Stephen Graham's wife chooses roles for 'Line of Duty' star as his dyslexia is so bad

Danny Thompson
·Contributor
LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM – OCTOBER 11: Hannah Walters and Stephen Graham attend the Premiere of ‘Blood’ during the 56th BFI London Film Festival at Odeon West End on October 11, 2012 in London, England. (Photo by Fred Duval/FilmMagic)
LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM – OCTOBER 11: Hannah Walters and Stephen Graham attend the Premiere of ‘Blood’ during the 56th BFI London Film Festival at Odeon West End on October 11, 2012 in London, England. (Photo by Fred Duval/FilmMagic)

Line Of Duty’s Stephen Graham has revealed his dyslexia is so bad his wife chooses his roles.

Graham has opened up about his struggle with the condition, which jumbles up letters in words making reading difficult, and he has now explained how his actress wife Hannah Walters reads scripts for him, telling him which ones he should go for.

The 45-year-old actor made the revelation while discussing his rehearsal routines during BAFTA Sessions on performance with fellow nominees for the British Academy Television Awards.

Read more: Stephen Graham almost mistaken for criminal during Line Of Duty filming

The Liverpool born actor referenced his experiences with Shane Meadows, writer and director of the This Is England series.

Shane Meadows poses with (FromL) English actors Thomas Turgoose, Jo Hartley and Stephen Graham during the photocall of “This is England” at the first edition of Rome Film Festival, 18 october 2006. ” (Photo credit TIZIANA FABI/AFP/Getty Images)
Shane Meadows poses with (FromL) English actors Thomas Turgoose, Jo Hartley and Stephen Graham during the photocall of “This is England” at the first edition of Rome Film Festival, 18 october 2006. ” (Photo credit TIZIANA FABI/AFP/Getty Images)

He said: “With Shane you spend a lot of time getting into the character and you spend the majority of time doing that and then when you’re in the room it’s whatever happens.

“With the script it’s knowing it, knowing it, knowing it and then throwing it away.”

He added: “I’m dyslexic so I struggle. My missus actually reads the script and says whether or not I’m doing it. She’s made some good choices.

“I have to read it and read it and read it, then make it look like it’s the first time I’m saying it.”

Read more: Stephen Graham and Rochenda Sandall appear in new Line of Duty preview

The actor’s star has continued to rise, landing huge roles stateside alongside Hollywood heavyweights such as Robert De Niro and Leonardo Di Caprio, but he recently revealed he considered giving up acting after playing racist thug Andrew “Combo” Gascoigne in This Is England.


Graham told The Sun: “It was life-changing. I lost myself quite a bit within that character.

“After This Is England I could not get a job. For about eight months I couldn’t get an audition.

“I almost packed it all in. I was going to be a youth worker.”

Thank god he decided to carry on.