Thaddea Graham, a 29-year-old actress raised in Northern Ireland after being adopted from China as an infant, is starring in Apple TV+’s hit series Margo’s Got Money Troubles. Graham,who has also appeared in Netflix’s Sex Education, BBC’s Us, and Bad Sisters, describes her life as a “second chance at life,” according to an interview with The Times. her journey from an abandoned baby in Changsha to a Hollywood breakthrough is a story of determination and quiet defiance of industry norms.

Why Thaddea Graham refuses to say she was abandoned

Graham was left on a doorstep in Changsha, China, when she was about three days old. She was later taken to a police staation, where health checks produced an estimated age—technically a “guess,” she told The Times. At 13 months old, a couple from Belfast, Northern Ireland, adopted her, making her one of Ireland’s first international Chinese adoptees.

Although her biological parents left her, Graham deliberately avoids 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,” she told The Times. She credits a chain of strangers’ kindness for her survival and success, saying, “I always say I would not be here had it not been for the kindness of strangers.”

The Belfast teacher who normalized a Chinese adoptee’s heritage

Growing up in County Down, where the Asian population was virtually nonexistent, Graham says she never felt out of place. As The Independent reported, her schoolteachers made a conscious effort to include her heritage in the classroom. One teacher, Mrs Hanlon, gave lessons on adoption and Chinese New Year celebrations—traditions that continue at the school even after Graham left.

“I was just one of the other kids,” Graham told The Independent. “Everyone knew in a positive way about my heritage.” That early support helped Graham develop a dual identity she now jokes about: “the luck of both the Irish and the Chinese.”

The ‘intense’ casting of The Irregulars: When Asian heritage clashed with period drama expectations

Graham’s first leading role came in Netflix’s The Irregulars, a fantasy reimagining of Sherlock Holmes set in Victorian England. She found the project “intense” because her Asian heritage did not fit the stereotype of a period-drama lead, according to the source article. The experience highlights a broader industry issue: Asian actors remain underrepresented in historical European settings, and when they are cast, they often face extra scrutiny.

Despite the challenge, Graham has built an impressive portfolio. After studying at ArtsEd in Chiswick, she made her screen debut in CBBC’s The Sparticle Mystery and later appeared in Sky One’s Curfew opposite Miranda Richardson. Her role in The Irregulars included steamy scenes with co-star Harrison Osterfield, but it was the offscreen weight of representation that left the deepest impression.

The guesswork behind her birth date and her parents’ decision

Several details of Graham’s origin story remain officially uncertain. Her exact birth date is technically a “guess” because health checks after she was found could only estimate her age.. And while Graham interprets her birth parents’ choice as one made with care—leaving her in a place where someone would find her—the source does not provide any further evidence or testimony from them. that gap leaves open questions about their circumstances, motivations, and whether Graham might ever learn more about them.