At just 15 years old, British child actor Owen Cooper has made history as the youngest ever male actor to win an Emmy.
On Sunday, Cooper took home the trophy for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie for his role in Netflix’s gripping and affecting limited series Adolescence, about a school-aged boy who’s arrested for the murder of a classmate.
He had been nominated in the category alongside his co-star Ashley Walters, Javier Bardem (Monsters: The Lyle And Erik Menendez Story), Bill Camp (Presumed Innocent), Rob Delaney (Dying For Sex), and Peter Sarsgaard (Presumed Innocent).
“Standing up here is so surreal,” Cooper said as he took the stage to accept the award. “Honestly, when I started these drama classes a couple of years back, I didn’t even expect to be in the United States, never mind here.”
He continued: “But I think tonight proves that if you listen, and you focus and you step out of your comfort zone, you can achieve anything in life.
“Like I was nothing about three years ago; I’m here now. So I think if you’re listening and you’re focusing, you’re just stepping out of your comfort zone a little bit, who cares if you get embarrassed, you know. Anything can be possible.”
He extended his gratitude to his “parents – my mum, my dad, my family – the ones who love me and the ones I love,” as well as the show’s creators, Jack Thorne and Stephen Graham, the latter of whom also led the series, and co-stars Walters and Erin Doherty.
“Oh my God, I could go on forever. It may have my name on this award,” he noted, lifting the statuette, “but it really belongs to the people behind the camera.”
Cooper’s performance as 13-year-old Jamie Miller in the acclaimed series marked his first onscreen role. Adolescence, which debuted on the streaming giant in March, became a sleeper, word-of-mouth hit. In June, it surpassed Stranger Things to become Netflix’s second most-watched English-language TV series with 141.2 million total views.
Doherty, who starred in the show’s third episode as child psychologist Briony Ariston, also won the corresponding category for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie.
“It’s so intense,” Doherty told The Independent in March about the show. “When the trailer dropped, all of my family were like ‘Oh my God, I don’t know if I’m going to be able to watch this.’ It’s so heavy, but so important.”
