Stephen Graham opened up about his racial background at the 2025 Emmy Awards.

Graham, who won an Emmy for Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series for his work in Netflix’s Adolescence, described the enormity of the achievement for “just a mixed-race kid from a block of flats in a place called Kirkby,” a British town in Merseyside.

Here’s more on Graham’s big win and his mixed-race background.

Graham said, ‘This kind of thing normally doesn’t happen to a kid like me’

Graham mentioned in his acceptance speech, “This kind of thing normally doesn’t happen to a kid like me.”

“So 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,” he said.

He went on to thank those who’ve supported him throughout his career.

“Jack, everyone, Phil, everyone. I want to bring it to my dad for taking me to the video shop when I was a kid and kick-starting my education in film — Quarry Green video shop,” he said.

He also thanked his family and peers.

“My kids, Grace and Alfie, and my adorable wife, who I love with every ounce of my being, you are my rock, you are my world, you are my soulmate and you know and I know, without you, I would be dead,” he said before concluding with, “So from the bottom of my heart I love you with everything I have, and namaste everyone, thanks very much.”

Stephen Graham wins the #Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor In A Limited Or Anthology Series for #Adolescence pic.twitter.com/2EOrSnUc6z
— Deadline (@DEADLINE) September 15, 2025

Adolescence won six Emmys, including one for Outstanding Supporting Actor for 15-year-old Owen Cooper, who became the youngest male to win an Emmy award.

Graham has previously opened up about the racism he’s faced

The 2025 Emmys weren’t the first time Graham’s spoken about his racial background. As Blavity reported, in an interview with The Sun, the actor talked about the racial abuse he faced as a child and how it impacted him.

“I was called horrible words that I don’t even want to say, and little monkey boy,” he told the outlet.

Graham also reflected on facing racism while talking to BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs about his role in the 2006 film This Is England. The Adolescence star, who played a racist character who assaulted a Black man in the movie, said filming triggered him to relive his childhood experiences.

“It was life-changing. I lost myself quite a bit within that character,” Graham said, according to the Daily Mail.

The Emmy winner shared he came home crying after filming and resorted to drinking.

Stephen Graham

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