Emmys 2025 live updates: Adolescence, The Studio and The Pitt dominate Emmy Awards

With his performance in Netflix’s hard-hitting drama Adolescence, Owen Cooper, 15, has become the youngest ever male Emmy winner.

The Warrington-born actor was only 14 when the four-part British series was filmed.

Adolescence shows the aftermath of the stabbing of a teenage girl, with a 13-year-old boy from her school arrested for her murder. But what won it sweeping critical acclaim was its exploration of social media-fuelled misogyny among teenage boys.

And Cooper, who plays the young suspect Jamie, delivers what critics described as an “astonishing” and “truly remarkable performance”.

In a Netflix interview, casting director Shaheen Baig recalled seeing Owen’s improvised tape and thinking: “He looks great on camera, but also his improv was really smart. It felt very natural.”

Cooper first became interested in acting at around the age of 10. He attended weekly acting classes for two years in Didsbury, Manchester – though until Adolescence he did not have any TV or film credits to his name.

Image source, Getty Images

“I asked my mum and dad if I could start going to drama classes, and I think they were a bit shocked by it because I’ve always wanted to become a footballer,” he said in a Netflix interview.

Cooper broke the record previously held by Scott Jacoby, who was 16 years old when he won an Emmy in 1973 for That Certain Summer.

Read more about Owen Cooper’s journey here.