‘A Thousand Blows’: Stephen Graham on his physical transformation for huge new role
Graham is in the form of his life in the role of bare-knuckle boxing champ Sugar Goodson
By Nick Reilly
Stephen Graham has opened up on the dramatic physical transformation he underwent for his leading role in new drama A Thousand Blows.
The acclaimed new Disney+ drama from Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight is set in Victorian London and sees Graham star as bare-knuckle fighter Sugar Goodson, whose status is threatened when newcomer Hezekiah Moscow (Malachi Kirby) arrives in the capital from Jamaica.
The pair’s rivalry is at the front and centre, but Erin Doherty also stars Mary Carr, the queen of the Forty Elephants, a real-life all female shoplifting ring who targeted shops in the city at the time.
Graham is the physical shape of his life for the role, after undergoing a strict six month training regime to portray the bruising and brooding fighter.
“I had six months ahead of the project starting so I spent that whole time getting into shape. It was a case of 5 meals a days, lots of protein, clean carbs, steak, broccoli and all that stuff,” he told Rolling Stone UK.
“I had a great trainer and a great boxing coach so we really worked hard on that. I’m not the tallest of people either so we wanted to make me look like a bit of a bulldog.”
As for specific inspirations, Graham explained how he studied the fights of Mike Tyson and legendary bareknuckle fighter Lenny ‘The Guvnor’ McLean.
“The brutality and the strength, that explosion he brought to a fight,” said Graham of McLean. “We tried to combine both of those techniques and then take that into the fight for me. Lenny’s a very interesting one because he was a huge man and I’m not, but that’s the beauty of cinema. Making you look like you’re 10 times bigger than you actually are. It was just the way I hold my shoulders or the physicality.”
Graham, who said he’s managed to maintain the strict health regime, also explained how the celebrated physicality of hard-men actors such as the late Bob Hoskins and Ray Winstone informed his take on the character.
“Bob Hoskins is one of my all time heroes and it’s the same with Ray Winstone,” he explained. “So I watched a lot of their stuff and watched their physicality and what they bring to their roles. Because Sugar is a million miles away from me, I wear my heart on my sleeve and I’m very open, but with Sugar me and Steve had some really interesting conversations right at the very beginning and I wanted play that man of old that we don’t see anymore.
“Most actors are like magpies, so I learned a lot from watching those people again and taking little bits because there’s only so many notes on a piano. They’re the reasons why I wanted to be an actor in the first place.”
And as for the world of the show, Graham explained that the expansive set – which dropped the stars right into the heart of Victorian London. “I’m basically a grown up Mr Benn,” Graham joked.
“I go to the shop and put my clothes on and I’m in this world. It was amazing, it was really was, but the attention to detail was incredible. It was a feat we don’t normally see in this country. It’s the kind of thing that you normally see in America, so to be able to walk around it and be a part of it and breathe it in was just amazing. It made our job very easy.”