Graham told on the Norton show yesterday his first encounter with Joe Pesci, with Graham describing it as: “Awkward is not the word.

“It was the first couple of days of filming, and I was told that he wanted to see me. He asked, ‘Where are you from?’ I said, ‘I’m from England, Liverpool’ and he went, ‘You’re not Italian?’ I apologised for it and he was like, ‘Okay, you’d better do this right,’ to which I said, ‘I’ll do my best.’”

The actor mentioned that Pesci then told him he “wanted his role” in the film, adding: “I was like, ‘But your part’s massive, you’ve got loads to do.’ And he said, ’I knew Tony [Provenzano, Stephen’s character] so make sure you do a good job.’ The meeting really couldn’t have got any worse!

“A few days later he came up to me and said, ’You’re doing really well, come and have some dinner. But then he said, ’Why are you talking like that? Why don’t you talk as your character so I can understand you?’”

LOL