Owen Cooper, star of the new Netflix miniseries Adolescence, never expected to become an actor. Growing up in Warrington, an English industrial town between Liverpool and Manchester, Cooper, like many young boys his age, merely had dreams of becoming a footballer.
But in Adolescence, Cooper delivers one of the most revelatory performances of a teenager in recent memory, starring as Jamie Miller, a 13-year-old who is arrested for stabbing a female classmate to death. Each of the four episodes is shot in one exposing, affecting take — the kind of daunting challenge that would stop any experienced actor dead in their tracks. When he landed the role at age 14, Cooper, whose only acting training consisted of taking classes at the Drama Mob drama school in Manchester, had never acted professionally before.
“Jamie’s just a normal 13-year-old boy. He’s got a nice, loving family. So, obviously, something like [murder] isn’t normal for him and his family — and that’s why it’s so brilliantly written,” Cooper, now 15, tells Teen Vogue. “I felt like I had a big responsibility, because it is a difficult role and the subject matter is very intense. To be honest, we did episode 3 first, so I just did what I was told. I didn’t look at it as challenging or as dark and intense. I just did what was in the script. And by [the time we shot] episode 1, I understood the seriousness and intense moments of the whole series.”
Since the show’s premiere earlier this month, Adolescence has been lauded for its unflinching and terrifying depiction of how incel culture, bullying and casual misogyny can motivate vulnerable young men, in particular, to commit an unthinkable act that will change the lives of the people around them forever. Earlier this week, after topping the Netflix charts in over 80 countries and racking up over 66.3 million views, Adolescence became the first streaming series to top the U.K.’s weekly TV ratings.
“Adolescence is obviously a big achievement of mine, and I’m so proud of everything that’s happened from it, but I’m just not really that locked into [the attention],” Cooper says, clearly still in the nascent stages of understanding and accepting just how quickly his life has changed.
Speaking on a recent video call after wrapping another day of production on Emerald Fennell’s new film adaptation of Wuthering Heights — in which he plays a younger version of Jacob Elordi’s character, Heathcliff — Cooper was poised and forthright. Below, the teen phenom opens up about the making of Adolescence, the real-life lessons that can be gleaned from this cautionary tale — and how he feels about being compared to a young Tom Holland, whose film The Impossible, which Cooper considers a family favorite, unwittingly planted the seed of acting in the back of his mind.
Owen Cooper: Well, in episode 3, there wasn’t [any preparation]; I would just fly into it. But in episode 1, there was. Stephen [Graham, who co-created the series and plays Jamie’s father Eddie] told me in rehearsals — actually, was it in rehearsal? It might have been a shooting week, I don’t know. But it was me and him in a cell on our own, and he scruffed me up and went, “You’re never going to see your mum again. You’re never going to see your dad again. You’re never going to see your friends again.” And from then on, I just got into that role.
In episode 1, before the police came in, I would repeat what he said over and over again. [With] the police officer that comes into my room and puts the gun up, I’d always come up to him beforehand and say, “Proper, proper, scare me.” Because with the gunshot, if you’re not in [the one take] from the start, you can’t be in it for the rest. So I would insist on him properly scaring me from the start, and if he didn’t do that, I wouldn’t have been able to get into that emotion. I can’t remember his name, but that police officer was the reason why I got into that emotion in that episode.
OC: [With] Phil Barantini, the director, we’d do note sessions in between takes. So he would say, “Oh, you could try this, say this differently.” I know every director does that, but everything I took away from that was put into the performance and that’s what made it so good. Phil didn’t give that much direction towards Erin [Doherty, who plays psychiatrist Briony Ariston in episode 3], because Erin has got a reputation of being a wonderful actor. All the notes were directed to me, because Erin would bounce off that and she would react straight away.
We had three weeks per episode — the first week would be rehearsing just the actors and the movements and all that; the second week would be rehearsing with a camera; and then by the third week of episode three, for me and Erin, the lines were just in our head. We didn’t really care about the lines; we were just playing with it every time. And it was like that with every episode.
OC: It was definitely right off the bat that we clicked, and Erin was literally the first ever actor I’ve worked with, and to work with her was a dream, really. It was like we’re just talking in a room. It’s not like we’re getting filmed by a camera and we’re going on Netflix. It was just me and Erin talking in a room. And in the rehearsals, the bit where I get up to her [face] and make a jump, that was the bit where in rehearsals, I just couldn’t do that. It was so out of my comfort zone. But all of them would just help me and make me feel comfortable about it, and that was what I needed. I could not have done episode 3 without them.
OC: Obviously, the camera was in the back of my mind, but it was like there wasn’t a camera at all. I don’t know why I’ve not said this in any other interviews, but I remembered it the other day and I was like, “I should have said that!” I don’t know if it was [cinematographer and camera operator] Matt Lewis, because I don’t look at the cameraman while I’m filming — [but] it must have been Matt. In episode 3, when Erin moves her chair to the side of me, and then I have space to stretch my legs out, I do that, and then when my legs are too far across the table, he taps my foot to tell me to move. And every time, that would put me off my lines. [Laughs.] So that’s what Matt would do to make him feel present in the room, because I didn’t really care about the camera at the time. That was one of the moments [which] took me out a little bit, but it was funny.
OC: There’s a different emotion in Jamie every 20 seconds in Adolescence. So what was amazing to do was get to those levels, and I’m so glad I did it because I’m the [type of] person who would beat myself up if I didn’t do it right, especially in episode 1. But in episode 3, to get to the anger and the rage, it was obviously important. I love them bits — they’re my favorite parts of the episode — because I can really show off what I can do. Erin was the one who got me to them places — well, I should say Briony. She was poking at Jamie for the whole hour, and those bits where I’m shouting and screaming, that’s what I couldn’t wait to do in every take. So them bits are good. I liked them.
OC: It was definitely at the end when she says she’s never going to come back, because in Jamie’s head, he wants Briony to like him, but that’s not what’s happened. He’s made Briony upset, and Jamie realizes that he’s got no one around him to properly talk with and have a good conversation and a laugh with. When Briony’s gone, he’s got no one. He’s not got his family. He can only ring his dad once a week. He’s got no friends. He’s got no one in there that he can properly connect with after Briony’s gone. So I think when Briony says she’s leaving, that’s when Jamie gets really, really upset.
OC: Yes! I was waiting for the last day, to be fair, but it was such a good episode to work on. I was so excited for the last take, and I was thinking to myself beforehand, “I’m never, ever, ever going to be able to get this opportunity to do this ever again. So on this [take], I’m just going to smash it and do everything I can” — and that’s the take they used. And by the time [we did] that last take, my voice was so gone from all the screaming and shouting, and the yawn bit... That was just because I was tired. [Laughs.] I was tired, so I just yawned. And then Erin came back with a brilliant line saying, “Am I boring you?” And I don’t think Jamie would’ve laughed [in that situation]. I think that was just me laughing. So I don’t know if that was right, but it happened and it worked.
OC: Jamie’s always trying to impress his dad, and he doesn’t want to let his dad down. That’s the last thing he’d want to do. And he doesn’t have that relationship with his mum at all because he chooses his dad to be his appropriate adult instead of a trusted solicitor, so he wants his dad there and he knows what he’s done. But at the same time, he doesn’t want to believe it — and he doesn’t want his dad to believe it either. But at the end of episode 1, when he’s shown the CCTV, that was the point where Jamie’s lost that connection and that relationship with his dad — and that’s what’s so upsetting about it. He’s lost that connection and he’ll never ever, ever, ever have that connection and relationship with his dad ever again.
OC: Because if he went through the trial, that’s just proving that he’s done something really bad. I think he’s got that feeling in the back of his mind saying, “My family would be happy that I pleaded guilty. [Otherwise] I’d be lying, and then I’d get myself into more trouble and spend more time in this place.” I think Jamie’s mom thinks the same. She thinks that it’s a good thing that he’s pleading guilty. But with Eddie, it’s 13 months later, and he doesn’t want to believe it. That’s his son who’s in that place, and God knows what’s going to happen to him. He could be in danger, but there’s nothing that Eddie can do.
There’s that sense that his son’s in there on his own — and he’s here — but he still doesn’t want to believe it. He’s seen the tape, he knows what he’s done, but that’s his son. So he’s still got that sense of, “He didn’t do it, and he wouldn’t do such a thing.” But in episode 4, he’s been proven wrong and Jamie’s owned up to it. That’s what breaks his heart because now he’s finally let his son go, and Jamie’s fine. He’s gone from Eddie.
OC: I think lessons will go out to both parents and kids. Eddie says in episode 4, “Parents can’t keep an eye on their children 24/7. It’s just impossible.” But the safety of them online is a requirement. They have to be safe online, and they’ve got to enjoy being on the phone doing what they enjoy — and Jamie’s obviously not enjoying it. So [what’s needed is] that protection and making sure they’re okay, making sure they’re not doing anything wrong, and making sure they’re safe. That’s all that needs to happen, because Jamie doesn’t get asked those questions when he’s online — and that’s why he goes out to do such a horrific act. It’s an incredibly bad mistake that you can make once in your life, and it’ll ruin you for the rest of your life.
Nowadays, a knife is normal for a kid to be going around with. But Adolescence shows the consequences of even carrying a knife — not even using it — and it just shows what it can do to your life and what it can do to your family’s life. I’ve seen [co-creator] Jack Thorne saying there should be a restriction on phones, which is good because there’s people online telling young people to do things that they don’t want to do, and that’s wrong, and they shouldn’t be listening to that. So kids nowadays have got a different mindset to what kids back then did, which needs to change.
OC: The Manosphere and the emojis and the meaning behind all of them — that was a real eye-opener to me, and it’s an eye-opener to everyone watching as well because they don’t know what’s going on inside a kid’s phone or a kid’s mind. What Adolescence does is it shows what’s actually going on in the world, and people will say, “Oh, that’s not real.” But this is what’s going on in the society of today — and it’s not a lie. Jack has [done] some research, and he’s found some dark, dark, dark places on the internet. And the thing that stood out to me in the script and when I was watching it was definitely in episode 2 when Adam Bascombe was [talking] about all these emojis. I never heard of all of that stuff myself. So that was a massive shock to me, and that’s what stood out in the script.
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OC: Wuthering Heights is amazing. I’ve only got a couple of days left [of shooting], so it’s been really good working with … Well, I wouldn’t say working with Jacob and Margot [Robbie], but I’ve seen them on set, spoken to them, and they’re just normal people. They’re so nice. Emerald’s unbelievable. She’s such a nice person. And yeah, it’s going really well.
OC: I’ve seen some stuff online saying that I aim to be Spider-Man, but what is coming across there is saying, “Oh, I should be Spider-Man. I’m good enough to be Spider-Man.” That’s not true at all! I’ve not said that once. I’ve been a fan of Marvel since I was a baby, so obviously Spider-Man is a job that I aspire to do, but I’m not expecting anything. I’m going to say Spider-Man, because it’s a job that every kid wants to do, but it’s far away from me.
OC: Yeah. [Laughs.] Well, Tom is an amazing actor, so I don’t think I’m on his level. When I was younger, I definitely thought I looked like him. So, yeah, at least I looked like him. That’s a compliment. He’s a good-looking fellow.
All four episodes of Adolescence are now streaming on Netflix.
