![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/comp-1790515911.png\")
\n\t\tStephen Graham was raised by his stepdad from the age of 10 (Picture: Ken McKay\/ITV\/Shutterstock)<\/p>\n
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\n\t\tStephen Graham was raised by his stepdad from the age of 10 (Picture: Ken McKay\/ITV\/Shutterstock)<\/p>\n
Stephen Graham<\/a> became tearful as he discussed his non-existent relationship with his father and being \u2018raised\u2019 by his stepdad.<\/p>\n The award-winning Adolescence<\/a> star, 53, was born in Kirkby, Lancashire, to mum Mary and biological father Stephen Kelly in 1973.<\/p>\n Kelly, who is half-Jamaican and half-Swedish, split from Mary when Stephen was young, and they are now no longer in contact.<\/p>\n But the actor has made peace with that, he shared in a new interview, having always had a close relationship with his mum\u2019s partner, Mike Fazakerley, who entered their lives when Stephen was 10.<\/p>\n Speaking about Kelly, he told The Times<\/a>: \u2018He was 17 [when he had me]; he didn\u2019t know what he was doing. <\/p>\n \u2018We don\u2019t communicate, but that\u2019s fine. I wish him no ill.\u2019<\/p>\n \t\t Stephen now affectionately calls Mike \u2018Pops\u2019.<\/p>\n The paediatric nurse has long praised his stepson publicly, with Stephen also crediting Mike, who is mixed-race, for teaching him about his cultural heritage.<\/p>\n \u2018He saw this little mixed-race lad with no father, basically a mirror image of what happened to him,\u2019 he reflected.<\/p>\n \u2018I was blessed that he came into my life, and he is the man who raised me.\u2019<\/p>\n \u2018Pops fell in love with my mum, but he fell in love with me too,\u2019 he added, his eyes welling up, the interviewer noted.<\/p>\n Stephen also has a half-brother, Nathan Fazakerley, thanks to his blended family, and he was joined by Nathan and Mike just a few months ago<\/a> as he accepted the Mobo for best performance in a TV show\/film.<\/p>\n \t\t In his speech, the Liverpudlian, who is married to actress Hannah Walters and has two children with her, shouted out his loved ones: \u2018On a personal level, my friends and family \u2013 you know who you are \u2013 thank you for helping me do something I can\u2019t do on my own.\u2019<\/p>\n Earlier this year, Mike lauded his stepson\u2019s portrayal of Eddie Miller in the Owen Cooper<\/a> Netflix drama, telling the Daily Mail that he is \u2018highly proud of what [Stephen\u2019s] achieved in his career and highly proud of what he\u2019s doing\u00a0now with Adolescence\u2019.<\/p>\n \u2018I watch all his work, and I\u2019ve watched Adolescence,\u2019 he said. \u2018Stephen is brilliant; he is a true talent. Unquestionably one of this country\u2019s finest.\u2019<\/p>\n Mike added that \u2018the only downside\u2019 is that Stephen\u2019s mum \u2018isn\u2019t here to wallow in [his] glory\u2019.<\/p>\n Mary died in 2022, just days before Stephen\u2019s OBE was announced<\/a>. At the time, the This Is England star paid tribute to the \u2018incredible, inspirational, warrior woman with the purest heart\u2019.<\/p>\n He added in his Instagram<\/a> post that he was \u2018proud\u2019 to share his OBE with her, calling it an honour \u2018for both of us\u2019.<\/p>\n \t\t \t\t The Emmy<\/a> and Golden Globe winner previously explained how Mike helped him find a \u2018sense of cultural security\u2019 as a child, educating him on Black history and introducing him to civil rights icons.<\/p>\n His stepfather would also regularly take him to Quarry Green video shop in his hometown, which ignited his passion for film as a youngster.<\/p>\n Appearing on BBC\u2019s Desert Island Discs in 2019, Stephen admitted he felt \u2018slightly unsure where [he] fitted in\u2019 as a child and struggled to feel like he \u2018belonged\u2019.<\/p>\n \u2018Sometimes I\u2019d be accepted by my white cousins, and then my Black cousins wouldn\u2019t really, you know what I mean? So it was kind of like, \u201cWhere do I belong?\u201d<\/p>\n \u2018[Mike] helped me see who I am, and [that] what I am is good enough.<\/p>\n \u2018He helped me find my own way, and I got that sense of self in many respects from my mother, finding your own way.\u2019<\/p>\n Throughout Adolescence\u2019s incredibly successful award season run, Stephen took opportunities to platform his upbringing and champion his working-class roots.<\/p>\n While accepting his Emmy Award, he hailed wife Hannah, 52, whom he married in 2008, as his \u2018rock\u2019 and \u2018soulmate\u2019, and declared: \u2018This kind of thing doesn\u2019t happen to a kid like me.\u2019<\/p>\n \u2018I\u2019m just a mixed-race kid from a block of flats in a place called Kirkby,\u2019 he added.<\/p>\n \u2018So 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.\u2019<\/p>\n Arrow Arrow![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/SEI_244548658-f813.jpg\")
\n\t\tMike Fazakerley was with Stephen\u2019s mother, Mary, from 1989 until she died in 2022 (Picture: Facebook)<\/p>\n![\"MANCHESTER,](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/SEI_291040775-8434.jpg\")
\n\t\tMike and Stephen\u2019s stepbrother and son joined him to accept his Mobo in March this year (Picture: Shane Anthony Sinclair\/Getty Images for MOBO)<\/p>\n![\"LONDON,](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/SEI_313460633-3a1d.jpg\")
\n\t\tHe married actress Hannah Walters in 2008, and calls her his \u2018rock\u2019 (Picture: Joe Maher\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n![\"This](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/SEI_277637942-a2ec.jpg\")
\n\t\tThe Adolescence star has won numerous awards for his portrayal of Eddie Miller (Picture: AP\/Netflix)<\/p>\n
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