Owen Cooper made history at the 77th Primetime Emmy Awards by winning Outstanding Performance for a Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or TV Movie at 15 years old for “Adolescence.” Going up against well-established actors like Bill Camp, Rob Delaney and Peter Sarsgaard, Cooper took the trophy home following the four-episode series’ cultural splash.
This was Cooper’s first major role as an actor, and he joins a select few as one of the youngest Emmy winners in history, including Kristy McNichol, who won Outstanding Performance for Supporting Actress in 1977 for “Family” at 15 years old; Scott Jacoby, who won Outstanding Supporting Actor for a Drama in 1973 for “That Certain Summer” at 16 years old and Roxana Zal, who won Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Special in 1984 for “Something About Amelia” at 14 years old.
“Adolescence” took the internet by storm when it was released in March 2025. The story follows 13-year-old Jamie Miller (Owen Cooper) after he is arrested for murdering his schoolmate, whom he had previously had an intense crush on. The show explores the potential outcomes and consequences that extremist ideologies and political pipelines have on young, impressionable minds, and serves as a warning to parents who are unaware of what sort of content their children are consuming behind closed doors.
Each scene in the show was filmed in one take, without any editing or cuts. Although quite ambitious, the hard work of the cast paid off, as the show scored an 8.1/10 on IMDb, a 97% on Rotten Tomatoes, and earned a total of eight Emmy awards, winning every category that it was nominated for.
Especially for such a young actor, Cooper’s performance was phenomenal. His delivery automatically grabs the viewer’s attention, and his ability to express emotion was especially compelling. Being able to portray and get into the mind of such a sick and twisted individual is a herculean task on its own, but to do it flawlessly is an entirely different ball game. Although he plays a character that is easy to hate, he also adds nuance to the archetype, and the audience is intrinsically entranced by his raw talent.
The third episode is undoubtedly the highlight of the series, as the main character meets with a psychologist to give more context to his complex feelings toward his victim. Throughout the episode, Jamie has multiple breakdowns and goes in and out of a fit of rage. It was a staggering moment that perfectly showed Cooper’s strongest acting abilities of the whole show, making the watcher truly believe that he is evil.
Many are excited to see what is next for Cooper’s career, and from the looks of it, he’s just getting started. He is set to play a role in “Wuthering Heights” (2026) with Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi, and fans can’t wait to see how he transforms into this role.