Stephen Graham may be riding high after his Golden Globe win for Adolescence, but the celebrations came with an unexpected dose of stress. The British actor recently revealed that he was briefly separated from his Golden Globe statuette while rushing between continents for work.
Speaking about the incident on a UK radio show, as quoted by The Hollywood Reporter, Graham said the chaos unfolded immediately after the awards ceremony.
A frantic dash from Los Angeles to Madrid
Graham explained that he had to leave Los Angeles almost immediately after the Golden Globes to report to a film set in Madrid the very next day.
“I had to go straight from L.A. the day after to Madrid because I had to be on set the next day. It was weird, I had like three minutes to catch the plane,” he said.
What followed felt surreal even to him. “It’s a next-level kind of thing. As I came off, a woman stood there with my name, and she took me down the stairs, threw me in a car, and drove me across the airport on the runway.”
‘There’s no way my suitcase is making it’
As he was being rushed onto the flight, Graham grew increasingly anxious about his luggage, convinced it would not make it on board in time.
“I went, ‘Excuse me, love? There’s no way you’re getting my suitcase on this plane if I’m in a car now,’ and she’s like, ‘Oh no, don’t worry, we’ll take care of it,’” Graham recalled.
Despite repeated assurances from airport staff, his fears turned out to be justified.
“No, no, no, no, you don’t understand,” he said he told them. “And she went, ‘I promise you, I promise you.’ Anyway, it didn’t land.”
Golden Globe left behind in Atlanta
Graham later discovered that his suitcase had been left behind in Atlanta. Inside it were his clothes, including “socks, pants, suit, shoes”, and crucially, his Golden Globe trophy.
He was quick to clarify that the award was not misplaced by him personally, but rather lost along with his checked luggage during the transfer.
Trophy recovered, crisis averted
Thankfully, the story had a happy ending. Although temporarily separated from his prized statuette, Graham confirmed that the Golden Globe was eventually returned to him.
“But thankfully, thankfully, it turned up the day after. Two days after,” he said.
A major awards season moment for Graham
Stephen Graham won the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Limited Series, Anthology Series, or Motion Picture Made for Television for his performance in Adolescence. He had also won an Emmy last year in the same category for the show.
Adolescence follows Eddie Miller, played by Graham, a father whose life is upended after his 13-year-old son, portrayed by Owen Cooper, commits a serious crime. The series has drawn widespread acclaim for its emotional depth and Graham’s restrained, powerful performance.
Even if his Golden Globe briefly went missing, Graham’s awards momentum firmly remains intact.
