Cliff Notes – Heartbreaking reason Stephen Graham said he’d be ‘dead’ if not for his wife Hannah Walters
- Stephen Graham expressed deep gratitude for his wife, Hannah Walters, during his Emmy acceptance speech, crediting her as his “rock” and “soulmate.”
- The actor, who has openly discussed his mental health struggles, revealed that he felt he would not have survived without her support.
- Graham also reflected on his mixed heritage and humble beginnings, emphasising that his success demonstrates that “any dream is possible.”
Heartbreaking reason Stephen Graham said he’d be ‘dead’ if not for his wife Hannah Walters
Stephen Graham gave an emotional shout out to his wife Hannah Walters at the Primetime Emmy Awards last night.
The Adolescence star won the prize for best actor in a limited or anthology series or movie, while his teen co-star Owen Cooper made history during Sunday’s ceremony.
As Stephen took to the stage for his acceptance speech, he thanked his family and friends for making everything possible.
‘My kids, Grace and Alfie, and my adorable wife who I love with every ounce of my being. You are my rock, you are my world, you are my soulmate, and you know and I know, without you I would be dead,’ he said.
‘From the bottom of my heart, I love you with everything I have. Namaste everyone, thanks very much.’
The touching moment caught people unawares, while Stephen has been open in the past about his mental health struggles, including attempting to take his own life in his early 20s.
Stephen Graham thanked his wife Hannah Walters during the emotional speech (Picture: Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
They celebrated a big night for Adolescence with their kids Alfie and Grace (Picture: Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
He previously revealed how he felt ‘loneliness, isolation and [the] feeling you can’t cope in the world’, after moving down to London to chase his acting dreams.
Stephen explained to BBC Radio Four’s Desert Island Discs that he tried to hide his ‘breakdown’ from his parents when he went back home.
‘[My parents] were trying to see what was happening with me. I’ll never forget the tears coming down both their faces,’ he recalled.
‘Then the next day I tried to hang myself. It was very calculated. I had to put on a high-neck jumper. My mum kind of saw it. Then everything came out. Life was worth living thankfully.’
Hannah and Stephen have been married since 2008 (Picture: Dave Hogan/Getty Images)
They have both become huge successes (Picture: Marechal Aurore/ABACA/REX/Shutterstock)
Not long afterwards, he started at Rose Bruford College of Theatre and Performance in London, where he met his now-wife Hannah Walters, who he married in 2008.
Hannah has thrived in her own right too, with roles in the likes of This Is England and its sequels, Whitechapel and A Thousand Blows.
‘We were bezzie mates. Which is the best way, isn’t it,’ he told Leicestershire Live a decade later. ‘After a while, we just thought “This is daft, do you know what I mean? We like each other, we should get together.”‘
Elsewhere in his Emmys speech, Stephen, whose dad was half Jamaican and half Swedish, also referenced his heritage.
Stephen also reflected on his upbringing and heritage (Picture: Starbuck/AFF-USA/Shutterstock)
‘This kind of thing doesn’t normally happen to a kid like me. I’m just a mixed race kid from a block of flats in a place called Kirkby,’ he started his speech.
‘So for me, to be here today in front of my peers and to be acknowledged by you is the utmost humbling thing I could ever imagine in my life, and it shows you that any dream is possible.’
He’s spoken about his childhood in the past, telling Desert Island Discs being mixed race ‘was kind of frowned on in those days’.
He said: ‘There were times growing up when I was slightly unsure where I fitted in. That n-word popped up when I was younger.’
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