‘Did you say India?’: Stephen Graham shocked by Adolescence blowing up in India, says the show came to him in a flash

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“I got a text from a mate of mine, telling me how big Adolescence is in India,” he says. “And my first response was, ‘Hold on… did you say India?! Did I hear you correctly?’ Apparently, it’s really striking a nerve there.”

For Stephen Graham, it’s been surreal. He explained how the show started out feeling very local, very British. “It was very colloquial,” he said, meaning it was about a specific place and culture. “But it’s like we dropped a stone into this pond, and the ripple effect it’s produced has been unbelievable.”

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Why Stephen Graham wanted to make Adolescence?

The series was initially believed to be loosely based on a true story, as similar cases had made headlines in recent years. However, according to Stephen Graham, the idea came to him during a car ride after an awards show. His close friend, Philip Barantini, was with him, and they were discussing what they wanted to work on next. In that moment, Graham says, the whole story came to him in a flash. “I swear on my late mother’s life,” he said. “I had the entire show in my head. Like, the whole thing.”

He revealed the inspiration came from real-life events that had been bothering him for a while. Graham had heard news stories about teenage boys involved in violent crimes. That’s what exactly made him wonder what was going on in their minds and in their lives. “These aren’t men committing these crimes. They’re boys,” he said. That thought stuck with him.

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How Adolescence came together

Stephen Graham and Philip Barantini decided they wanted Adolescence to have a raw, realistic feel. As we all know by now, they used a single-take style in many scenes. The goal was to make it feel like the audience was right there with the characters. The young boy’s character was played by Owen Cooper, a 14-year-old with no acting experience, as the lead. Erin Doherty plays the psychologist. Graham plays the boy’s father, and his role evolves over the series.

“I wanted to make one of those social dramas for right now. Because we have a real crisis going on with young men today, and we’ve got to start talking about it right now. It affects all of us. I just wanted to start a conversation about this, a real conversation,” Graham said. In the show, Graham’s character initially tries to hold everything together, but by the final episode, he’s consumed by guilt and anger. “I didn’t know if people would be ready to talk about it. But I think they are. And hopefully, this is just the beginning of the conversation,” he added.