Table Manners with Jessie and Lennie Ware - Stephen Graham

Episode Date: October 7, 2026

This episode is absolute gold! Joining us for lunch this week it's the wonderful Stephen Graham! Stephen came over for a slightly chaotic brunch where I made a Meera Sodha gochujang & cheddar cornbread with bacon and eggs, and mum made a raspberry & blueberry tiramisu that sadly ended up on the kitchen floor… We heard all about Stephen growing up in Kirkby, his nana’s legendary Scouse, his childhood breakdancing crew, and the very romantic story of how he finally told his wife Hannah he loved her at New Cross station after five years of friendship (with benefits). Stephen also spoke beautifully about fatherhood, and the phenomenal success of Adolescence, plus we hear about his meetings with Bruce Springsteen, his love of meditation, and the exciting news that he’s reuniting with Leonardo DiCaprio for Heat 2! Stephen, thank you for being so open, warm and for embracing the absolute chaos in the kitchen! Letters to Our Sons is out now and you can watch Stephen in Nocturne on Apple TV from the 30th October.Listen & watch Table Manners here - https://tablemanners.komi.io/Follow Table Manners on:Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/tablemannerspodcast/TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@tablemannerspodcastFacebook - https://www.facebook.com/tablemannerspodcastYouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@TableMannersPodcast Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hello and welcome to Table Manners. I'm Jessie Ware and Lenny's just quaffing her hair. Shushing, darling. Looks great. We had a lovely weekend, didn't we? We had Rosh and Shauna, which was gorgeous. Shanaana, which was gorgeous. And we also had Paddington on Sunday.

I'm into Marmalade now. Marmalade. Respect. Tom Fletcher, you did it. Those songs are catchy as anything. It was so gorgeous. Bonnie Langford. Oh, was it Bonnie Langford?

Yeah. With the legs split. Yeah. She was very good. That's why everyone was so thrilled. She was very good. I really loved it. Go and see it.

I mean, it's a pricey ticket. But, dare say, worth it? I think so. I think so. And the wonderful Paddington. Oh, just gorgeous. I love the way the eyes moved when he was sad. I know.

I want to know how the lady inside was doing it all. I know. His eyes just went so. It was gorgeous. But enough talking about other people's brilliant acting. We have one of the greatest actors of our time in my kitchen in a minute. It's Stephen Graham. You will know from whether you've watched Snatch or This Is England.

Line of Duty. Line of Duty. Band of Brothers. The Dad in the Matilda musical. The Blow the... A Thousand Blows. Thousand Blows on Disney. Help the one about COVID.

Father of Bruce Springsteen. Oh, I mean, he's played everyone. And of course, adolescence, which was this huge hit. What's been born out of it is huge discussions. It's now in every school, I think, as learning material. And also he's written a book, which was inspired by these tough conversations that maybe weren't being had. It's called Letters to Our Sons.

And it's a collection of letters from different men to their sons. And it's a really interesting, beautiful read. Saw Riz Ahmed's on in there. Yeah. Yeah. But lots of them are non-old. Lots of them are anonymous. It reminds us a bit of when Julian Anderson came on this podcast

and did a whole collection of essays and letters about want and desire. It's really, really brilliant. But also, he's coming on to talk about Nocturn, which is released on Apple TV on the 30th of October. Liv Schreiber's in it. It's amazing cast. It's incredibly dark. It's also really gripping and brilliant.

And I feel like everyone's going to be watching it and talking about it. He plays the main man. who is in a, what do you call it when it's high security? High security. He's a prisoner who is, well, you know what? I'll let him talk about it. He plays a really dark character, Curl Suprize, but he is very good at it.

But I always feel he's got such warmth in everything he plays. He's got very kind eyes, isn't it? Yeah, he's kind and I don't know that it's because that's scouse in him, but he's always very endearing and very engaging. Darling, what have you made for him? because it's a funny. It's kind of brunch. So I've made from Mirosota's book, dinner.

You've not made dinner, darling. I haven't made dinner, but it's from Mirasota's book dinner. It's the cheddar and gotcha chang cornbread that we're going to have with a pickled sweet corn on top. And then we're going to have fried eggs and bacon with it and sour cream and some avocado. Does that sound all right? Fabulous. you're going for it, darling. I don't know.

I feel like this is a bit of a showstopper. I'm so bad with baking. I hope it's okay. But I know it tasted good. The batter tasted amazing. So I feel like that would be quite delicious. Fried egg. So yeah, and then you've made pudding.

Yeah. What have you made? Well, I've made a kind of blueberry and raspberry tiramisu. Can't go wrong. It's like cream. Let's see what it's like. Ladies' fingers? Ladies' fingers, only one little thing.

And then mascapone. with egg and I put blueberries through the whole thing and then blueberries and raspberries on top. That sounds great. It'd be nice for a little taste. Stephen Graham coming up on table next. Stephen Graham. Hello. So excited to have you.

Gracing our table. We're so happy. I'm very nervous, actually. Oh, shut up. Because my missus adored you too. Oh, gosh. She loves you, honestly. Yeah.

And I've seen some stuff as well. And I'm always a bit nervous at these things that are slightly. No, we don't hijack anyone. We just chat. The only thing you need to be nervous about is if you get a bit of coriander in your teeth and I've got you. So don't worry. You've got me. Yeah.

Have you got coriander in your food today? Sorry, is that okay. Do you hate coriander? You're one of those people that hates coriander. Have you got coriander in there? Not yet. You hate it. Oh, God!

My God, do we talk. You were so polite, though. You were going to go with it. It's not in yet. Okay. Just you don't do it. The coriander. It's right there.

It's right there. No, do not do it. Do you have the thing then? I just think it's like soap. Yeah, you've got it then. You know this is a thing. It's a thing that people, some people really, it reacts in their body and it tastes like soap. It's not that you just don't like it.

It makes a change. She calls it the devil's herb. The devil's him. Yeah. So you've got that too. I do, yeah. It's actually a medical condition. Is it?

Yeah. You can be like, I'm so sorry. I'm in. tolerant to coriander. You mean like gluten-free? Yeah, any intolerances, any, you can't coriander, actually. Okay, no, I can't stand it.

Needed as Grace and Alfie, they can't stand it, neither. Really? Are those your kit? Yeah. Right, okay. They can't stand it. How old are they? Grace is 21 and Alfie was 20 a couple of weeks ago. She's gorgeous as well.

Both of them are so good looking. How are you looking at his children? I looked at pictures of them. When they were at an award ceremony, looking proud. No, to be fair, I'm off the old Insta now, but I did see a fantastic bit where you're doing the dance thing. You're an amazing dancer. Yeah, me and Alfie just messing about.

He always gets me to do these silly things. Yeah, but like you used to dance when you were younger, right? I was a break dancer. Okay, yeah. Yeah, in the town. Oh, my God, could you do it on your head? No, no, no, no. Oh, no, I could.

Oh, no, I could. I thought he was going to ask me to do it now. No, don't worry. Don't worry. I'll call it hip or something, do you know what I mean? I'm very old now. No, when I was a kid, we had a little break dancing crew. And my mum never used to know, but we were in a town.

He used to go to town with our ghetto blaster and some line up and throw it down and just press play. And you'd get a couple of quids, you know what I mean, between us? What was like your showstopper? Well, it was two amazing dancers called Darren Ailey and Justin Henry. And they were like phenomenal. And they taught me a little bit of a... I mean, I can just do that for me.

You can do that. It was really good, Steve. So I learnt from them and our Alan was in the crew and everything. and we were called the Kirby Breakers. The Kirby Braeers. Yeah. Back in the day. Where are you exactly from?

Kirby. Kirby. Yeah. Kirby. Just out. Just, it's a little town. I thought it was because you were street dancing outside, so you run the curbs. No.

No. No. No. It's up a lot. That works. Yeah, I like that. That works. So can you still be a scouser if you from Kirby?

We are scoutsers, yeah. Oh, you're the proper scouts. Oh, okay. Technically, look, we're like 30 minutes away from the center of town. But what Kirby is, is a little place where when me Nana and Orlando, back in the day, they used to live off Scotty Road, and they got sent. Well, you had to apply to go to Kirby because it was like, oh, everywhere is green and lovely. No one would become overcrowded.

So they sent them out to them areas. And then that's where I was born and raised, Kirby. Well, let's take it back to then. Can you give us a memorable dish from your childhood and tell us who was around the dinner table? Okay, so a memorable dish from my childhood is going to have to be. a pan of scouse. I knew you were going to say that. You knew what it is.

Remind me. Okay. It's stew, but it comes from Lapskos, which traditionally, I think, if I've got it right, I know people think that it's kind of an Irish stew, which it is basically, but it comes from the sailors. Yeah.

I think over in Norway, something like that. But then it was, because Liverpool was a massive dock area, wasn't it? And I think it was brought over from then. I think, please, if I've got it wrong, someone will tell me. But that's what it is, Scouse, and it's basically stew and steak. Stew and steak? No, it's stew and steak.

It's my accent. Stew and steak, that's in the pan for hours. Yeah. Like hours. Yeah. And then it's potatoes, carrots, turnip. And that's basically it's the barley in it. No.

No. What are you eating it with? What do you have it with bread? Oh, bread. Yeah. Oh, okay, nice. But you can put others, it's sacrilege, but you can put other stuff in it. Because our vera used to make a gorgeous one.

Our vera scouse was the best. Who's Vera? Vera was my auntie Vera, God bless it. And then you'd have it with like, what's the red cabbage stuff? Yeah. Pickle cabbage. Oh, I love that. Or beetroot.

Oh, beetroot from the jar. Yeah, from the jar. From the jar. Exactly. Delicious. Yeah, it was gorgeous. Yeah, a bit of sharp with it. So now today we have it, but, you know, occasionally I make it. make it with some mushrooms and things

that I was so much of course to do. I was taught how to make it quite properly, yeah. By Vera? By Vera. My Ma, my ma. My ma was a good cook, but our Vera's gauss was the best. But then my nannas was the best.

What's your mum from Liverpool? Yeah, yeah, they're all from Liverpool. They were all, my mum's mother was from Irish descent and her dad was from Scotland. And where's your dad from? My biological father, his dad was from Jamaica.

and I think his mum was from, I think their history goes back to Norway, so I'm a ton of bread model. Wow. Have you done your DNA? Yeah, I did, yeah. Yeah, it's a bit mental. Is it?

I can't remember all the bits of mobs. But you've got a lot of... Yeah, from all over the place. All over the place. Massively Irish, a big chunk, most of it's Irish, a little bit of Scottish, and then a lot of African. I think it was something like 21% African,

I think, or 20% African. It's a shame Anna, isn't he? Because she knows all them details. That's your wife. That's the boss. And where was your stepdad from? His father was from Africa. But obviously, like, second generation or third generation in Liverpool.

So Pops' dad was also from, you know, he was black and my Pops' mixed race as well. So who was around the dinner table? Do you have two brothers? Back in the day, it would have been me and my mum. Because my nana, my nana passed away when I was. So a lot of the time it was food at Minana's house. And me and my mum lived at Minanah's for a while. But Minna used to, so it'd be like, the other thing with Minanas was,

my nannas was like the haven. Do you know what I mean? It was the base where everyone comes, but she just made masses of food. She, the best thing as well as she used to make was them. What are they called? They, like ribs, but you put them in a pan. You put them in them, remember them pressure cook of things? Yeah, yeah, yeah.

You put the ribs in it, bacon back ribs. Bacon back ribs. Like big strips of them. Oh, right. And then you get them really soft. And then it all fall off the bone. So you'd have that with mash and peas. How delicious.

It was gorgeous. But that smell. I just remember that smelling me in my Nana's kitchen all the time. Yeah. That reminds me very much so. That's salty kind of bacon smell. Salty bacon. And so.

Okay. By the way, I'm just going to be over there finishing off because I know he's hungry. Yeah. So you keep on asking the questions. I will keep on asking a question. Also, your mom was a social worker, wasn't she? Yes, she was. So his mom.

I'm a social worker. Yeah, well, I'm a bit old now. I just do odds and ends. What did your, who did your mum work with? My mum started off as, we went away. We went to Holland for a little bit, me and my mum. When it was just me and my mum. What to live?

Yeah, we went there for a while. She went to study over there for a little bit, and I think she did some Montessori stuff as well when she was over there. And we lived in a place called Dembosch, just outside Amsterdam. We were there for, I think we were there for a year and a half. How interesting. Yeah, it was wonderful. Just to live there.

And we lived there for a while and embraced the culture and the people. I used to be able to speak. Look, my nickname, when I, in where I'm from in Kirby, a lot of people know me as Dutchie. Dutchie.

Because you went to live in Holland. My mate David MacMarlane, his name was. I came back home and went back to school and he went, where have you been? I was like, oh, we were over in Holland and he was like, Dutchie. And then that was my nickname. Did everyone sing past the Dutchie?

Yeah, I got that quite a lot, yeah, which is very apt, you know what I mean? It's a great song. It's a panger, isn't it? Yeah, it's an absolutely franger. So we came back and my mum was a nursery nurse. She worked in Canterle Farm and she trained and trained and then, you know, eventually she became a social worker. Which football team do support? Yeah, the field.

Yeah, even though you've been to Holland, you've got Norway, you've got all different bits involved. And mum, the sad thing is you can't say shit because we're so shit at the moment. You can't even come back with anything. Who are you? I come from Manchester. Do you ever go to football matches? When I get a chance, yeah. I bet they give you like VIP, you sit in the director's box.

No, it's very nice. And people all vouching. No, no, don't be ridiculous. They look after us. We get to go in the Legends lounge. So I've been very fortunate to meet John Barnes, who's an absolute icon. Yeah.

Even all my heroes, still is all my heroes. So I get to take the family, which is lovely. But you live in, you don't, you live in Leicestershire. Yeah, we live in Leicestershire. Why? Well, Hannah's originally from Leicestershire. So when we were, we used to live in Beckenham. You did her?

Yeah, we used to live in Beckenham. There was, we actually lived in what was then called Penge, but I believe now it's Pange. Oh, Polish. Oh, Polish. I believe it's changed on a little bit up market. Yeah. We lived there for a long time. Why?

Well, we met, we met in London years ago, the two of us we met at drama school. We met 33 years ago. Wow. And this is new cross area, isn't it? Yeah. Yeah. So I've got a little bit of a, when, look, we were, um, what's a nice way of, so we were friends with lovely benefits.

Why didn't you want to commit either? Because I was shit at that time. Oh, you were shit at commitment? Yes. Okay, fine. I had commitment issues. And it was just one of them things, you know, and, and look, we were both young. We were only, I was 20, she was 19.

And I'd recently just moved from home. So you didn't want to commit to. No, but then what happened was she went to Spain. Yeah. And she was there for a little bit. And then she made this fella. Oh, my God. That's so, that clarified things for you.

This anger that comes out in some of your characters. Do I look angry? Is this from this Spanish bloke? She met this fella called Paco. Paco. Yeah. Very Spanish, you know? Very Spanish.

Yeah. And so she'd gone for a while. Yeah. And then she came back. And look, we'd never been on a proper date. You just shagged. Well, no. Jessica.

Jessica. Yeah. Post-coital combo. Yeah. But you know one of them ones where you don't really know what you're in until it's gone? Yeah. So that's what happened to me. Yeah.

And when she came back, I was like, so what's been going on? And then she said, look, I'm going to move to Spain. Apaco? See? Yeah, exactly. See? Exactly. See?

So I was like, what you mean? And she said, I met this fellow. called Paco and I'm going to go back and I'm going to live in Spain and I was like, why? And she was like, well, there's not an ear, is there really? And I was like, can I take it out on a date? And she was like, what? And all that time, we'd never been on a date.

So the first film, we went to New Cross. On a date? Well, let me finish. That's romantic. No, we went to pitches. We went to watch shaving private Ryan. And then there was a little restaurants across the road. Cool.

I can't remember what it was called. It was like, I can't. How about the cinema? Does you go to Greenwich Picture House or? No. No, because then we walk. No, we must have gone. No, you're right. Yeah, we were in Greenwich, weren't we?

Okay. And then we were, but then we got a train. Anyway, long story. We ended up at New Cross Station. Yeah. Right. And we're there. And don't forget, she's going in two days.

So my ass went and I was like, I've got to try and pull this out of the bag somehow. And then I don't know where it came from. Yeah. But I just went, I love you. And we were at New Cross train station And she went, I've been waiting five years for you to say that You were shagging her for five years

And you didn't take her on a date Stephen, that's outrageous Outrageous I was young She was patient And yeah, thank you She knew you loved her life She knew she just needed you to realise it

Yeah basically Oh no, it's a good story It's a good story So then I told it And she said I've been waiting five years And then she never went to Spain and we're in three days then we moved in together

I'm sure there's a TV series that could be made about your relationship and you know what one time she bought me this little this little like a plaque which said New Cross train station on it Oh

She should be here I know she should be And I told you she should have come But she's mad busy What happened to Paco? I don't give a fuck Paco's lost It's my game

Packed him off. Yeah. Thankfully. And then, you know, you have your trials and tribulations in every relationship. You've not played any real romantic leads, have you? No, I haven't. Do you think you could? No.

I don't see myself as a romantic lead. Don't you? No. Oh, I do. Those gorgeous eyes and that lovely smile. I think that's why we, because some of the parts you play, oh. That's all right. We've got a final lamp.

Oh, the whole whole. things going off. Oh Jesus. She's bad the bation. Pressure. Oh, it's pressure. It's pressure. It's pressure. It's like boiling points. Can we get a shot at that, please? Can we see this? Can we see this manicness? Jesse. Jesse, it's all right, love, don't worry. Oh, sorry. You just swore. Yeah. We swear a lot.

I'm so sorry, though. That is fucking burnt. No way. Did she like doing Boiling Point? I did, yeah. It was such a good series. Thank you very much. It was a wonderful experience.

It was so wonderful. And I love the second one where she takes over. Yeah. Yeah. And you're in depression. Yeah. Not well. No, not well at all.

He kind of relapsed and stuff. Could you do another one? Well, we won. It was like the precursor to the bear. Yeah, that's exactly what we thought. You know what I mean? And it was, I think the first series, we did the film,

which was a wonderful experience. And then we did a little series, which was on the BBC. And I think it was received really well. It was fabulous. And it was one of those kind of things where, you know, it was a kind of working class drama.

But I think, and I'm not being disrespectful. I think today, you know, those kind of things, maybe the BBC's, see in the studios don't really want that kind of social realism. Why? Well, I don't know.

It's, if you look at it more, there's not many kind of working class dramas that are on today that you can really identify with. Well, you're in the mall, if there are any. That's, that's been my kind of, you know, that that's been the time. Yeah. Yeah. That was, that was wonderful to do.

That's been my bread and butter. That's the kind of, when I was a kid. you know, all I ever wanted to do was to be in something like that. My aim and my ambition, when I was younger, was to, I really wanted to be in a Jimmy McGovern piece. So for me, to be in time, was just an absolute gift. I love you in line of duty.

Oh, thank you very much. That was a lot of fun to do. What was it, Corbett? Yeah, yeah. Yeah, it was a lot of fun. Yeah, it was great. Yeah, and that was great to work with. I never really got to work much with Vicki.

and my new a really close friends and I think Vicki's phenomenal and that she's a wonderful actress She's brilliant isn't she she's just she's got such a wonderful heart

as well Vicky and I never really got a chance to work with her in that but that's why I love doing this as England yeah I was a gift as well amazing

you know what I mean it was a real gift I loved Vicky won an award last week at the NTA for Trigger Point and she mentioned that it was a wonderful

tribute to working class actors which I think It was very important to say. Yeah, it's very important to say that because I do feel we're not making enough stories about, you know, the majority of their audience, I think, who are people from working class backgrounds. Unless, and I'm not being disrespectful, unless it's kind of gangsters or, you know what I mean, yeah, or soaps, which soaps are integral. You know, I used to watch Coronation Street and EastEnders all the time. Did you? Yeah, back in the day.

Were you surprised at the success of adolescence? Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. How did it start the whole premise? It was actually off the back of Boylein Point. Oh, really? We made Boilin Point and then that...

Because of the one take? Yeah, because of that one take concept, which was an idea from Matt, our wonderful DOP, and Phil, the director. So it was kind of one of those little beautiful, sedentipitous moments where you start off... It was a favour, really, for Phil. we made a short

and I was like and he said look will you and I was like go make one yourself first and then we'll see and he did he went and made a beautiful little short

and then he said look I've got this idea with Matt the wonderful DOP who I've been working with we were thinking of making a short which would be one take 22 minutes all set in a kitchen about to chef

and I said I think that idea sounds fantastic so then what we did was we made the short and originally the short was just to get him an opportunity to show agents what he could do. So he, because he wanted to be a director. And it was like, all right, well, let's make this.

And I sent it to my agent, Jane, the wonderful Jane. And she put it around the office. And within two days, he sat down, he was having a meeting with an agent. And then his agent said, why don't you turn it into a feature? So we did. And again, very low budget. Wow. Oh, well, you've got no horriander.

Don't worry. Wow. Look at that with a friend. I hope it's not too wobbly the fried egg. It's over, is, is, is, is, is, you sure? Okay, fine. Have you got any Tabasco sauce? What, do you want to fucking try it first?

No, he wants hot sauce, Jess. This is the thing with, Hannah, no, no, no, Hannah says the same. No, I'm going to have a word with your wife. Jess, I'm really, really, sorry. You're going to have all the condiments, Stephen, right. I'm really sorry. Do you love spice? Oh my goodness.

Yeah, I love spice. So it's hot sauce on everything. Yeah. And which is your, and chili flakes. And chili and oil? Do you like the crispy chili and oil? Oh, I don't know. You can have a bit of that.

There's Encona there. I like Encona's good. Is that your go-to? This is very good. We've got one at home. I can't remember what it is, but it's a real spicy one. That's a Jamaican one,

which has got a proper kick to it. But Sebastco is always sweet. Hold on a minute. And I smother everything in pepper as well. I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I'm on like my last peppercorns. Oh, Jessica. Is that my pudding?

It's the pudding? Oh, Jessie. Oh, Jessie. It was hanging out. I feel like I'm in a farce. What's going on? I'm really sorry. It's okay.

We can work around it. We're not fucking eating. I'm so sorry, Mom. We can work around it. And he took me an hour last night when I came back from dinner. I just got a bad hit. And I've got a bad hit. I didn't put it in there, by the way.

Yeah, no, it's not. It's a goner. I do have ice cream. You just tell me what it was. It was. It was a tiramisu made with blueberries. Oh, I love Tiramisou as well. This is more chaotic than usual.

So what happened is I went to get Stephen Graham some hot sauce because he demanded all the hot sauces and I was worried. I mean, you did say before you'd even tasted it that you needed all the hot sauces. All right, Annie. And Hannah, yeah, we'll talk later about this. But anyway, so I went to get it. Luca, darling Luca had put Mum's delicious looking blueberry and raspberry

tiramisu in not fully in and it's gone. It's gone. God, this will go up there as one of the top blunders. Is this beat? Having the fight with Bacca, I don't know. George Ezra have beats, yeah, anyway. Got Chichang cheddar cornbread

With a pick. Who's Chichang? What's that all about? What is Chechang You may have got Chechang Korean Red Hot meat If you like Oh it is It's got a little kick

Oh welcome With the fucking spice And you said You said It has got a lovely little kick Yeah I love it with a kick They said

Stephen likes spicy food And chicken And I don't I didn't feel like I could feed you chicken At 11 o'clock in the morning So I did spice So this is got

Chichang and cheddar cornbread From Mirasoda's dinner book and then I've done it with fried egg and bacon. So there you go. Dig in. It's very delicious. It is nice, isn't it? Gorgeous. Dig in. Eat some. We'll all think about what just happened. Or let's forget it. Let's forget it. Let's forget it. Let's forget it. Yeah. Who's the biggest TV you've worked with then on the set, apart from Lenny just right now?

You're not going to say. I was going to, but then I've realised no confidence. No, don't worry. Well done. Yeah. Well done. And I hate that when they say that in 24,000 police custody, but I am going to go, no comment. Well, coming back, look, see, and this is the professionalism.

Going back to that question, that was one of our main influences. Yeah. 24 hours in police custody. No, because I love the concept of it and I love how they do it. Do you know what I mean? For adolescents? Yeah. Yeah, right.

And it was basically Plan B, which is Brad Pitt's company. Right. Got in touch with Phil and said we'd really love to develop something with you and Stephen. It was Jeremy from Plan B. He said we'd really love to develop something with you and Stephen with respects to that kind of one-shot format. And it was kind of, they wanted to do something about one person and following around for like eight episodes. And I just said, that's wonderful, but I think that'll be a bit boring. And then I had this idea and this concept in my head that just kind of came to me while me and Phil were traveling in the car.

and we discussed here and I knew I wanted to make something about young men because there was quite a spate not too long ago where young boys were stabbing young girls. It happened. There was an incident in Liverpool there was an incident in I think it was Hull

where that transgender girl got loads of the park and then while we were actually filming or just about we were about to go film there was an incident that happened in South London with a young black girl got stabbed at the bus stop by her boyfriend. And Croiton.

In Crohn's. Yeah. She dumped him. That's right. And he waited on the bus. And he had flowers for her as well as something, I think. So I just wanted to look at the possibilities of what that was about and why that was happening.

So I had the idea in my head. And then I knew for me personally, you know, I've been very blessed to work with Jack Thorne. He was a marvellous writer. I've worked with him on a lot of projects and were very... close and really good friends and I knew Jack would be able to pull that out of my head and then make it something beautiful because he's a phenomenal writer. Which brings me on to your book.

It's not my book here too. No, but it's fair to people. Did you choose the letters yourself? A team. Yeah. Yeah, as a collective we do. And I believe there's Jack's in there. Has Jack wrote a letter in there? I really really enjoyed his letter.

Beautiful, wasn't it? Yeah. Did you read Ben? Did you read Loyal Carler's letter, Ben? Oh, no. His letters go. Well, he's amazing, isn't I? He's a wonderful lyricist.

I'm beautifully human. Red Riz Ahmed, though. Saw that in there. Well, I presumed it was Riz Ahmed, Riz actor. Yeah, but it's kind of that essence of anonymity as well to an extent. You know what you may know who they are, but it's also. But also, it's not just actors and creatives.

It's, you know, bricklayers. It's cleaners. It's people that work in, you know, IT. Doctors. Totally. Lawyers, bin men, all across the spectrum, you know what I mean? That's kind of what we were looking to try and achieve. But there was a marvellous team.

My best mate who also have known for 33 years, Jude. It was kind of a concept that she came to eyes. Because of Ollie, Ollie, who's also part of the curation team, her son was 13 and he was about to make his bar mitzvah. So she got letters from men in his life just to give him some kind of bits of advice and tips and, you know, things to look forward to, things to be mine for love. And so Jude came to our house and said, look, what do you think of this? Do you think there's anything we could do with this concept? And we were in our garden and I just kind of went, yeah, this is really where if we kind of made it from fathers to sons and we called it letters to our sons.

and that what we were trying to achieve and hopefully was to, because it's very difficult, especially men find it difficult sometimes to communicate, to talk, especially to the children, you know what I mean, especially men of a certain age.

I think generationally that's switching and it's in a process of change. But I think systemically, we've always, like men keep all of their things to themselves, do you know what I mean? And that's culturally, socially. But what, this was trying to do was just simply sit down, think of that one person, think of your son

or your sons, and just write them a letter. And to take that time out and just think of that one person alone and no one else, it's a beautiful kind of meditative thing that you go into, do you know what I mean? Titulate. And some of these letters are absolutely beautiful. Do you have a relationship with your dad at all? You've got a biological dad. Yeah. No, he was very young when he had me.

He was only 17. Cricy. Do you know what I mean? My mum was 19. That's very young. And it was very difficult. You know, my mum was not married. And my family, not hypocrisy, but, you know,

they were a very kind of Catholic tradition, Liverpool family. So for my mum to be having a child who was mixed race and to have no father, it was very difficult for it, you know what I mean, I faced really difficult. And me and my dad, yeah, you know, I saw a lot of them when I was young,

but he just, he didn't have the skills himself to be a father that was there for me. And I understand that, you know what I mean, because of his own life. But in saying that, he's gone on to have another three children and he's there for them, do you know what I mean? It just didn't quite, that's all right. I carry no animosity.

carrying no resentment. I wish him nothing but love. But we just don't communicate because that's just kind of something that happened over time. He must be quite young now. Yeah, he can't be that old, can he? I don't think. So if he was 17 when he had me and I'm 53, my match to shit, but what's that? 70. There you go. But... Well done. Very young. Very young, but in response to that, Pops is the man that's raised me.

Yeah. He's been there from the age of 10. Oh, the age of 10? From the age of 10, yeah. And he's the one who's guided me and, you know, the majority of my models and my own model compass comes from my pops.

He's the one who taught me about my history, my sense of identity, the sense of pride and the culture that I should have. And I'm very proud to be Scottish. I'm very proud to be Irish. I'm very proud to have that,

excuse me, Jamaican African heritage. I'm very proud of that. But as a kid, there were struggles in that kind of sense of identity, not quite not known where I fitted in. And if you have to, you know, if we're being completely honest, if you look at it,

if you look at the kind of the rise of the national front and things like that when I was little, it was very, you know, it was very scary. Me and my dad were walking from quarry green shops once to, we were going up to the top of the ruffie, and three lads just, you know, started, started saying the N-word, you know what I mean? And so it was, I did experience a bit of that when I was young, do you know what I mean, quite a bit?

And to see how my dad conducted himself through that moment was, was very, for me as a kid, it was, yeah, because they were, you know, there was, the NF was all over the place, wasn't it? And it was a big rise in that. And I think it was, for me, it was, it was a very scary time. Absolutely. You know what I mean? It's scary now. Yeah. Yeah, I agree.

Yeah. People donating massive funds to reform from outside of England. Yeah. I mean, this is England was one of your breakout roles. Yeah, absolutely. Was there a reason why that felt like the right role to, because, I mean, your experience growing up. Yeah.

And, you know, actually going forward, the people that you play, you know, in nocturn, she's fucking terrified. Thank you very much. Yeah. But like you're brilliant, of course. But you, did you feel like you wanted to tackle and see another? Yeah, with this is England, when I went for the audition, I didn't mention anything about my heritage.

And it was in there when we were doing the audition process with a group of us, Shimmie, Andrew Shim, who played Milky. You know, I said some harsh things in the context of what we were doing. And then I phoned him later on and said, I'm really sorry, you know, the things I said, that's not me. Look, I just want you to know that I'm mixed race. And he was like, I knew it. I thought that was the case. I said, but don't tell Shane, please, because I don't want it to jeopardise the possibility of getting the job.

But Shane was listening to the conversation. So we already knew. And then Shane got on the phone and I went, Shane, yeah, look, you probably don't want me now. And he was like, are you kidding? he said this adds a different perspective to it. We can look at it from a completely different perspective.

And then it goes back to look, I'm 53. I'd like to say, I think I'm comfortable with who I am. We all have our fears and our doubts and our insecurities, do you know what I mean? That kind of inferiority complexes

that we can carry for a long time. I think that slowly over time is beginning to pass. But I still get moments of pure or, well, it's always going to go away at some point. Really? Yeah, I think. Imposter syndrome.

That's the exact thing I was looking for. How could you, and you're the most accomplished actor? Because you've won, I mean, you couldn't have won another award last year. No, I don't know. Yeah, it was mental. You're in everything. Well, you said, they're my deep little insecurities that I can come to terms with, you know what I mean, and that I work on regularly in a regular daily basis.

For me, it's just for today, do you know what I mean? I only have today. I try and be present and be in an announcement. be here for today, so I only have today. But to go back to that, I'm in that position now, but whereas I looked at that character, and he had hatred for his father because we come up with a scenario where his dad just left one day

and never came back and left him and his mother. And then he had to take care of his mom and his little sister. And there was a horrible incident that happened, and he stabbed the man who was raping his little sister. You never understood any of this, or you never saw it. But this is the backstory and the details that we went into so then he became a product of the system

and he was thrown in prison at a young age, you know what I mean? And from that moment on, he had this kind of hatred towards that representation of what his father was. So that's where all of his confusion came from. And with respects to not here,

that's completely different. That's, you know, that's a really fun, interesting character to play. And I never would have, and again, I completely understand it.

And if does go back to that, I completely understand it. I would have, I don't think I would have, have been looked at for that role if it hadn't been for the success of adolescence. Yeah. And I'm aware of that. I'm completely aware of that.

But the beauty and the joy of adolescence for me is that it's transformed a lot of people's careers. You look at Little Owen. Oh, gosh. It's phenomenal. Phenomical. But again, Little Owen is someone that, you know, Shaheen and Phil and the whole lot of us really nurtured and we supported him.

And we gave him an environment where he could show his true talents. But if you look how he's progressed. Yeah. and what he's gone on to. Then if you look at Christine, who played my wife, who was amazing. Christine was struggling to find work, you know what I mean? But now she's gone from job to job to job. You look at Erin, Erin Docherty.

She's in everything now. I mean, she's phenomenal. From the crown to that. And who's to say that she wouldn't have kept going? But there's something within her. And, you know what I mean? That again, what this has done is this has given us all opportunities. You look at Phil, our director.

You know, a fellow who six, seven, eight years ago was like, oh, I'd really like to be a director and the trajectory of his career through the success. You must be so proud of that. I'm proud of the team. I'm proud of all of us of what we achieved. But one of my favourite roles of yours was Bruce Springsteen's dad. Oh, thank you very much. I've nearly died when you popped up with an American accent, sounding, yeah,

but playing a father again. Yeah. A rather troubled. Troubled and damaged man. And I spent a lot of time talking to Bruce about his relationship with his dad. You talked to him about it? Yes. Oh, my word.

Yes. Yeah, because for my research, I listened to his book, his autobiography. And when he spoke of his father or spoke of things that his father had said to him, he changed his voice. Excuse me. Very subtly, he changed his voice. And I said to him, are you aware that you've done that? And he was like, no. but there was kind of still

a little essence of who his dad was to him when he was young and his dad suffered hugely from depression to know what I mean and that goes back to what we were saying

about the book I think back in the day excuse me something's really yeah do you want to move it away from no no no sweet

it was gorgeous I think the spice is getting me a little bit but that's good though because maybe I owe her spice she's a lovely lady isn't she

But to go back to that, I think that generational thing, and that's what I was saying before, it's systemic. And I think that's the beauty of the book. Generations of generations of men have never spoken honestly and openly. And for me, if I'm really honest, my perception of this, and this is only my, you know, this is just my view. The biggest, the strongest quality a man can have is vulnerability. To me, that's just the way I look at it. I want to talk about this idea of living each day. You said, say, how do you take every day?

Just for today? Every day is what it is. Is that something to do with like, are you sober? Are you sober now? Yeah. But did this come out of that? I mean, did you do meditation today? Like, I want to know what helps you.

Yeah, yeah, I do meditate. And look, it was just a choice. I just, for a while, I've chose not to drink. So that's my own personal choice. and my life has transformed dramatically. But I do, you know, I've found my own sense of peace. Can you tell me, because as somebody who maybe is trying to find a bit of peace, but how do you do meditation?

Do you do transcendental or is it like an app? It's different. My favourite is Mugi. What's Mujie? You don't know Muji. No. Mugi is phenomenal. I know the shop, but I don't know.

Mugie's a kind of guru, I suppose. I did a Mugee course on a boy. bought me it for my, for me for Christmas quite a while ago, but it was, he's got a place out in, um, Portugal,

but I couldn't go because it was COVID. So I did a, a week's course. Um, and kind of just moody is the, the, I'm like, I say,

why do I feel silly talking about it? I don't know. Um, yeah, it's, you know, it's, it's,

it's, it's, it's part of my practice every morning. So you've been doing it, what, for like six years? 10 years. 10 years.

God, you're going to have to do it after this. Yeah, that's just said. See, I didn't get too bottom about everything. Do you know, it is about that being present and being in the moment, you know what I mean? And for me, what is the best kind of, it's all of these experiences are human experiences. This is what we're here for, you know what I mean. Irrespective of differences that people would have and know, people do have, like we were saying, socially, politically, underneath.

And again, I bring it back to the book in this respect. surely all you want is for your child to be the best person they possibly can be. And what's the best quality we have as human beings, empathy? If you've walked a bit in my shoes, you understand me a lot, you know what I mean? And if you haven't, then surely communication and listening to each other is how we get there, how we try to find a balance and try and find some, for me, my mind can be quite racy. So I've tried to find that peace and that stillness. It's the breath within the breath, you know what I mean?

You've just finished Nocturn or you haven't just finished it. It was probably you finished it a while ago. What projects have you got coming up? Don't feel a twat, mention it. Don't feel a twat. Don't. I want to know. Heat too.

Fuck off. What? Yeah. Heat like Val Kilmer and, oh my God. How exciting. Yes, very exciting. Who's in the car? Who's in it?

Are you allowed to? say? Yeah, I think it's, I think everyone, yeah. Deadline have probably already said it. Leonardo DiCaprio.

Oh, have you acted with him yet? Yeah, I did. When did you act with him? On Gangs of New York. Oh, okay, yeah. Which goes back to Lester. We went, because you said ages ago.

So we lived up there in Penge, and then we had to go to, I had to go to Italy to do gangs of New York. And we had a little flat. So we gave our little flat up and put all of our stuff in Hannah's mom's house. And then we thought we were going to being Italy for like five months.

We ended up being there for seven months, I think it was until eight months. Did Hannah come with? Yeah. She was, she loved it. She became like a tour guide because again, it's one of those things where when you're experiencing those things, you want your friends and family to be a part of that, you know what I mean? What's the point in having all these experiences if you can't share them with the people

like you love? So a lot of mates and family came out to see us and it was absolutely gorgeous. Where about was it? We were in Rome and we lived in a place called Virmarguta, which we, He was just off the plaza of Spain. Wow, you said that. Thank you very much. Yeah.

So, but we had a wonderful time. And the food. And the food. Yeah. The food is unbelievable, isn't it? I think it's quite possibly my favorite. Yeah. My favorite cuisine, I tell you.

So, yeah, I met him. We were trying to work it out the other day. I think way before the kids, so about 27 years ago, I met Leo. And we did Ganges in New York to get it. And we've been. Was that Scusezi? Yeah. Wow.

Yeah. And we've been mate ever since. So it's you, Leo. It's a buzz. I'm going to go to where when we mate. You know what I mean? Every day. It's you and Leo.

Christian Bale is in it as well. Christian Bale? Oh my God. Oh my God. Jesus. Okay. I mean, you are one of the greats. You really are.

And you're also with, you're acting alongside greats a lot. But I mean, that's quite a, that's like Avengers Ascendal. It's slightly phenomenal. Right. We're going to send you off on to a desk. Desert Island for six months. What's going to be the meal you'll have before you go away to sustain your... What's the last...

The main per drink of choice. Oh, this is death row of dinners. We play this at all. No, no, I know, I know, I know. I look the Desert Island. I'm down for death row dinner. I love the Desert Island. Okay, well, yeah.

I mean, I've been playing this game for years, so... Let's do it. You ready? Yeah. Okay, first of all, do you want to know where they're from as well? Yeah. One son soup. One ton soup

One ton soup from New York in Chinatown town Can't remember exactly where it was But I went upstairs And this dingy looking little gaff sat there And I had found my mecca I was there And this ball was massive

And I was like Okay, can I have a wonton soup please And they were like Yeah, I didn't it came And it just, it was like shining There in front of me You know where it was just beautiful And I tasted it

And it was the most delicious Oneton soup I've ever had And I was obsessed with one ton soup soup because when I was a kid and me, my my used to go into Chinatown and we're going to Chinese, I'd always knock the Coke home, so I get that all that kind of stuff. And my mum would always get a want-on-soup and I would go, why, you don't want some soup? And she'd go, this is how you tell whether not the good, because this is the best one to judge them. Oh, wow.

This is how you judge a proper Chinese restaurant. I was like, all right, my agis-a-taste. And that became my go-to. And what's the stuffing in it? Is it pork? Yes. All prawns something. towns but mostly poor.

Okay, so we're going one ton soup from a China town in New York. Yeah. Where are we going next? All right. Now I get a bit sweaty. Okay, it's okay. But I'm having lobster. Yeah.

Good be it. Lobster. Grilled or? Grilled. Okay. Yeah, grilled lobster. Fresh from where? Fresh from, well, I was with Boch once again in New York.

We were in New York and we went to this at Chelsea Market at Chelsea Island. Yeah, yeah. We've got all a big fresh fish and all that. And we bought these fucking giant lobsters. They were amazing. Were they alive or dead? Yeah, they were alive. Oh, so you took them home.

Yeah. And Buk was like, because I was like, what are we? No, I know. Who's Buck? My mate from America. Okay, fine. He was amazing, big Uncle. Okay.

And he threw them in a big pant. I know it's terrible. I know, I'm sorry. No, no. We had to put them in the bag and all that and carry them on to the flat the apartments. They put little elastic bands on their pins. Oh, Mom. Yeah, I know.

So they can't crawl out. Grace loves it, but she'll never pick one out of a thing. No, I wouldn't do that. Okay, so you're having that. So that goes in there. Yeah. Right. I'm having that.

And I'm having me my antivirus chips. Why were they so good? Because they were unbelievable. Her made chips. All made chips, proper chips. She has a proper chip pan. Yeah, with little bits in it as well occasionally, you know what I mean. Do you know what a chip pan looks like?

Yeah, it's like a little. She used to do her chopped and fry fish in that. But it's when they go, they go sweeter in a chip pan, I feel. Like there's a sweetness. And they're soft. And it's like spud in the middle. And it's that soft mashed potato. But she could cook them perfect.

But crispy on the outside. But crispy on the outside. Whenever my kids are going to Liverpool, it always will, can we go to Antivara so we can have some chips? And my ma'am made good chips as well. My ma'amard did make great chips, but not as good as our vera chips.

So lobster and chips. Lobster and chips. And I'll have to have a green on there, won't I? No, no, I do want to do. Yeah, I'll have some broccoli. Broccoli. Yes. Someone wants some time in America.

No, no, and nice, but yes, yes. And it's in a... Yeah, shame, what's the difference between broccoli? I don't really understand. Is it just spears? I think, I don't know what is the actual difference. Yeah, I think they're a bit smaller. Yeah.

Oh, little we need. I don't mind paper-led broccoli as well, that's nice. Oh, yeah. People had the broccoli. Yeah, yeah, lovely. Yeah, that's purple sprouting. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Oh, um, okay. I will have Oh, what will I have? I'll have a peppermint tea Oh, lovely

With a little bit of honny Jesse, you could have given one I can give you one I got some mint in the garden Would you like a peppermint too? No, we can have one, yeah, if you don't If you want one, I can do it now No, no, no, no

Is she in the bush, it there? I'll just get it. Why? She's going to make me a proper peppermint tea Well, I thought we were going to try it, though Let me have a little tiny taste No, it's weird to taste Yeah, Jesse, he's going to try it.

try that really sadly. Jesse, you're going to have to present me with this dessert. What would you have for dessert on your before? Okay. Now, this dessert lives in its own paradoxical universe, okay? Okay. So listen to this dessert. Okay. When I was a kid. Yeah.

And I used to go to town in my school dinner. I'd go to Sayers. That's a bakery. Okay. I don't know if they only existed in Liverpool or whatever. I don't know of them. And I come from Manchester. So I don't know.

I think he's aniseise, did you? Okay. And this is the duality of life in a different way, yeah? So I'd go to Sayers and I'd have a cheese pasty, yeah. Religiously, without fail, and a cream slice. A cream slice. But I have pink icing on it.

Oh, my goodness. So it was like flaky pastry. Yes. And you had icing on the top and then just cream whacked in the middle. Cream wacked in with like some kind of raspberry jam. Yeah. Do you remember them? Of course.

Cream slice. So I'd have one of the table. I don't know that they do them anywhere. No, however. Yeah. And this is where things go, I went to, what's that really, what's that really lovely? Scotts. Oh, yeah.

That lovely restaurant, right? Okay. And then I've gone that up to dessert. I've gone, and I've looked at the thing and I've gone, what's that? Cream slice. A milfui. Okay. Oh, I love a milfui.

Yeah. I never know how to say it. But it's almost like a cream slice. Milfui, milfui, milfoy. I don't know. It means a, it means a, it. thousand leaves. She's milfoy.

About married to a Frenchman. Foy. Milfoy. It just means leaves. You go quite camp when you do that. Melfoy. Yeah. So it's basically just a cream slice.

Yeah. Isn't he? Delicious. Because it's layers. Yeah. And the icing. So because I'm on an island and it's my last one, I'll have one of the cream ones from Sayers.

And I'll have one from Scots. Okay. And I'll have one from Scots. And a peppermint tea with honey. And a peppermint tea with honey. So we are trying something on this season where we get a kind of pay it forward where a guest from the other episode asks you a question. Okay.

So Kelly Rowland of Destiny's Chart Fame has got a question for you. She didn't even know what I was about yesterday. She didn't have a clue. She definitely did. She definitely did. She definitely did. She was gorgeous as well. I kind of match.

She's beautiful looking, isn't she? So stunning. Unbelievable. Unbelievable. She's the face of Olai. It's funny you say that. Oh, there you go. She's beautiful.

She's astonishing. Okay, so this is Kelly Rowland's question, Stephen Graham. Okay. What is the food that you could constantly eat in between takes? That's a really good question. For continuity. Like, you know, it's like something that you wouldn't get tired of. That's a really good question.

Have you got an answer for Kelly? Yeah, it's basically anything. Oh. I'm not going to ruin it for you. Only because the trick is when you're having a conversation, you eat the bits that you need to eat whatever. Yeah. But then what we'll do is we'll keep, don't yammy too much,

timey. Make sure you don't put too much in your mouth. And then obviously when they say cut, oh my God. Yeah, sorry. Is it not delicious? Well, some of it is, yeah, most of the time. We have one of them people on set now, don't you?

Like a food tech kind of person who make sure it's all. They do it. They do it. Oh yeah, but there's some stuff on, um... Which one? Nocturn. Boiling point. A boiling point.

There's some stuff on boiling point that you couldn't eat. Why? They have to spray it and make sure. Oh, make sure it looks. But following on from Kelly Rowland, what food would you never get tired of that you could eat again and again? and again. Is it Scalz?

It's probably our various chips, isn't it? But now, though, let me think, something like you can just keep going on it. You lived in Italy? I know, yeah. I was just wondering. Italy didn't get a look in, I don't think. No, I know.

It didn't really, did it? I feel terrible about it. Probably just a simple, beautiful plate of pasta. And I mean simple pasta. Yeah. Very simple. With what on it? Little bit of oil.

Just olive oil and garlic. A little bit of garlic. Maybe, maybe, no. Aren't you be? No, no, no, no, let's just keep it nice. Well, then we're, sorry. He's back again. Then we're going to go like, what is it called?

You can pronounce this properly. Is it fruit of the mare or something other? Fri demer. Excuse me? Freedom. Freedom. Doesn't she live down in the road? I thought it was fruity.

I thought it was fruity. I go in the rest of, can I have the fruit to the mare, please, mate. So I should be going, can I have the Frue demer? So which bit do you, what do you like for all of the fruit of? I just love it all. I think it's delicious. Yeah, no, I'll go that. Let's let's go that then, but not a massive load of spaghetti. What about, just a small plate? Oysters. Are you in oysters? I love oysters. Oh my God. Yeah, I love oysters. I think that's delicious. I can do about three and then I'm like, yeah, okay, no, cool, I'm good.

I can do my, I can ease, I could sit on me, I could do. I put hot sauce on. I go, yeah, I go, look, I go loads of pepper. Yeah, yeah. The little shallot thingy there. Yeah, I love the shalot. Then I get the tabasco. you're like everything. Yeah, then I bang the tabasco in. So have I done me pepper? Yeah. Yeah, you did that at the beginning.

Shalot, Tabasco. And then I have to ask very nicely because they normally have to get it from the bar. And this may be certain, like, purists may think I am a Philistine, but fuck them. I like to get some Worcester sauce. On top of that.

You're basically making kind of like a bloody mary in, like a bit like a virgin mary, isn't it? So you can't taste them probably. No, but then I don't mind them on their own But especially with Because my mate Leon, he throws the thing And I'm like, what are you doing? That's the best bit to see, the juice

What did Hannah say? It's like eating snot She said it's like giving a whale a blowjop Oh my God It's very funny That's the kind of You need to get her on You need to get it on don't you

Is she a good for me to her on She's a fantastic coo Is she? She's apps I really looked out Yeah I landed around on my feet. She's phenomenal.

Darling, thank God for you cross. She's a wonderful coo. So listen, I'm going to try this with Stephen. So if we're going down, we're going down together. Let's go, let's throw that in there. Oh, it would have been delicious. I'm there. Oh, I'm going in again.

Lovely. Oh, do you know what? I think I've got food to that. What are you going to do? We found this out over the past couple of years I never used to do it at all. What's going on? Maybe you can answer the question.

What? What? When I'm in a restaurant and I have something, see, I start. Did you just go click? I can't do it in real life normally if I try to do it. But I go like click and... Have another go and let's see what happens. See, it's gone.

It's fucking honest to God and I'm not making it off. Is it when it's good or when it's just... Yeah, when it's good. It's like kind of my happy tune. We were having dinner once, me Anna and Leon. And I fucking... I did this thing, right? I had it.

And then I turned into like, I went to the sad clown. She was like, stop doing it. And they were both like, what the fuck you doing? And then I went into happy elephants. Any crunchy bits. But I'm like, I can't control it when it's happening. Have you ever been to that restaurant, frog? No, Adam, what's his face?

Yeah. Yeah, I love his best. Is it good? It's gorgeous. Of you been to. Yeah, the one in Covent Garden. Did you rib it? The best.

It's unbelievable. it's so delicious Adam Handler I was like a fucking one-man band in the car I was like Bairp B'am! Borgh! I was a bit of them were I went, I'm going to toilet

and them two were like you two now they were just piercing themselves laughing I don't know where it comes from why is it started? I don't know now I need to know what the next sound is Hannah reckons it's because when I was a kid my mummy mum used to go hmm

I'd be like mum do you know what I mean I don't know I mean I'm good Thank you for trying it, darling You are so sweet The last question that we need to ask you Is

An Nost See Enjoy it I don't mind the sounds It's beautiful I swear to God I didn't do it with the other Now it's mostly just

Well you know what you like more then Don't we No I don't mean you that now Oh, bullocks Sorry I don't know what is it What's going on me mouth Just has this uncontrollable thing

To do whatever it wants I don't know. We've never had a guest like you before. To be perfectly frank. Okay. Last question. Okay. Really enjoyed having you on, Stephen. Thank you very much. It's been a pleasure. You are amazing.

A nostalgic taste that can transport you back somewhere happy or sad. Oh, I'm going to go bavril. Bavr at football matches. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I'm going to go bavril with a bit of pepper. Where'd you get your pepper from? I'm like, well, they have on the side, and you just have the little white thing to do that, yeah?

You got you into that? The pepper with the bovril, or you just, where there's a pepper. It's just one of them things, just one of them things as a kid. But I mean, like the proper footy matches, you know, like my uncle's and that, and the cousin's playing footy.

And the side, and the hot dog van used to do bovril and that as well. That's kind of where it is. But then I thought, yeah, I love bovril. Bovrel's kind of, there's something about that. Yeah. Stephen Graham, thank you so much for coming on. Thanks for having me. It's been an absolute pleasure.

Good luck with the book. Good luck with Nocturn. Can't wait to see you on our screens again. Thank you for having me. It's been an absolute joy. Sorry about the chaos. Stephen Graham. I think I've just fallen in love.

I loved him so much. And I also loved how much he loves his wife, Hannah. I love how warm he was. And actually he had exactly what he thinks the world needs more of. Empathy. I think Stephen Graham for Prime Minister. Yeah. Head of the world, I think.

I loved chatting with him and kind of forgot that we were doing food podcast. So just thank you so much to Zeevan for being so open and fun and embracing the chaos that was this episode. It was chaotic. There was a lot of noises today. Yeah, smoke alarm. Including Stephen's enjoyment of your... Blue... I'm sorry about that. It's like... It looked really nice and it tasted really nice too. I didn't put it in the fridge. That's all I'm going to say. But you dropped it out of the fridge. I did drop it out of the fridge. So you kind of got overwhelmed with finding hot sauce.

Yeah, I mean, the guy, look, I'm saying he's a really great guy, but he is quite commanding when it comes to hot food. Couldn't you have just offered him one hot thing? Yeah, but then I was trying to like, you know, get him with Stephen Graham. Because you'd fall in love already. And he loved him so much. That's it. I just wanted to make sure he really enjoyed his food. Yeah.

And doing so lost a course. Sorry. Never mind. What a guy. Wonderful man Letters to Our Sons is out now And you can watch Nocturn on Apple TV At the end of October

Very different sides of Stephen Graham And exciting to come Yeah, he too Maybe you'll put in a good word with Christian and Leo That'd be good wouldn't that Thank you to Stephen Just brilliant, had amazing answers

And was just a wonderful guest I did give him a hefty amount of cornbread I thought the recipe was delicious. Delicious. Mir a soda, you're so good. She's clever. Oh, I'm going to make that for sense. Are you supposed to have it as big as that?

No, give those portions that big. No, I'm learning maybe I should have done a smaller portion for Stephen, but he had said that he hadn't eaten all day. I think maybe his stomach had shrunk. Yeah, but you start smaller than they can ask for more. Yeah, I know. Well, yeah. Hey, ho.

But that was, he was getting his visa so he can go off and film heat. There you go. We'll see you next week for more Table Manners. and sorry about the pod. Never mind.