Stephen Graham is one of Britain’s most respected and critically acclaimed actors, having enjoyed a lot of success over the years.
The Liverpool-born star’s performances in This is England, Line of Duty, Boiling Point have made him a household name, while he's also carved out a successful career in Hollywood. He has worked with Martin Scorsese, and starred alongside the likes of Leonardo Di Caprio and Al Pacino.
But what many fans may not know is that one of his first ever roles was in Coronation Street.
READ MORE: Coronation Street's Joe McIntyre star returning to the soap in a new role
Stephen, 48, played Lee Sankey on the cobbles back in 1999. A year later, the actor got his big break with a role in Guy Ritchie's film Snatch.
Stephen played drug-dealer Lee, who worked with Steve McDonald to sell black-market tobacco, the Mirror reports. They met when Steve was trying to sell his wares in a pub and Lee warned him to back off his patch.
After Steve recognised him as an ex-jailbird, Lee agreed to buy all his tobacco for a rock bottom price. He started selling to Lee regularly, but the scheme went awry when Steve's dad Jim found out about it and threw Lee out of their house.
Jim even threatened to get Lee sent back to prison if he got wind of any more dodgy dealings. However, it didn't stop Lee getting back in touch with Steve a few weeks later and offering him a part in a plot to smuggle in something from Amsterdam.
Jim hit the roof when he found out, and accused Lee of turning his son into a drug-runner - but all was not as it seemed. After Steve got back from Amsterdam it turned out he hadn't been smuggling drugs - he'd just brought a dog named Polly back to the UK.
Although the story ended well for Steve, there was no happy ending for poor old Lee, who did indeed end up back in prison. He was arrested after going back to dealing drugs and hasn't been seen in Weatherfield since.
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