Stephen Graham can't get enough of the Great Depression it seems, following up his turn as Baby Face Nelson in Michael Mann's Public Enemies, with a long talked about role of Al Capone, for director friend Martin Scorsese's new TV project with Sopranos executive producer Terence Winter, called Boardwalk Empire.
Empire asked the slickly pomade-headed Graham to confirm that the role, alongside the likes of Steve Buscemi and Michael Pitt, is actually happening now and he told us: "Yes, that's why I've got a silly hair-do!"
So how does the Liverpudlian actor prepare himself to play one of the greatest criminal minds of the twentieth century in a series about the birth of casinos and corruption in the early days of Atlantic City? "I spend all my time with the teamsters, the drivers, because they're all from New York. I hang around with them and eat Italian food...The thing with a New York accent is that the rhythms are similar, I've watched a lot of the early films to try and capture the authenticity of it. It's great fun."
But Graham isn't abandoning Blighty for Hollywood altogether: "It's great, but I'll always come home to work with the likes of Shane [Meadows] because that's my occupation. To me that's my bread and butter."