Get the 411 on Owen Cooper, star of the hot new Netflix series Adolescence.
In Adolescence, a 13-year-old boy is the prime suspect in a murder case. The four-episode series unravels the drama in real time and a single, continuous shot. Owen Cooper portrays Jamie Miller, the young man accused of the crime.
Biography Facts About Owen Coope, Star of Netflix's Adolescence
Owen Cooper Wanted To Be a Footballer Growing Up
Before starring in Adolescence, 15-year-old Owen Cooper had his sights set on the pitch. As an avid football enthusiast and die-hard Liverpool Football Club fan, Cooper dreamed of getting in on the action himself.
Variety inquired as to whether he had done any acting prior to the Netflix show, and Cooper, perhaps unsurprisingly, said no:
"Literally nothing. I only really wanted to start acting a couple of years ago. It’s not been long. I grew up wanting to be a footballer."
Also speaking to Liverpool Echo, the young actor quickly drew distinctions between himself and his Adolescence character, Jamie, regarding their athleticism:
"I'd say he's a lot different to me because stuff that happens online I don't really get involved with. I don't think Jamie's sporty at all, which is the complete opposite to me. I play football for the school team and I play outside of school, too."
Owen Does Acting Lessons With Drama Mob Theater
Cooper pursued training in acting at a school in Manchester called The Drama Mob (which, despite its name, is not a place for mafiosos to express their creative side).
As Owen Cooper explained to Variety, he initially approached acting as more of a hobby:
"It’s an agency called The Drama Mob. And the lessons were just hourly lessons on a Tuesday where we’d get a piece of script and just read it off. But I was just doing it for a hobby and didn’t expect much from it. And then when ‘Adolescence’ came, I obviously took it a lot more seriously. And I just took it on the chin really, and just did it."
Owen’s Family Isn’t in the Creative Field
Everyone in Owen Cooper’s immediate family seems to have chosen vastly different career paths to his own, which he relayed to Liverpool Echo:
"Both of my brothers are electricians and my mum's a carer. My dad works in IT. So, I've no clue where it comes from."
Owen Found Adolescence Episode 3 the Most Challenging
Out of Adolescence’s four episodes, Cooper had the most difficult time with the third, due to the challenge he experienced wrapping his head around Jamie’s views and treatment of women (via Metro):
"The most challenging part for me was I did episode three first, and it was just trying to get into Jamie’s head about girls and stuff. That aspect of it was a bit difficult at first, but then I got comfortable with it, and then with the help of Stephen and Phil [director Philip Barantini] and Erin, they helped me into it. But I’ll probably say his view on other people is the most challenging part of Jamie to play."
Cooper hopes that the silver lining of his character’s incel-like behavior will spur the parents who watch Adolescence to keep a closer eye on their kids:
"I hope that to the parents it’ll open an eye to them, definitely. Kids’ social media is them. It’s their personal life, but you never know what your child’s doing online, especially with Jamie."
Owen Will Next Star in Wuthering Heights
Next on Owen Cooper’s docket is a film adaptation of Emily Brontë‘s iconic novel Wuthering Heights. Promising Young Woman director and Academy Award winner Emerald Fennell will direct the movie.
Cooper stars alongside Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi, and, as he remarked to Variety, he enjoyed his time on set:
"Not quite, we’ve got another couple of weeks left. But it’s been going really well. I’ve really enjoyed it. Obviously it not one-shot anymore! So I’m getting used to that. But it’s been amazing. Emerald’s lovely."
He also revealed that his performance in Adolescence is what won him his Wuthering Heights role:
"Yeah, Stephen recommended me his agent. So Maddi [Bonura, from Independent Talent] came and watch a bit of episode one, and I got ‘Wuthering Heights’ from that!"
Cooper noted he had fun connecting with his co-stars:
"Yeah, we’d always speak in the makeup chair. Jacob’s lovely. He’s always chatting to everyone. And same as Margot. Margot is lovely as well."
How To Follow Owen Cooper Online
Fans can catch Owen Cooper on Instagram.
Adolescence is streaming on Netflix. Read about the rest of Adolescence’s cast here.
