The rave response to ‘Adolescence’ is ‘unbelievable’: Stephen Graham

Los Angeles: ‘Adolescence’ creator and actor Stephen Graham said the rave response to the hit ‘Netflix’ series across countries, including India, is ‘unbelievable’ as they didn’t think the British crime drama would produce such a ripple effect.

‘Adolescence’, which premiered on the streamer on March 13, has garnered glowing reviews online from Indian audiences, comprising film personalities like Anurag Kashyap, Hansal Mehta, Sudhir Mishra, Shekhar Kapur and Alia Bhatt.

The show, with each of its four episodes shot in a single take, centres around a 13-year-old schoolboy Jamie Miller (Owen Cooper) who is arrested for the murder of a classmate.

Graham, who stars as Jamie’s father and also serves as a writer on the ‘Netflix’ series, said he was surprised when he found out about the show’s popularity especially in India.

“I got a text from a mate of mine, telling me how big ‘Adolescence’ is in India. And my first response was, ‘Hold on. Did you say India?! Did I hear you correctly?’ Apparently, it’s really striking a nerve there,” he told ‘Rolling Stone’ in an interview.

He added, “But it just seems to have struck a nerve in a lot of places! The thing you have to understand. When we set out to do this, it was very colloquial. But it’s like we dropped a stone into this pond and the ripple effect it’s produced has been unbelievable.”

Graham said the aim of the series was to make ‘one of those social dramas for right now’. “We have a real crisis going on with young men today and we’ve got to start talking about it right now. It affects all of us. I just wanted to start a conversation about this - a real conversation. I didn’t know if people would be ready to talk about it. But I think they are. And hopefully, this is just the beginning of the conversation,” he added.