AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
It's 1880s London, and in the city's grimy and dangerous East End, bare-knuckle boxers scrap it out in front of boisterous crowds. The toughest and most brutal of the bunch is Sugar Goodson. But he fears his crown is about to slip with the arrival of Hezekiah Moscow, who's just come from Jamaica.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "A THOUSAND BLOWS")
MALACHI KIRBY: (As Hezekiah Moscow) Your brother just offered me five pounds to take a fall in the third round.
STEPHEN GRAHAM: (As Henry "Sugar" Goodson) I asked my brother to make arrangements because my heart cannot be trusted, and there are devils that pull the carriage I ride.
RASCOE: This Sugar is quite the character.
GRAHAM: Oh, thank you.
RASCOE: He's a bad man.
GRAHAM: He's complicated.
RASCOE: That's Stephen Graham. He's one of the executive producers, along with his wife, Hannah Walters, of the new TV show "A Thousand Blows." It's now streaming on Hulu. Graham also plays Sugar Goodson. To create such a complicated character, he built him from the ground up, starting with how Sugar walks - shoulders back, rolling from side to side with each solid step.
GRAHAM: Different types of shoes and different shoes make you walk differently. You know, it can be a - like a heavy pair of boots or a light pair of training shoes, or you call them sneakers. So it's kind of finding the shoes that fit the character, and then once I'm in that man's shoes, I feel like I can embody him and walk his life. Do you know what I mean? Does that sound strange?
RASCOE: No, that doesn't sound strange at all. I mean, they say, you got to walk in somebody's shoes, right?
GRAHAM: Yeah, yeah, exactly. I'm a great observer - like, if I'm in a train station or an airport or anything like that - and I watch people's walks, and I steal them and lock them away. I mean, it's a great little exercise. Try it when you're next in a big space. Do you know what I mean? And just watch how different people walk completely differently. And you can watch someone's walk and then develop and build a character on them and create a whole world and a whole life about that particular person.
RASCOE: You play a bare-knuckle boxer in this series, Sugar Goodson. I mean, he's in great shape, so you were in great shape. Bare-knuckle boxing like that is kind of crazy (laughter). What - how did you train for this role?
GRAHAM: It took me - look, because we executive produced the show - me and my wife, Hannah - we got the green light, and we knew we had six months until we started shooting. So that gave me six months to get myself a trainer, and I also got myself a boxing trainer. And I put as much size on as I could. I'm only little. I'm only short.
So I wanted to be like a little bulldog, and I looked at influencers and fighters of similar stature for me. So I based him on Mike Tyson. And so the hooks and the prowess of Mike Tyson in the ring - they're explosive. So I really went for it and tried to get myself in the best physical shape and condition that I could so I could - you want to look like you know what you're doing. Do you know what I mean?
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "A THOUSAND BLOWS")
JAMES NELSON-JOYCE: (As Edward "Treacle" Goodson) Yeah, well, I've learned from loss.
GRAHAM: (As Henry "Sugar" Goodson) Brother, I watched you.
NELSON-JOYCE: (As Edward "Treacle" Goodson) Watched me. What does that mean? Hey, what did you see?
GRAHAM: (As Henry "Sugar" Goodson) I saw that you slowed down and that you came up against someone young and useful, and, well, you weren't fast enough.
RASCOE: And Sugar Goodson - he's a man who's kind of dominated this world in London's underbelly. He's starting to feel his control slipping away.
GRAHAM: Yeah.
RASCOE: And it begins with this near-loss in the ring to newcomer Hezekiah Moscow. How did almost losing that fight affect Sugar Goodson?
GRAHAM: I think for Sugar - in that first fight for Sugar, it's kind of - look, he's the king of his castle. In that small part of London, he is the king. He's - him and his brother have built this from nothing. They're - don't forget they're two men who were in the poor school. So their parents passed away when they were young, and they've - Sugar has raised Treacle. He's had to fight for everything to get to where he is today. Do you know what I mean? Because back then, you know, a lot of children died young.
And also at that time, they changed from bare-knuckle fighting to boxing, as we know it today, so it was being gentrified. So it was the gentrification of boxing, which it was then for the upper classes to sit around and watch and be entertained. Whereas Sugar wants to hold on to the fact that it's from the streets, and it belongs to the people and, you know, it's to keep the people entertained.
RASCOE: Have you dealt with people like that in your life, your career, who can't handle change too well? A lot of people can't handle change too well.
GRAHAM: Yeah, I suppose that kind of - you know, that sense of identity and not wanting change and that keeping things as they are. They feel downtrodden. And each and every one of our characters in this thing, they're all fighting for survival. If you look at it, you know, Hezekiah comes over. He has these dreams and aspirations to be a lion tamer. And this is based on truth.
And then if you look at Mary Carr, who was the head of the Forty Elephants - they were the most notorious thieves and villains of that era in England, in London, and they were a band of women. And they even - you know, they robbed Harrods. So all of these great stories that Steve has created...
RASCOE: You're talking about Steven Knight, the creator and executive producer of "A Thousand Blows."
GRAHAM: Yes. And I just think it's so colorful, and, you know, it's - that whole world looks so gritty and so vibrant, but yet it's all about survival.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "A THOUSAND BLOWS")
ERIN DOHERTY: (As Mary Carr) All right, ladies.
GRAHAM: I think Mary's one of the best characters ever, I think, personally. The Elephants - I think they're fantastic.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "A THOUSAND BLOWS")
DOHERTY: (As Mary Carr) Business is good. We're doing well, but real money ain't found at the bottom of a man's pocket. In the coming weeks, I'm going to need you all to be on your toes. Plans are forming.
RASCOE: As you said, the inspiration for these characters are real people. And I understand that there was a single photograph that really inspired the series, right?
GRAHAM: Yeah, that's - you're completely right. Me and my wife, Hannah, were sent a photograph. And the photograph was of Hezekiah Moscow with a little tiny paragraph about his life. And then there was also a paragraph about Sugar Goodson and Treacle Goodson. They were the two brothers.
And this photograph of Hezekiah - you know, I'm of mixed race myself. My granddad was from Jamaica. But I have never seen a photograph of a Black man looking so regal, so full of pride and dignity and grace and humility from that particular period. Whenever you see photographs in that period of Black people, they're normally in places of servitude. You're never told these stories.
So instantly, Hannah, when she saw the photo - she was, like, wow. What a beautiful image. I wonder how this man's got here. And, instantly, it makes your mind race and you come up with all kind of, like, possibilities of what has happened for this photograph to be taken at this particular point in time.
And it was Hannah. Hannah just said, I know who's going to write this. And I was, like, who, love? And she went, Steve Knight will write this. And I was, like, what? You're crazy. How are we going to get Steve Knight to write it? And she went, trust me. Steve Knight's going to write it. And it all stemmed - like you said, it stemmed from that photograph, which just blew my mind, really. Do you know what I mean?
RASCOE: Just for fun, before we wrap up, you are British, and you're in extra good shape thanks to this role.
GRAHAM: Yeah.
RASCOE: You know, I think there's a opening for 007.
(LAUGHTER)
RASCOE: Would you be interested in being the next James Bond?
GRAHAM: If I can be completely honest, my answer to that is no.
RASCOE: Oh.
GRAHAM: Not really. Not for me. But no, no, no, no, I don't - you know, I like James Bond. I love James Bond and all that but not for me. You'd never get a working-class James Bond. Do you know what I mean? What I would love to do is I would love to be a baddie. I'd love to be a villain in a "James Bond" film. That'd suit me a bit more, I think.
RASCOE: I could see that. I could definitely see that.
GRAHAM: You have more fun being the villains anyway in "James Bond" films, I think.
RASCOE: I agree. That's actor and producer Stephen Graham, whose new show, "A Thousand Blows," is streaming now on Hulu. Thank you so much for talking with us about it.
GRAHAM: Thank you very much. Thanks for having me. I'm really glad to be on your show. Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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