving plaudits as the standout actor in 28 Years Later.
Ed Potton of The Times gave the film a perfect five stars, saying Comer gave an ‘impressive as always’ performance.
Topics: Jodie Comer, Stephen Graham, 28 Years Later, Killing Eve, Film, TV and Film, Celebrity
Michael Slavin