Unlikely friends Stephen Graham and Leonardo DiCaprio embraced a hug as they mingled at the 2026 AFI Awards in Los Angeles on Friday night.
The Adolescence star, 52, sent the Hollywood icon, 51, into hysterical laughter inside the awards ceremony.
Leonardo later posed for a snap with Stephen’s wife Hannah Walters, who cut a glamorous display in a blue satin dress.
Stephen previously spoke about how they met, revealing he almost broke Leonardo’s leg in a golf car accident on set of of Martin Scorsese’s Gangs Of New York.
Graham at the time had a minor supporting role in the movie, which also starred Daniel Day-Lewis and Cameron Diaz.
Speaking on The Tonight Show last year, Graham said: ‘Leo used to drive a golf cart. You know, the way they drive golf carts on big sets and stuff. So I asked him for a go. I said, “Can I have a go on the golf cart?” And he was like, “Uh… yeah, okay”.’
Unlikely friends Stephen Graham and Leonardo DiCaprio embraced a hug as they mingled at the 2026 AFI Awards in Los Angeles on Friday night
The Adolescence star, 52, sent the Hollywood icon, 51, into hysterical laughter inside the awards ceremony as they spoke with American film maker Steven Spielberg
‘Golf carts aren’t that fast, are they? But going downhill, they are. I floored it… We were like the Flintstones, basically. You know how when you knock a golf cart into reverse and it takes its time?
‘Well, if you knock it into reverse when you’re going quite fast, the back wheels lock. So as the back wheels lock, I’ve turned it Jim, and as I’ve turned it, the whole thing’s just started to fall.
‘So it’s falling slowly, and I’m like, “Wait a minute”, and [Leonardo’s] looking at me and he’s going, “What the f***?”, he said.
‘And the next minute, as it’s falling, it looks like it’s gonna break his leg.’
The AFI Awards are annual honours presented by the American Film Institute (AFI) that recognise the most outstanding films and television programs of the year.
With awards season in full swing, the AFI Awards are a key stop for Oscar hopefuls, who posed on the red carpet before heading into the luncheon event.
AFI’s top 10 movies of 2025 are Avatar: Fire and Ash (20th Century Studios), Bugonia (Focus Features), Frankenstein (Netflix), Hamnet (Focus Features), Jay Kelly (Netflix), Marty Supreme (A24), One Battle After Another (Warner Bros), Sinners (Warner Bros), Train Dreams (Netflix) and Wicked: For Good (Universal).
Meanwhile the programs of the year honors went to Adolescence, Andor, Death by Lightning, The Diplomat, The Lowdown, The Pitt, Plur1bus, Severance, The Studio and Task.
Leonardo later posed for a snap with Stephen’s wife Hannah Walters, who cut a glamorous display in a blue satin dress
Stephen previously spoke about how they met, revealing he almost broke Leonardo’s leg in a golf car accident on set of of Martin Scorsese’s Gangs Of New York
The AFI Awards are annual honours presented by the American Film Institute (AFI) that recognise the most outstanding films and television programs of the year
With awards season in full swing, the AFI Awards are a key stop for Oscar hopefuls, who posed on the red carpet before heading into the luncheon event
Stephen posed for a photo with his award-winning Adolescence co-star Erin Doherty
AFI also gave a Special Award this year to Iranian director Jafar Panahi’s film It Was Just an Accident.
Adolescence cleaned up once again as awards season kicked off at the Critics Choice Awards in Los Angeles last week.
After already bagging eight Emmy’s in 2025, the Netflix hit took home four more awards, including Best Limited Series – with teenage star Owen Cooper, Stephen and Erin Doherty triumphing in their categories.
Adolescence, the story of a boy accused of murder after he discovers ‘incel’ culture online, has averaged around 45 million views per month and become a must-watch for parents and teenagers around the world.
At 16, Owen has already made history as the youngest male Emmy winner and has made it once again with his Critics Choice victory.
Owen – who stars in the new Wuthering Heights movie – took home the gong for the Best Supporting Actor, beating his co-star Ashley Walters, 43.
His co-stars Stephen won in the Best Actor category, while Best Supporting Actress went to Erin.
