Stephen Graham is already considered one of the most acclaimed actors on British TV, earning critical plaudits for a string of hard-hitting roles, from This Is England and Line Of Duty.
But the star, 51, shocked fans on Wednesday when he unveiled his incredible transformation, after overhauling his physique for a hard-hitting new role in Stephen Knight’s upcoming Disney+ drama A Thousand Blows.
A first look image from the series showed the TV hardman’s bulked-up and tattooed physique as seasoned fighter Sugar Goodson in the drama, which has been penned by Peaky Blinders creator Stephen Knight.
While Stephen’s new look may have come as a surprise to some, for regulars at the Premier Gym in Leicester, it will be no secret as the star spent months working with a bodybuilder in an attempt to bulk up for the role.
Social media posts from the gym, and the actor himself, offer a glimpse at the gruelling workouts the star endured to improve his physique for the new series.
Stephen even previously quipped he’d been ‘putting the graft in’ when it came to getting in shape for his latest role, jokingly adding: ‘You’d best ask my missus, like!’
Of course this isn’t the first time Stephen has thrown himself into the gruelling preparations for a role, as in 2020 he joined forces with a fitness trainer to play Detective Mulligan in Venom: Let There Be Carnage.
We take a look-back at Stephen’s impressive transformation, as he prepares to add yet another major role to his collection…
Ditching his ‘dad bod’
Stephen first kickstarted plans to ditch his ‘dad bod’ back in 2020, when he hit the gym to get in shape for his role in Venom: Let There Be Carnage (left in 2013 and right in 2020)
In 2020, Stephen joined forces with HB Training to get in shape for his role in the upcoming Venom sequel Let There Be Carnage.
The gym shared a post praising the star’s progress in his transformation on Facebook, sharing that he’d been squeezing in his workouts around his ‘busy’ lifestyle.
Stephen came to the gym in the hope of ditching his so-called ‘dad bod’ to be in better shape for his upcoming role, aiming to be ‘leaner’ while sustaining a ‘good and easy lifestyle.’
They wrote that as part of his pre-role preparations they had to create a ‘precise’ training and nutrition plan, adding: ‘He only had access to the food they can provide on the go, this is what we worked around.’
While Stephen was yet to finish with his transformation, HB Training added: ‘He is currently getting stronger and leaner each week. We are not finished yet. This is just the beginning he will be in even better shape over the next few months.’
Impressive before and after snaps showed how Stephen had slimmed down and embraced a leaner physique, which maintained when he starred opposite Colin Farrell in BBC drama The North Water.
His boxer transformation begins
Months before fans got their first glimpse at Stephen’s new role, the star began gruelling preparations by joining forces with Premier Gym
He shared a video from his first day in the gym back in September 2022, with the caption: ‘Training starts…’
In the clip, Stephen began his regime with cardio work on the rowing machine, before moving onto weightlifting machines, including tricep rope pulling.
Months before fans got their first glimpse at Stephen’s new role, the star began gruelling preparations by joining forces with Premier Gym.
He shared a video from his first day in the gym back in September 2022, with the caption: ‘Training starts…’
In the clip, Stephen began his regime with cardio work on the rowing machine, before moving onto weightlifting machines, including tricep rope pulling.
The video also showed the star doing press-ups with heavy weights chained his legs, before various arm extension and bicep press machines.
Working with a bodybuilding champion
Stephen worked with bodybuilder Rob Thurston to bulk up his physique, enduring exercises including press-ups with heavy weights chained to him a bid to boost his muscules
Rob himself shared a video of the hard-hitting exercise methods in February 2023, detailing how the star had added muscle mass and stripped back his body fat
Stephen worked with bodybuilder Rob Thurston to bulk up his physique, enduring exercises including press-ups with heavy weights chained to him a bid to boost his muscules.
Rob himself shared a video of the hard-hitting exercise methods in February 2023, detailing how the star had added muscle mass and stripped back his body fat in preparation to play the boxer.
He captioned the post: ‘Putting in the graft! @stephengraham has made an incredible physical transformation, adding ton of muscle mass and stripping body fat in preparation for his new role in a new series from the creator of Peaky Blinders, Steven Knight.’
Discussing his new role on the final edition of Soccer AM, he said: ‘We’re doing this great series called A Thousand Blows which was written by Steve Knight.
‘It’s about two young Jamaicans that came over during the 1800s, [among them] Hezekiah Moscow.
‘He became an amazing fighter, and it’s about his story and his life, how he established himself in East London.’
He added: ‘I play Sugar Goodson, I’ve got a brother called Treacle Goodson, we’re the Goodson brothers. We’re bare-knuckle fighters, so I’ve been getting in shape and stuff, learning how to fight.
‘I’ve put the graft in, you’d best ask my missus, like!’
Debuting his new look
On Wednesday, Stephen debuted his bulked-up physique for the first time in a new image from A Thousand Blows
The bulked-up physique was a far cry from his previous appearance, after enduring months in the gym to bulk up for the new role
Stephen pictured with his wife Hannah in April this year
On Wednesday, Stephen debuted his bulked-up physique for the first time in a new image from A Thousand Blows.
While the image also showed off Stephen’s toned new torso, it also offered a glimpse at a new tattoo he’d had painted onto his chest to play the character.
Bodybuilder Rob also shared the new image on his Instagram, writing: ‘For those of you that have seen Stephen busting his ass with me week in, week out, over this last year…. Coming soon.’
Echoing his work on Peaky Blinders, show creator Steven Knight has based A Thousand Blows around a real-life crime syndicate – this time the London based 19th and 20th century gang Forty Elephants, an exclusively female group of shoplifters.
It will follow the mixed fortunes of two Jamaican immigrants who find themselves in Victorian London’s violently unpredictable East End, where they make an enemy in feared bare-knuckle fighter Goodson, played by Graham.
It’s understood that Graham developed a rough idea for the show during the pandemic before asking close friend Knight, with whom he worked on Peaky Blinders, to flesh it out.
Discussing the show’s development with Radio Times, Knight said: ‘[Stephen] contacted me and said, “Would you write an hour on this? I said ‘All right then”.