Stephen Graham 'wanted to look like he could kill someone' in new role as serial killer

Stephen Graham has revealed how he got inside the mind - and the body - of a serial killer for his latest role.

The 53-year-old explained he went to great lengths to gain a true understanding of what motivated the murderous tendencies of his character in Apple TV's upcoming thriller series, Nocturne.

Alongside that, he also put a lot of work into trying to 'change his shape' before starring as Jurek Walter, in a bid to show viewers just how scared they ought to be of the serial killer.

Graham has excitedly told how he prepared to play the 'diabolical' character that is Walter ahead of the series debut on Friday (30 October).

The Liverpudlian legend is deviating from his usual remit in Nocturne, but he explained that the mission to conquer the 'complexities of the character' is exactly what drew him to this project.

Take a look at the trailer here:

"I’ve never done anything like this before and I just really wanted to have a go and see what I could do with it," he said previously.

Luckily for Graham, his wife Hannah Walter is also 'obsessed with serial killers' and true crime - so she proved to be a wealth of wisdom for him while he was working out how to perfectly portray Walter.

He said that watching chilling documentaries with his spouse allowed him to understand a murderer's ability to 'manipulate' those around them, which obviously came in handy while shooting Nocturne.

In the 10-part series, Walter is being held in a psychiatric hospital in Pennsylvania, but still manages to cause mayhem.

And it's up to former homicide detective Jonah Lynn (Live Schreiber) to protect his town and family from the imprisoned killer.

Graham, 53, said he wanted to 'change his shape' so viewers would fear his killer capabilities (Apple TV)

Graham's character has already been compared to a contemporary Hannibal Lecter - but despite Walter having killer instincts, the Adolescence actor still decided to approach the character 'from a humanitarian perspective'.

Discussing how he adopted the persona of an 'amazing manipulator and chameleon' in Nocturne, Graham explained he delved into 'what it is that's driving' Walter.

"And then, within that aspect, it’s trying to make a three-dimensional human being," he told Entertainment Weekly.

"Personally, I don’t believe that anybody is born evil. I think we are products of our environment and of society, as well as how we are brought up and what it is that we go through.

"For this man, it was the trauma that he suffered at a young age that defines every single thing he does after that moment. So it’s looking at it from a humanitarian perspective."

'I wanted to look like I could kill you with my bare hands'

Mastering the 'physical aspect and presence' of Walter was equally as important to Graham, hence why he wanted to undergo something of a physical transformation.

"For this, I wanted to try and change my shape," he explained. "I wanted to look like, if I wanted to, I could kill you with my bare hands.

"I didn’t want to be massive, because there’s no weights for him to lift in that cell.

"So we looked at it from the perspective of, what could he be doing in that cell that would give him that strength, and what kind of things would he be eating?

"We worked externally with the physical aspect first, and then, without sounding pretentious, you bring it into the internalization of the man and what he’s about."

He stars as serial killer Jurek Walter in the 10-part series Nocturne (Apple TV)

Graham said he spent a lot of time discussing the origin story behind Walter's villain arc, so that he had 'an understanding of what he was about and the obsession to achieve his objective'.

He also came up with a 'really weird little laugh' for the serial killer, which left the cast and crew shaking in their boots.

The star said that he sought out a specific 'voice and sound' while playing the protagonist in Nocturne, and according to critics, he did exactly that.

"You allow for those strange things to pop up from nowhere," he added.

The first two episodes of Nocturne will debut on Apple TV on Friday, while the other eight will be released on a weekly basis.