Stephen Graham role where his character relapses praised for being harrowingly accurate

Stephen Graham is an absolute powerhouse. I'd say he's easily one of the best British actors of our time.

The bloke’s got an impressive string of credits to his name, such as the recent Netflix series Bodies and the one-take smash Boiling Point to older appearances in This Is England.

So there’s always someone raving about Graham for something.

And a viral video on TikTok shows his incredible acting in the 2019 mini-series The Virtues.

The IMDb summary for the drama reads: “Falling into despair after his nine-year-old son leaves for Australia with his ex, Joseph walks away from his present life and boards a boat for Ireland to confront painful memories from his childhood.”

The Channel 4 drama sees Graham as the lead Joseph ‘haunted by his past’ and an alcoholic.

It’s worth noting that while he's played men dealing with addiction in various roles, he’s actually been teetotal now for seven years.

The scouser has previously admitted to turning to alcohol while filming This Is England.

Channel 4

But despite not drinking himself, fans are praising his portrayal as Joseph relapsing during The Virtues.

In the viral video, the character is in the pub and tentatively takes a sip of a pint, which quickly turns into a chug and another pint.

Joseph then goes on to drink more and more, turning to vodka and joining a group of punters.

As the night continues, he gets very, very drunk and simply loses control of himself.

Eventually, he wakes up on the floor, covered in his own sick.

TikTok users praise the scene as they comment: “I’ve been sober four years now but this scene really brings back some memories for me! Between Stephen Graham and the director, they got this spot on!”

Channel 4

Others point out: “You can almost read his mind after he has that first sip… shall I choose to resist or shall I choose to continue?”

Many agree: “Stephen Graham, genuinely a generational talent. Not sure he’s ever delivered anything other than a top class performance.”

Another echoes: “He’s a brilliant actor. One of our best. He portrays brilliantly an alcoholic.”

One also puts: “That’s some acting, it’s quite scary how accurate it is.”

On Rotten Tomatoes, The Virtues has a mega 100 percent rating on the Tomatometer with an 88 percent Audience Score.

One critic wrote: “It's almost impossible to imagine this riveting, emotionally devastating mini-series without Stephen Graham at its centre.”

As another put: “This is Stephen Graham’s greatest thing he’s ever been in.” Although it's worth saying that review was written in 2020, and we all know the legend's continued to put in a hard graft since.