Jodie Comer may be a massive star now but she will always be grateful to those who helped her when she was just starting out.

With two BAFTAs, one Tony, and one Emmy under her belt, the successful actress always makes it a point to thank for jumpstarting her career.

In 2022, after bagging the coveted Best Leading Actress BAFTA for Help - Jodie and Stephen's moving Covid-19 television drama - the then 29-year-old declared she would 'for the rest of her life' in her acceptance speech.

The 51-year-old Liverpudlian powerhouse had identified Jodie's acting prowess back in 2012, after sharing a brief scene with her in the BBC miniseries Good Cop. convinced his agent to see the potential in the young actress.

Jodie, 32, went on to bag roles in beloved television shows like Doctor Foster and My Mad Fat Diary before getting Taking on the role of the ultra chic, deliciously complex Russian assassin Villanelle, Jodie became the global breakout star of the show, and earned herself numerous accolades and critical acclaim.

Earning high praise for her West End debut in the one-woman show Prima Facie, Jodie's body of work includes the 2021 Ryan Reynolds Hollywood blockbuster Free Guy and Danny Boyle's highly anticipated horror sequel 28 Years Later, which is set to be released this summer.

After bagging the Best Leading Actress BAFTA in 2019 for Killing Eve, Jodie once again thanked the This Is England actor while collecting her award and said: "I want to take this moment to thank Stephen Graham. If I didn't owe you a pint before then, I do now. Thank you for the generosity you showed me all those years ago."

Stephen and Jodie's friendship took root back in 2012 when the pair briefly filmed a small scene together for the British police drama Good Cop. Only in her early teens at the time, Jodie portrayed the character of a waitress who was harassed and almost sexually assaulted by Stephen's character, before intervention by the show's protagonist.

Although their professional stint was brief, Stephen was blown away by Jodie's performance and reached out to her, offering to connect the budding talent with his agent, Jane Epstein.

Talking about their encounter and subsequent friendship before the release of their Channel 4 show Help, Jodie said: "I met Stephen for the first time 10 years ago. Stephen very kindly introduced me to his agent who then became my agent. He made that introduction out of pure kindness in order to help me get more opportunities.'

In fact, Jodie has her Help co-star to thank for retaining her distinguishable Scouse accent, revealing the advice he gave her during their first meeting. While speaking to Lauren Laverne on Radio 6, the Killing Eve actress said: "[I was] just like chatting to him throughout the day, picking his brains, asking him lots of questions. I remember at that time feeling like I needed to take elocution lessons. I don't know where I got that from, but he was like, 'You're kidding me, don't you dare ever lose this accent!'"

Jodie went on to add: "He's so true to himself and it was so good to have someone exactly like him, who is from where I'm from, and celebrates how they are in an industry where there are probably less working class actors. To have someone like him is amazing."

In an interview with The Guardian, Jane Epstein revealed the moment when Stephen called her to rave about Jodie, sharing: "Stephen called me from the set of a series he was doing back in 2012 called Good Cop and passionately described a scene he had just shot with a young actress who he thought was one of the most exciting talents he had worked with to date.

"He was so impressed by her and asked if I would meet her. I did, and he was right.'

Back when the pandemic drama Help was announced, Stephen expressed his excitement at the thought of working with Jodie after almost 10 years and said: "I've wanted to work with Jodie for ages, and together we're hugely passionate about shining a light on one of the biggest tragedies of our time and the people at the heart of it."

Jodie further added: "For us to be able to explore such a relevant and emotive story through the eyes of such beautifully real characters, and in our home city of Liverpool, is a real honour."

Adolescence is streaming on Netflix now.