Margo's Got Money Troubles. Thaddea Graham's Got Everything Else.
vest & shirt FENG CHEN WANG, shirt THE SHIRT COMPANY, jeans GUESS, shoes PARABOOT, tie Stylist’s Own
She's been in a Tardis, a Victorian back alley, a sex therapist's office and a Hollywood courtroom playing Rummikub with Nicole Kidman. And her calendar is only getting busier.
Meet Thaddea Graham. She's been on your screen for years. You're only just realising it now. Northern Irish by upbringing, Chinese by birth, trained in London, now very much belonging to the world. She arrived for her PIBE cover shoot with the kind of energy that makes an entire crew stop what they're doing and smile. The sort of person who will tell you she missed a career-changing phone call because she was on hold to the council tax office and didn't want to lose her place in the queue. (Reader, she stayed in the queue. She still got the job.)
And what a job. Margo's Got Money Troubles, Apple TV+'s sharp, funny, deeply human new series, sees Thaddea play Susie, cosplaying roommate and unlikely heart of a show that also happens to star Elle Fanning, Michelle Pfeiffer, Nick Offerman and Nicole Kidman. It is, by any measure, a remarkable place to land. And it doesn't stop there. Luca Guadagnino put her opposite Julia Roberts and Andrew Garfield in After the Hunt; Noah Baumbach slotted her in next to George Clooney and Adam Sandler in Jay Kelly. Off set, she writes and sings her own music, crochets, has a running love affair with Formula 1 and wants someone to teach her to conduct an orchestra.
She is, in other words, exactly our kind of cover star. Here's what she had to say.
Right: shirt MASHA POPOVA, blazer Vintage GUCCI
How has life been since joining Margo’s Got Money Troubles?
Thaddea Graham: Pretty damn fun. It was an absolute dream to work on, our crew are amazing and really showed me LA through a local lens. I made some friends for life who helped me laugh a little harder and stand a little taller which at 5ft 3 is not something to be sniffed at. We had such a fun time making the show and now it’s out, seeing what resonates with people is really enjoyable too.
How did this role come your way?
TG: I met Dearbhla Walsh, our lead director, on season two of Sharon Horgan’s ‘Bad Sisters’ (thank you Nina Gold!) and she pulled me in to audition for Susie. I did a zoom with her, our casting director David Rubin and I think, possibly, Eva Anderson, one of our executive producers/ writers. I remember reading the breakdown and thinking, “it’s Hollywood gold, it shoots in LA, there’s no way I’ll ever get it”, so was very surprised when Dearbh texted me to tell me I’d got the part. (She did actually call first, but I couldn’t answer because I was on hold to the council tax people and didn’t want to jump out of the queue I’d been waiting in for hours. The paradoxical nature of life, eh?).
Who was the first person you texted when you found out you’d be working with that cast?
TG: My agent, Rebecca. She’s my biggest champion and I, hers. I always slightly envy other departments’ abilities to move together from job to job, choosing to stick together and develop over time, learning each other’s ways of working and growing as teams. I don’t necessarily get to pick who I work with, so for me, Rebecca is my team, she is my constant. We move together, crafting a career, deciding which move to make next. I’m constantly learning from her, she sees all of the highs, lows and inbetweens and I couldn’t do it without her. Nor would I want to.
From Elle Fanning and Michelle Pfeiffer to Nick Offerman and Nicole Kidman, this cast is extraordinary. What was it like being on set with them, and did you pick up anything from them along the way?
TG: It was extremely surreal. There’s a photo of Michelle, Nicole, Marcia Gay Harden (LEGEND) and I playing Rummikub between takes with some of our crew (ALSO LEGENDS) and every time I see it, it makes me chuckle in pure bewilderment. I grew up admiring their work and wondering what it would be like to be on set and there we are, sitting in collapsible chairs playing a little game on a collapsible table on a courtroom build in a Hollywood stage. I think I asked Nicole that very same day, “does it ever get old?”, and she smiled and said very simply and astutely, “never”. They’re all incredibly hard workers and very willing to share their knowledge so I feel like I picked up an even bigger want to stay hungry and try to do good. I also picked up a lot of baseball knowledge from Nick and an appetite for woodworking.
Left: jacket FENG CHEN WANG, shirt THE SHIRT COMPANY, tie Stylist’s Own • Right: shoes DUKE + DEXTER, socks Stylist’s Own
The scenes between Susie and Margo have such a joyful energy. How fast did you and Elle find that chemistry?
TG: Rufi Thorpe, the author of the book, created such a vibrant world for these characters to live in and David, Eva and our team of writers did an incredible job of adapting that for screen. When it’s so good on the page, it makes our job as actors very easy! And I mean, it’s Elle Fanning, she’s impossible not to fall in love with. She’s so intelligent and easy going and funny and bold and always has her thumb on the pulse. I so admire her and she’s a brilliant actor to share scenes with.
TG: How much of Susie is you, and how much of her was a world you had to build from scratch?
Susie is the greatest team effort. I have to credit Eva Anderson especially with infusing so much of Susie’s weird, whimsy and wonderfulness. And of course, our cosplaying elf wouldn’t be who she is without the things she wears and how she chooses to present herself. Mirren Gordon Crozier (Costume Designer), Jaime Leigh McIntosh (Hair Designer) and Erin Ayanian (Make Up Designer) were pivotal to bringing her to life and especially Celeste Gonzalez, my hair artist who would produce a new 3D printed dragon or piece of moss or Etsy found hairpiece on the daily. Getting to watch her work was a true honour and I loved how much the teams incorporated small business and crafters into Susie. I’m an avid crocheter too, so we made that a part of Susie (Bodhi’s blanket is made by her) and on the Shadowheart costume Mirren designed crochet chainmail which I thought was a really sweet touch. It also boasts armour made from tin can caps that she collected from crew members to then stick onto Susie’s chestplate and our props master Drew produced a relic that lit up at the press of a button and a cardboard spear. It was such a fun and collaborative experience.
Susie is a big pro wrestling fan in the show. Did you know much about that world before?
TG: I didn’t really so it was great fun for me to explore that world. I think for Susie, it’s the storytelling and character of it all that she adores and finds safety in and my relation to that, is my love for F1. Watching a team come together to work towards a shared goal, the stories that unfold over a season and I really love rooting for an underdog. I draw a lot of parallels between that and Margo’s Got Money Troubles. A bunch of people who others have written off, coming together to try and fight for the championship. We may have 0 sponsorship money and terrible straight line speed but we’re good in the corners and have a car that we trust and are constantly developing. If there’s a gap, we’ll go for it and even if we start 22nd on every given Sunday, we’ve still got two cars in play at the highest level of the sport and that’s a pretty damn good achievement. We keep pushing, we keep developing and ultimately, we’ll come out of it all a lot stronger.
In real life, would you ever do a house share like Susie's?
TG: I love babies, I love Nick Offerman and I love Elle Fanning … so yes.
Now that Season 2 is confirmed, how did it feel hearing the show is continuing, and what do you hope we get to see from Susie next?
TG: I’m absolutely delighted for everyone involved in making this show that Season 2 has been confirmed. We worked so hard and had so much fun doing it, it makes me incredibly happy to think of returning to it. It really feels like going home to family. I hope we see more of Jinx and Susie, I love their friendship so much and I hope that she continues to be unapologetic in her choice of outfits! Maybe Jinx could train her up to be a pro wrestler …
Left: jacket & shirt TOGA VIRLIS, dress NAYA REA, jeans MASHA POPOVA, shoes HEAVEN BY MARC JACOBS • Right: jeans ACNE STUDIOS, glasses ANN ANDELMAN, t-shirt Thaddea’s Own from ‘Margo's Got Money Troubles’ Costume Department
You share your music online, which feels really personal. What does it mean to you?
TG: I write/compose alone and so I suppose I feel like there’s more autonomy over my music than what acting currently allows. I’d love to find other musicians to play with though on the regular. Connecting with people through music is one of the greatest feelings in the world. Anyone with a bodhrán, fiddle, piano, uilleann pipes or tin whistle, hit me up, let’s jam. Also, anyone with an orchestra, I’d love to learn to conduct please and thank you in advance!
What’s the dream role you really want next that hasn’t happened yet?
TG: I’d really love to do something musical or an animation. Anything where I get to hone a skill is my idea of heaven. Finding yourself in a lesson with people in the top of their field is such a luxury and privilege of my job and I love learning so I like being challenged like that and getting to apply myself in different ways.
Is there anything you’re obsessed with right now outside of acting and work, just something that makes you happy?
TG: I’m very lucky to have great people in my life that I love a lot so getting to spend time with them always makes me very happy. Pootling about with no hard plans, finding beer gardens and ice cream, little day trips to the country where you can switch off and unwind or going camping and sitting round the fire as the sun sets. I also love a museum or an exhibition. There’s quite a lot of babies appearing in my circle too and it brings me a lot of joy to watch them discover the world around them. They also smell amazing.
What’s a childhood memory that is still really vivid for you, something that shaped who you are today?
TG: It’s kind of a culmination of my days in my secondary school music room in structured lessons but also lunchtimes, break times and after school spent in rehearsals for choir, or just being there because it was my favourite place to be. I was taught by two brilliant women with very different styles of teaching who instilled in me the fundamentals of music and the technology I could use to record and compose. They taught me beyond what the curriculum called for, gave me confidence and encouragement, readied me for the world that lay beyond those four walls and provided a safe place to go during my teenage years that has all hugely shaped who I am today. So, here’s to you Mrs Ross and Mrs Burch, and in the words of ABBA … thank you for the music.
Did you always know you wanted to act, or was there a moment when it suddenly clicked for you?
TG: At drama school, my head of acting, Gareth Farr, told us about a play he did based on real life, where his character was working in a submarine and was in charge of communicating messages from land to the crew onboard. A man came up to him after the show and said, “that was me you were playing. That’s my story”. So, no matter how far fetched something looks in a script, whether you’re flying through space in a Tardis, in college at Fullerton with a baby for a roommate, running through Victorian streets in search of Sherlock Holmes or a sex therapist making a music video to gain votes in the school election, you never know whose story you’re actually telling, whose life you’re depicting and it’s our job to handle it with honesty and care. There are certainly shows and plays I’ve seen, books I’ve read, songs I’ve heard, that have knocked me for six with how seen they made me feel. How they put words to things I’m still figuring out or thought nobody else would ever understand. To think that I might be able to give that same experience to someone, even just once, is amazing. I’m not sure there’s a singular moment where it all “clicked”, I feel like I learn from every project and hopefully can take that into the next, but in everything I do, I try to find the heart and I will continue to keep chasing it.
Left: shirt THE SHIRT COMPANY, jumper PEREGRINE • Right: top & bottom MASHA POPOVA, shoes HEAVEN BY MARC JACOBS
This PIBE exclusive has been produced by:
Photography / Elliott Wilcox
Styling / Jaime Jarvis
Makeup / Lan Nguyen Grealis using VIEVE
Hair / Wilson Fok using Sam McKnight
Talent / Thaddea Graham
