Skip to content

Adolescence star was 'nervous' about show reaction

Rumeana JahangirNorth West
News imagePA Media Owen Cooper smiles during Graham Norton interview. He has a mop of dark curly hair and wears a dark shirt. The backdrop is an orange wall decorated with purple lozenge shapes. It is a head shot of him. PA Media
Owen Cooper says "it has been a good year" after winning praise for his performance in Adolescence

Adolescence star Owen Cooper has said he was "nervous" about what the reaction to the drama would be after reading the script for the Netflix serial, which sparked a national discussion on online safety and misogyny.

In September, the Warrington-born teenager became the youngest male actor to win an Emmy award for his portrayal of a schoolboy accused of murdering a classmate.

Speaking on BBC's Graham Norton Show, the 16-year-old said: "Straight away I thought it was going to be more than a TV show - I read the script and then heard the word 'Netflix'.

"I was nervous about what the reaction to it would be, but a week after it went out everything blew up."

The four-part serial was created by writer Jack Thorne and Merseyside-born actor Stephen Graham, who said they came up with the storyline after two real-life cases that happened within a year.

The series analyses incel culture and how it has promoted misogyny online and bullying on social media.

Shortly after its debut in March, the prime minister hosted a Downing Street meeting with the programme-makers, telling them it was "a torch that shines intensely brightly on a combination of issues that many people don't know how to respond to".

News imageBen Blackall/Netflix Still of Owen Cooper as Jamie Miller and Erin Doherty as Briony Ariston in the Adolescence drama. They sit opposite each other with a table in between in a school room with chairs and tables stacked against a wall with three windows.Ben Blackall/Netflix
The episodes were filmed in one shot, including the third episode showing the conversations between Cooper's character and a counsellor

Cooper was selected for the pivotal role after years spent at weekly drama classes in Manchester, where teachers said their "eyes were just drawn to him".

Speaking about the Emmy ceremony, where the cast and crew memorably celebrated their eight awards, he said: "It was crazy and all a bit of a blur. The amount of people I met there was insane.

"It really was the best day of my life."

He added "it has been a good year" and returning to school after the round of Adolescence promotions and award ceremonies "wasn't too bad".

"The first day back was a bit weird, but I've still got my GCSEs to do.

"I've only got about six months left and then I am gone - and then hopefully I am going to be an actor," he joked.

News imageEPA Owen Cooper, who wears a black tie over a white and a black jacket, poses with the Emmy award, which shows a golden figure holding aloft a massive globe shape. His dad, who wears a black bow tie and suit, is on the left and mum, in a red evening gown, is on the right. They pose in front of the Emmy Awards backdrop at a photocall.EPA
Owen Cooper, pictured with his parents, was 15 when he won an Emmy award in September

Cooper broke Scott Jacoby's long-held record for the youngest male Emmy winner. Jacoby was 16 when he won best actor for That Certain Summer in 1973.

The youngest Emmy winner remains Roxana Zal, who was 14 when she won a supporting actress award for Something About Amelia in 1984.

Cooper has also been nominated as best supporting male actor for a television Golden Globe, alongside his co-star Ashley Walters.

He also appears with White Lotus star Aimee Lou Wood in BBC drama Film Club, which was filmed in Cheshire and Greater Manchester, and is also due to appear on the big screen as a young Heathcliff in Emerald Fennell's Wuthering Heights adaptation, with Australian stars Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi.

The full interview will air on The Graham Norton Show on New Year's Eve at 22:30 GMT on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.

Read more stories from Cheshire on the BBC, watch BBC North West Tonight on BBC iPlayer and follow BBC North West on X. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.

More on this story