‘Adolescence’ star Owen Cooper makes Emmys history as youngest-ever male winner in any acting category

Adolescence breakout Owen Cooper has made history as the youngest-ever male Emmy winner in any acting category during Sunday’s 2025 Emmys.

At just 15, the British star becomes the first of his age to manage such a feat after winning best supporting actor in a limited/anthology series or TV movie Sunday night. The previous record holder was Scott Jacoby, who was 16 years old when he won a Primetime Emmy in 1973 for his role in That Certain Summer.

“Standing up here… wow this is so surreal” Cooper said while picking up the award in downtown Los Angeles. “Tonight proves that if you listen and you focus and you step out of your comfort you can achieve anything in life.”

“I was nothing about three years ago, I’m here now,” he added. “It may have my name on this award but it really belongs to the people behind the camera and all the cast.”

Cooper captivated audiences as teen murderer Jamie Miller in Netflix’s Adolescence, each episode filmed across one consecutive take, also starring Stephen Graham, Christine Tremarco, Erin Doherty and Ashley Walters.

The teenager 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, 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 kickstarted a global conversation on the online “manosphere” as it became clear that Jamie’s time on the internet had shaped a radicalized, rageful teenager capable of committing a murder on a female classmate.

“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.”

Cooper and his co-star 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.”

Source: The Hollywood Reporter
--Agencies