This week, Owen Cooper made history as the youngest male to ever win an Emmy for his role in Adolescence.
In his acceptance speech, the 15-year-old thanked his family, his co-stars and the production crew and said that it might be his name on the award but “it really belongs to the people behind the camera”.
“When I started these drama classes a couple of years back, I didn’t expect to even be in the United States, never mind here,” he said. “I think tonight proves if you listen, and you focus and you step out your comfort zone, you can achieve anything in life.
“Who cares if you get embarrassed? Anything can be possible. I was nothing about three years ago, I’m here now.”
Here’s everything we know about Adolescence’s Owen Cooper:
Where is Owen Cooper from?
Owen grew up in Warrington in the UK. He lives there with his mum Noreen, who works as a carer, and his dad Andy, who works in IT.
How did Owen Cooper land his role in Adolescence?
Owen had been attending classes at Drama Mob in Manchester, which is about 32 kilometres away from Warrington, for a few years before he was cast in Adolescence.
When Netflix was casting for the series, the production crew approached the school and asked to see tapes of their “strongest northern boys”.
“They kept coming back for Owen,” Esther Morgan from Drama Mob told Netflix Tudum.
Adolescence’s casting director Shaheen Baig said it was apparent from his audition tape that Owen was a “natural”.
“Owen sent us an improv tape, and I remember first watching that, and thinking, ‘OK. He looks great on camera, but also his improv was really smart’,” she said.
“It felt very natural. We obviously knew we had to make up a family, and we knew we had to find somebody who could play Stephen’s son, but apart from that, it was completely wide open. It was really [about] trying to find somebody with the emotional register to be able to play Jamie.”
The show’s director Philip Baranti told Variety Owen “blew him away”.
“He just absolutely blew me away. Actors train for years and years and still can’t really master what Owen has mastered, which is basically just being in the moment and listening and being truthful,” he said.
“l’ve obviously worked with a lot of actors in my time as an actor and as a director and a lot of actors can’t do what he can do. He doesn’t even realise it! He’s so blasé.”
How old was Owen Cooper when he filmed Adolescence?
Owen was just 14 years old when he played the role of 13-year-old Jamie Miller in Adolescence. He’s now 15.
How much money did Owen Cooper make from Adolescence?
According to Theatre News, lead actors in UK dramas typically earn between $AUD30,000 and $AUD100,000 per episode. With four episodes, that means Stephen Graham would have earned around $400,000 for Adolescence.
Meanwhile, they estimated that Owen would have earned around $20,000 for his first role.
What did Leonardo DiCaprio say about Owen Cooper?
Hollywood heavyweight Leonardo DiCaprio reached out to Owen to praise his acting ability after he watched the series.
“He was saying, ‘Hey, Owen, I’m such a massive fan of Adolescence,‘” the 15-year-old recalled during an appearance on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. “And I was like ‘What?!'”
Jimmy then brought up how people had been comparing Owen to Leo and Robert De Niro.
“It’s weird to be honest,” the teenager replied. “I think, to me, just a normal kid from Warrington, to even be in the same conversation as Robert De Niro is crazy.”
Leonardo is not the only Hollywood actor Owen has impressed.
Before his Emmys win, Owen had spoken about his wish to meet fellow Emmy nominee Jake Gyllenhaal. On the red carpet, the seasoned actor greeted the teenager with a gift — a “lucky duck”, to match one a friend of Jake’s sent him when he was nominated for an Oscar for Brokeback Mountain.
“I made this movie [Brokeback Mountain], and I got nominated for an Academy Award, and a friend of mine sent me this before. Something just like this,” Jake said.
“It’s just a ‘lucky duck’ to keep in your pocket,” he continued. “To give you a little bit of luck.”
What is Owen Cooper doing now?
After the wild success of Adolescence, Owen has already lined up his next role. He will be playing a young Heathcliff in Emerald Fennell’s Wuthering Height alongside Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi, as per Variety.
The young star also has his sights set on the Marvel Universe, saying in a interview with i-D Magazine: “I want to play Spider-Man.”
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