Northern Irish actor Thaddea Graham has one of those origin stories that beggars belief. Born in central China, she was left on the doorstep of a building in Changsha – a city of 10 million people – at just three days old. Shortly after her first birthday, she became one of Ireland’s first international Chinese adoptees. “And I’ve been in Northern Ireland ever since,” she grins, “which is why my accent is so strong.”
Despite her complicated early years, Graham, now 29, has appeared in projects opposite Julia Roberts and George Clooney, and is earning plaudits for her latest role in the buzzy Apple TV+ drama Margo’s Got Money Troubles, playing Susie – the quirky but fiercely loyal roommate to Elle Fanning’s aspiring writer Margo.
Adapted from Rufi Thorpe’s 2024 novel, the offbeat and unexpectedly tender series follows Margo, whose freshman year of college is upended when she becomes pregnant after a scandalous affair with her married literature professor. To provide for her newborn son, the nearly broke single mother turns to creating content on OnlyFans. With the help of Susie, a dedicated cosplayer, Margo transforms into HungryGhost – a sexy, green-skinned alien – and begins generating serious income.
The show masterfully captures how OnlyFans can function not just as a platform for pornography, but also as a space for female agency, entrepreneurship and creative expression. “It sparks this idea of, ‘Oh, we don’t actually know the full depth of what you can do with OnlyFans,’” says Graham. “In terms of just how much of a community it can be, and how collaborative and creative it can be. And it’s extremely empowering to take something into your own hands. Margo is thrust into this world where she’s got to take care of her child. She is a mother making ends meet and doing it in a way that feels fun and also a way to connect to other people.” She says her scenes with Fanning – particularly those in which Susie and Margo brainstorm ideas for her next videos – left her feeling “so grateful to be a woman and to have this kind of girlhood.”
Speaking to me over Zoom from London – her temporary home before she jets back to France to finish a secret filming project – Graham is a bright, animated presence. Seated in front of a blank wall in a zip-up hoodie and clear-framed glasses, hair loosely tied back, she tells stories with vim and vigour, often punctuating them with rapid hand gestures. You can tell she’s excited to talk about the work.
Alongside Fanning, Graham shared most of her scenes with Nick Offerman. The gruff, bearded Parks and Recreation star plays Margo’s estranged father, Jinx, a former pro wrestler who re-enters her life after a stint in rehab. Off-screen, the pair bonded over baseball during filming in Los Angeles, with Offerman – a devoted Major League Baseball fan – introducing Graham to the sport and her new obsession: the Dodgers and Shohei Ohtani. “It was really cool to have that kind of connection with him,” she says, adding that she now has an MLB subscription so she can keep up from London.
Graham was raised in County Down, Northern Ireland, just outside Belfast. In the Nineties, the Asian population in the country – let alone her hometown – was practically non-existent. Graham, however, never felt out of place. “I was just one of the other kids,” she says. In fact, she remembers that one of her early school teachers, Mrs Hanlon, made sure “everyone knew in a positive way about my heritage”. That included child-friendly lessons about adoption and even Chinese New Year celebrations, complete with traditional red envelopes. “I thought that was an incredible kindness,” she reflects.
It’s only since leaving the nest that she’s faced more stereotypes. “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,’” she says of her rich, fast-paced Northern Irish lilt. “And it really intrigues me, because I’m like, ‘What? What did you expect?’” For Graham, her accent is a point of pride, because it remains “so strongly connected to home.”
She credits her Northern Ireland upbringing with her unwavering work ethic. “People at home, we talk about having notions,” she says. Having notions, in simple terms, refers to pretentious behaviour or having ideas above one’s station. “And if you start to get a notion, they will tell you, and they will ground you quite a lot,” she notes. It’s a humbling practice, but one she’s ultimately grateful for, because the real emphasis is on “being a good person and working hard”.
Graham speaks with a profound sense of gratitude and perspective. In the first 13 months of her life, she says, “I was taken care of by people that I don’t remember now, but who played a huge pivotal role.” Much like Margo’s Got Money Troubles explores the idea that it takes a village to raise a child, Graham sees her own life as a patchwork quilt of love from utter strangers: “That person who found me on the doorstep, the people who looked after me in the orphanage, my parents who applied for adoption,” she smiles. “I take such pride in where I’m from, because my parents have given me such an incredible chance at life, and my biological parents as well. I think they left me in a place that they knew I was going to be found. So I see that as a second chance, and I don’t want to waste that. I don’t want to do them a disservice.”
Since breaking out in Netflix’s Sherlock Holmes-inspired series The Irregulars (2021), in which she played Victorian gang leader Bea, Graham has steadily built an increasingly varied screen career. From 2022 to 2024, she portrayed cruise ship staffer Vivian Lim in the BBC’s two-season horror-comedy series Wreck, before landing one of her most recognisable roles as Sarah “O” Owens, the rival sex therapist to Asa Butterfield’s insecure Otis Milburn, in the fourth and final season of Netflix’s Sex Education (2023). She then transitioned into prestige television in the second season of Apple TV’s Irish dark-comedy whodunnit Bad Sisters (2024), playing the unrelenting detective Una Houlihan.
Just last year, she had notable roles in Noah Baumbach’s Clooney-led comedy-drama, Jay Kelly, and Luca Guadagnino’s psychological thriller After the Hunt, starring Roberts. And for her next movie, she reunited with Guadagnino for his new Sam Altman biopic Artificial, starring Andrew Garfield as the controversial OpenAI co-founder. Working with the acclaimed Italian auteur was a unique experience. Unlike most directors, who watch takes from a separate monitor room, Guadagnino prefers to stay just off-camera. Graham says it’s a throwback to the days of shooting on film without monitors. While it can unsettle some actors, she found it energising. “Everyone just kind of wakes up a little bit more,” she says. “You’re really on point, because you can feel him in the room with you, and it feels like a real respect from him as well, to sit and be there with you.”
Looking ahead, Graham isn’t making firm plans just yet, but she’s open to the idea of Broadway, the West End, or some type of musical. She’s also drawn to animation, citing her love for shows like Bob’s Burgers. “Animation brings such joy to people… Then it hits you with something really heartfelt,” she enthuses.
For now, she’s focused less on mapping out what’s next and more on momentum. “I think part of my brain is like, ‘I want to train, work, work, work, and see what happens,’” she says. In other words, as she might say back home, no time for notions.
The series finale of ‘Margo’s Got Money Troubles’ airs on Wednesday on Apple TV+
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