In the eclectic career of the 51-year-old British actor, Stephen Graham has a filmography unlike any other. From arthouse projects like Steven Spielberg’s Band of Brothers and Martin Scorsese’s Gangs of New York to commercial blockbusters like Pirates of the Caribbean and Venom 3, Graham has done it all and then some.
![Stephen Graham in A Thousand Blows [Credit: Disney+]](https://fwmedia.fandomwire.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/08132801/Stephen-Graham-in-A-Thousand-Blows-Credit-Disney.jpg "A Thousand Blows: Stephen Graham Became Mega-Jacked at 51 to Look Like a “Cross between Mike Tyson and Infamous Bare-Knuckle Fighter Lenny McLean” 1")
Now, the Peaky Blinders actor is reuniting with the show’s creators on a new Disney+ series that is all brute strength and gritty bare-knuckle drama in a period setting. The series, titled A Thousand Blows, has not been easy on the actor, considering the intense training regimen that he put himself through – but the result speaks for itself.
Stephen Graham goes through hell for a new series
For any actor above 40 to take on a physically challenging role would require immense mental forebearing and dedication to the task at hand. Knowing that, Stephen Graham stepped into the role of bare-knuckle boxer Henry “Sugar” Goodson, a character probably inspired by the legendary Lenny McLean.
In preparation for the role, Graham faced an intense and grueling six-month training program that, in all fairness, sounds a bit concerning for the 51-year-old actor. Stuffed with strength and leg workouts coupled with three boxing sessions every week, Graham quickly put on muscle that was not meant to represent a six-pack physique but a brawler’s build.
In an interview with The Independent, his trainer Rob Thurston described the thought that went into crafting Stephen Graham’s workout regimen program:
The vision Stephen had for Sugar Goodson’s look was a cross between Mike Tyson and infamous bare-knuckle fighter Lenny McLean. He wanted a tough-fighting, tough-drinking, intimidating brawler of a man.
While it may sound impossible on paper, Stephen Graham did make it happen as he stuns on screen in the role of Henry Goodson. No less stunning is the transformation of his co-stars, especially Malachi Kirby, who plays a sharp-witted émigré from Jamaica who may be too ambitious for his own good.
A Thousand Blows delivers a stunning masterpiece
A Thousand Blows lives up to its name as the series paints a dramatic picture of the gritty bare-knuckle boxing scene in late-Victorian era London. Created by Steven Knight (of Peaky Blinders fame), the show serves a bloody, bone-crunching vision of fists and knuckles as survival takes on a deadly new meaning.
As a period drama, A Thousand Blows works better than if it was set in the 1970s (the Lenny McLean era). The historical element of colonialism adds a sense of brutality to the characters and their past. The lack of female agency during that time and the subsequent search for freedom, identity, and power becomes an interesting storyline in itself (via The Guardian).
Meanwhile, the three main characters of the story – played by Stephen Graham, Mary Carr, and Malachi Kirby – defy their respective roles assigned by society and reach for an impossible dream. A Thousand Blows is a Dickensian tale of tragedy and survival, and Steven Knight manages to live up to the reputation and legacy he left behind with Peaky Blinders.
A Thousand Blows is available to stream on Disney+.
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