Nelson-Joyce 'lucky' to work with Stephen Graham

Actor James Nelson-Joyce has said he feels "very lucky" to star with his Scouse idol Stephen Graham in the second series of A Thousand Blows.

Nelson-Joyce plays Edward 'Treacle' Goodson, the brother of Graham's character, Henry 'Sugar' Goodson, in the Disney+ drama which is set in the world of illegal boxing in 1880s Victorian London.

But the pair met long before sharing the screen, when 23-year-old Nelson-Joyce, fresh from drama school, saw Graham in Nandos and plucked up the courage to speak to him.

"He was my idol and I just went over and said thanks for inspiring me," Nelson-Joyce told BBC Breakfast.

He said: "He's just amazing. He's a regional voice, he's a Scouse actor and it's very important for young people to see someone likewise on the telly.

"And I just wanted to say thank you, it was never with the intention of getting anything out of it."

Graham's wife Hannah said Nelson-Joyce reminded her of a young Graham and asked him to email them and let them know about any of his future projects.

"Obviously I didn't do that, I was too embarrassed. And then one day we end up playing brothers," he said.

The pair have shared the screen before, including Little Boy Blue, Time and the Virtues.

But Nelson-Joyce said the audition process for A Thousand Blows cemented their connection.

"There's just this synergy between us and I hope you see that on screen," he said.

"We are quite similar and when I auditioned to play his brother, we turned up to do the chemistry read and we were wearing the exact same clothes.

"It was just very weird because we hadn't planned it."

He said things had come full circle since he approached Graham in Nandos and he now had aspiring actors coming to him for advice.

"It's a hard industry, so if you can help someone out why wouldn't you?," he said.

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