Actor Stephen Graham offered to adopt child co-star after tragedy

Line of Duty actor Stephen Graham offered to adopt fellow actor Thomas Turgoose when he was a teenager after his mum Sharon tragically died from cancer.

Co-stars Stephen and Thomas first met when filming the british drama This Is England together in 2006, when Thomas was just 13 years old.

Thomas played lead character Shaun Fields, who was taken in by a gang, while Stephen played Combo, who was a sociopathic racist in the gang.

Thomas’ mum passed away shortly after they completed the film, meaning his mum was not able to watch her son acting on the big screen.

Chatting on the Private Parts podcast, hosted by Jamie Laing, Thomas said Stephen Graham “promised” his mum that he would look out for him and that his cast members from This Is England are “like family” to him.

The actor said: “My mum passed away from lung cancer after I finished filming This Is England. She never got to see the finished film.”

Following his mums death, Thomas was set to go live with his dad who he didn’t know very well at the time. This led Stephen and director Shane to offer to take Thomas in themselves and give him a home.

Explaining the situation on the podcast, Thomas said: “When my mum died I moved in with my dad and I didn't know him, so Shane Meadows and Steven Graham were going to adopt me if things didn't work out with my dad."

Stephen, who is set to appear on tonight’s Graham Norton show (September 30), is a Merseyside-born dad of two, who has appeared on the screen alongside some of Hollywood's household names ever since he began his career in 90s.

He has worked on movies including The Irishman, Time, Boiling Point, The Walk-In, Line of Duty and Boardwalk Empire.

Stephen was born to a half Jamaican and half Swedish dad and suffered a lot of racist abuse while spending his time on the streets of Liverpool. Stephen has also battled with depression throughout his life, which culminated in a tragic suicide attempt in his early 20s.

He told The Sunday Times: "In my early twenties, I suffered from really bad depression and tried to take my own life once. Thankfully, the rope snapped and I’m here today. But I know the loneliness, isolation and feeling you can’t cope in the world."

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