Adolescence won big at the Emmys, but it's Owen Cooper who'll go down in history

Straight off the back of his National Television Awards (NTA) win for his role in Adolescence on September 10, Owen Cooper has made Emmys history.

At the 77th Primetime Emmy Awards, the 15-year-old British actor became the youngest ever actor to win the Emmy for best supporting actor in a limited series – the record was previously held by Scott Jacoby, who was 16 when he won an Emmy for That Certain Summer in 1973.

Owen Cooper was just 14 when Adolescence was filmed, and the series is his first professional acting credit.

He took the role of Jamie, a teenage boy arrested for the murder of a female classmate, in a show exploring the current real life issues of incel culture and toxic masculinity.

The young actor wasn't the only cast member who took home an award for their performance in the record-breaking series. Stephen Graham won the award for best actor in a limited series, for his role as Jamie's dad, Eddie.

Erin Doherty also won for her part as the clinical psychologist assigned to assess Jamie, taking home the trophy for best supporting actress in a limited series.

It wasn't just the cast who left with plentiful awards, with Adolescence also winning best limited series, best directing, and best writing.

During his acceptance speech, Owen said, "Standing up here is just, wow, it's just so surreal. When I started these drama classes a couple of years back, I didn't expect to even be in the United States, never mind here."

He continued, "I think tonight proves if you listen, and you focus and you step out your comfort zone, you can achieve anything in life."

"Who cares if you get embarrassed? Anything can be possible. I was nothing about three years ago; I'm here now."

He thanked everyone involved in the series, along with his family. The young star concluded, "It may have my name on this award, but it really belongs to the people behind the camera."

Stephen Graham's best actor award

During Stephen's speech, the fellow British actor reflected humbly on his working class roots, and just what the award meant to him.

"This kind of thing doesn't normally happen to a kid like me. I'm just a mixed race kid from a block of flats in a place called Kirkby," he said.

The actor continued, "So for me, to be here today in front of my peers and to be acknowledged by you is the utmost humbling thing I could ever imagine in my life, and it shows you that any dream is possible."

Owen Cooper will next appear as a young Heathcliff in Emerald Fennell's new reimagining of Wuthering Heights.

Jacob Elordi has been cast as older Heathcliff in the star-studded adaptation, which also stars Margot Robbie, Alison Oliver and Shazad Latif.

Owen found the filming process for the upcoming film quite different to the one-take nature of shooting Adolescence.

Appearing on Jimmy Kimmel's US talk show, Owen said, "In Adolescence, we’d do one take and then you’re done."

"But in Wuthering Heights, you’re crying your eyes out, smashing stuff off the wall – oh, sorry, spoiler… – and then Emerald goes, ‘can we do it again?’"

"And I’m like, ‘no…’. I’ve just, like, melted my heart out in a scene, and she’s making me do it again… but it is what it it is, isn’t it?"

Wuthering Heights will be released in February 2026.