Stephen Graham was almost mistaken for a real criminal while filming Line of Duty.
The 45-year-old actor portrays villain John Corbett in the fifth season of the police corruption drama and had to make a quick retreat back to set while shooting a scene in Ireland that involved carrying “machine guns”.
He said: “There was one bit when we’d just committed a robbery and we shot off, and we were actually driving through the streets of Belfast with our balaclavas and machine guns in the car and we realised we’d better get back to set!
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“So that was quite funny, but wouldn’t have been too funny if people had seen! It was all a lot of fun; it was a lovely environment to work in.”
Showrunner Jed Mercurio approached the This Is England star for the role and Stephen admitted it was a “no brainer” for him to sign up.
He said: “I’m a fan of the show anyway; I’ve watched it from the beginning.
“It was really nice, he just phoned me and said: ‘I’m writing this character which I think you’d be great for, I’d like you to have a look at it, it would be a pleasure to work with you, I like your stuff and I’m a fan of your work and it would be really nice to have you on board and become a member of the family.’
“Which was a lovely thing for someone to say, a writer of his calibre and somebody who I admire as a writer and a creator.
“To say that they had me in mind when they were writing it is a hell of a compliment.
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“So it was a no brainer. I said: ‘Yeah sure, I’d love to!'”
And Stephen didn’t even care how big the role was when he was offered it, he just wanted to be involved in the show.
He added: “I was already doing it, even if I was only in five pages!
“But I read it and I thought even in the first four or five pages that I could see me doing this, this is juicy.”
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