At just 15 years old, Owen Cooper has stepped onto one of the world’s biggest stages, the Emmys, and made television history in the process. On September 14, 2025, at the seventy-seventh Primetime Emmy Awards, Cooper won Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie for his performance in Netflix’s Adolescence, becoming the youngest male actor ever to win a Primetime Emmy in any acting category.
This was Cooper’s first professional role. He was cast as Jamie Miller, a 13-year-old who is accused of murdering a classmate. Casting director Shaheen Baig said what set Cooper apart was his ability to improvise with intelligence and emotional depth: “His improv was really smart … It felt very natural. We needed somebody with the emotional register to be able to play Jamie.”
Owen Cooper’s path to the Emmys began at a grassroots drama program in Manchester, where he attended weekly acting classes. Cooper, recalling walking onto set for the first time, says, “It was like walking off a plane on holiday and feeling the warm air.” He was so eager to film that he would wake up two hours early and eagerly go to the set. In his speech, he emphasizes the importance of pushing back fears, stating: “If you listen and you focus and you step out of your comfort zone, you can achieve. You can achieve anything in life.”
For Cooper, the Emmy is not an endpoint but rather a launching pad. He is already set to appear as Young Heathcliff in Emerald Fennell’s upcoming adaptation of Wuthering Heights, due in 2026. During his acceptance speech, Cooper said: "Standing up here is just, wow, it's just so surreal.” At just 15, he is not just the youngest male Emmy winner in history; he is also a reminder that the next generation of talent is already here.