Adolescence has continued to wow audiences as the show’s 15-year-old star, Owen Cooper, has landed a 2025 Emmy nomination for his role of teen murderer Jamie Miller.
It means the young British actor becomes the youngest nominee in the history of his category — best supporting actor in a limited/anthology series or TV movie — and, if he wins, Cooper would be the youngest male winner of any acting Emmy ever.
Cooper was a cover star for The Hollywood Reporter when the series flew to the top of Netflix‘s charts upon its March release. It is the second most-watched Netflix show of all time, right behind Wednesday, notching up over 540 million hours of viewing time. Adolescence is also the most-watched U.K. title ever on the platform, following in the footsteps of Richard Gadd’s Baby Reindeer with its focus on British talent and storytelling.
The show is unrelenting and across four episodes (each filmed in one, consecutive shot) follows Cooper as 13-year-old Jamie who is arrested on suspicion of murder. Stephen Graham stars as his father, Eddie, and also picked up an Emmy nomination for best actor in a limited/anthology series or TV movie on Tuesday. Christine Tremarco plays Jamie’s mother, Manda, and Ashley Walters is Detective Inspector Luke Bascombe.
Viewers are party to every grisly detail of the investigation: Cooper’s character strip-searched and interrogated, the police attempting to piece together a motive for the stabbing of a classmate, Katie, and in episode three, a terrific Cooper battles with child psychologist (Erin Doherty) sent to assess him. In the final episode, we are left with a portrait of a family ruined by the crime as Jamie’s relatives reevaluate every parental decision that led to this life-altering event.
The show kickstarted a global conversation on the online “manosphere” as it became clear that Jamie’s time on the internet has shaped a radicalized, rageful teenager.
“He could have been more protected,” Cooper told THR about playing Jamie and whether his character could have been saved. “He’s speaking to the wrong people online, which his family obviously has no idea about. Eddie and his mum could have just told him to come off [his phone]. Simple things like that could stop someone changing their life.”
Erin Doherty as Briony Ariston with Owen Cooper as Jamie Miller in Adolescence.
Ben Blackall/Netflix
Cooper and Doherty also spoke in depth about their push-and-pull third episode where Doherty’s psychologist realizes the scale of Jamie’s online indoctrination. “We were then throwing even more things at each other,” she told the teenager. “You were yawning in my face! You wouldn’t have done that if you didn’t [feel free]. I just feel like there was an element of great realism: ‘Let’s see how well we know this script, how well we can push each other.’”
Cooper added about his spontaneity while filming: “I wasn’t even aware in the moment. It wasn’t till after that I was like, ‘Oh, yeah, I did that. I had no awareness of it. I think when I said, ‘Look at me now!’ That’s not in the script. I remember thinking, ‘Have I actually just said that?’ Because I had no plan. It just popped in my head and I thought it was a powerful thing to do. Then it came out and I’d use it in every other take.”
See the full list of the 2025 Emmys nominations here.
www.hollywoodreporter.com
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