Fifteen-year-old Adolescence star Owen Cooper has made history as the youngest ever actor to win the Emmy for best supporting actor in a limited series.
The actor was just 14 when Adolescence was filmed and the show is his first professional credit. Cooper played Jamie, a teenage boy arrested for the murder of a female classmate.
The series earned a whopping 140 million views in its first three months on Netflix, with each episode filmed in one continuous take. The show sparked a global conversation about the relationship between online “incel” culture and real-world harm.
“Honestly, when I started these drama classes a couple years back, I didn’t expect to be even in the United States, never mind here,” Cooper said on stage.
He thanked his family, as well as his co-star and the show’s co-creator, actor Stephen Graham: “It may have my name on this award, but it really belongs to the people behind the camera and Stephen and … all the cast.”
Cooper is one of the youngest ever Emmy winners: the record is held by actor Roxana Zal, who was 14 years old in 1984 when she won for her role in the television movie Something About Amelia.
Cooper was up against his Adolescence co-star Ashley Walters, Javier Bardem for Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, Bill Camp and Peter Sarsgaard for Presumed Innocent and Rob Delaney for Dying for Sex.
Before the ceremony, Cooper had spoken about his wish to meet fellow Emmy nominee Jake Gyllenhaal. On the red carpet, the actor surprised Cooper with a gift – a “lucky duck”, to match one a friend of Gyllenhaal’s sent him when he was nominated for an Oscar for Brokeback Mountain.
“It’s just a ‘lucky duck’ to keep in your pocket,” Gyllenhaal said. “To give you a little bit of luck.”
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At Sunday’s ceremony, Adolescence also won best limited series, best directing, best writing, best actor in a limited series for Graham, who plays Jamie’s father Eddie; and best supporting actress in a limited series for Erin Doherty, who plays the forensic psychologist who evaluates Jamie in a youth detention facility.
“We never expected our little programme to have such a big impact,” said Graham, while accepting the Emmy for writing with his co-creator and writer Jack Thorne. – Guardian