From Abandonment to Stardom: Thaddea Grahams Journey

The path to success is rarely without its bumps, however for Thaddea Graham her story starts with a bittersweet beginning after she was given a 'second chance of life' at just 13 months old. 

The actress, 29, is already collating an impressive portfolio of projects, including roles in 's hit Sex Education, the series US and Bad Sisters. 

And now Thaddea is starring in Apple TV's most successful hit TV show Margo's Got Money Troubles. 

However life didn't start out so smoothly for Thaddea, who was born in Changsha in  but left on the doorstep of a building by her biological parents when she was just three days old.

At 13 months old she was adopted by a couple from , , and she became one of Ireland’s first international Chinese adoptees.

'[I've been given] a second chance at life… I don’t want to waste that chance,' she told The Times in a recent interview. 

Reflecting on her birth parents decision to leave her, she explained: 'I never like to use the word abandoned; I don’t think I was abandoned. The choice to leave your child is a massive one, and I feel my birth parents left me in a place I would be found. And somebody did.'

After she was taken to a police station, health checks estimated her age but is technically still a 'guess'. 

She continued: 'I always say I would not be here had it not been for the kindness of strangers. From the earliest days of someone stopping and seeing I’d been left, picking me up and looking after me, I’ve seen that kindness throughout my life.' 

While her parents raised her in County Down Belfast, they brought her to China frequently as a child so she could have a connection with her birth country. 

The star jokes that now she has the luck of both the Irish and the Chinese, and after being given a second chance at life the star hasn't hesitated in making the most of the opportunities coming her way. 

Although the Asian population was virtually non-existent in the country, Thaddea reveals she never felt out of place and that her school teachers made sure to include her heritage in class. 

Mrs Hanlon in particular made an effort to positively speak about Thaddea's heritage and included lessons about adoption and Chinese New Year celebrations, which are still going to this day despite her no longer being at the school. 

'I was just one of the other kids,' she told The Independent, 'everyone knew in a positive way about my heritage'. 

Finishing school, Thaddea was considering studying law but then her mother suggested she'd be happier at drama school.

She went on to study at the ArtsEd performing arts school in Chiswick before booking her screen debut in the CBBC sci-fi series The Sparticle Mystery. 

It was only once she left school and her Irish community that she faced more stereotypes due to her strong Northern Irish accent. 

'I think visually, people make an assumption of who I am and where I’m from. And then when I speak, people go, "Oh, hang on. I wasn’t expecting that,” And it really intrigues me, because I’m like, "What? What did you expect?"'

Her first big role came after she graduated, and she appeared in the Sky One show Curfew opposite Miranda Richardson.

It wasn't long before she caught the eye of Netflix and she starred in the show's answer to Game of Thrones - known as The Letter for the King.

She went on to be cast in the BBC One drama Us with Tom Hollander and Saskia Reeves.

Her first leading role came when she starred in The Irregulars, a fantastical take on Sherlock Holmes.

The show featured a number of steamy scenes between Thaddea and her cast member, Harrison Osterfield, with the two often pictured kissing passionately and growing close in bed.

However she found filming for the project intense due to her Asian heritage which she felt didn't fit the stereotype of a person who would lead a period drama set in Victorian England.  

With her star rising, after the pandemic she took on her biggest role yet in BBC's Doctor Who, where she starred opposite Jodie Whittaker, who she says is her idol.

However, despite overcoming many instances of being told 'no' to star in some top TV shows, she admitted in 2022 that she doesn't want to achieve 'celebrity' status.

'I don't want to be famous with my acting or music. The idea of celebrity really scares me, she told the Evening Standard. 

'For me it's about connecting to people and telling stories,' she said, adding she embraces 'Irish culture' by performing intimate gigs with just herself and her guitar.

She later played Vivian Lim in British comedy horror series Wreck and in 2023 she landed the part of O in the final series of Sex Education and 

Then in 2024 she landed Apple TV's Bad Sisters, starring alongside Sharon Horgan as the detective Una Houlihan. 

Her experience of this was very different from The Irregulars after she recalled how after a promotional event for the series in the US, people had a positive reaction to her background as industry experts praised her for pioneering Asian representation. 

And now in her latest role Thaddea stars as Susie, Margo's roommate, in the new Apple TV series Margo's Got Money Troubles. 

After becoming pregnant by her English professor, Margo (Elle Fanning) turns to OnlyFans to financially support herself and her baby, with the help of her estranged father. 

The comedy-drama explores the idea of strangers coming together to help raise a child, something Thaddea relates to after her unconventional start in life. 

Growing up in a small town, she never thought this would be a job she would be able to do and she saw no one who looked and sounded like her on the screen. 

However as he career goes from strength to strength, Thaddea is defying the odds and providing representation for the next generation.