Owen Cooper

Cooper grew up in Warrington, Cheshire, where his mother worked as a carer and his father worked in IT. He spent his early childhood focused on sports. He played for the Warrington Rylands under-15 football squad and aimed to become a professional footballer. His ambitions shifted after he watched Tom Holland in the 2012 disaster film The Impossible. Inspired by Holland, he enrolled in weekly acting classes at The Drama Mob, a Manchester acting school co-founded by Esther Morgan and Coronation Street actress Tina O'Brien.

His lessons were initially a weekend hobby. When casting directors began searching for an unknown northern English actor for Adolescence, co-creator Stephen Graham scouted talent through local drama groups. Production representatives visited The Drama Mob to review audition tapes. Cooper was selected from over 500 hopefuls to play the lead role of a 13-year-old accused of murder. Filming ran from July to October 2024.

Released in March 2025, Adolescence became a global success. Cooper earned critical acclaim for his one-shot scenes alongside Stephen Graham, who played his father. During filming in a police cell set, Graham coached him between takes.

Cooper won major television awards across the 2025 and 2026 seasons. At age 15, he won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie. He became the youngest male actor in Emmy history to win an acting prize. He followed with wins at the Golden Globe Awards, the British Academy Television Awards, the Critics' Choice Television Awards, the Gotham TV Awards, and the Actor Awards.

In May 2025, Cooper appeared in the music video for Sam Fender's single "Little Bit Closer". He then joined the cast of the BBC Three comedy-drama series Film Club, portraying Callum alongside Aimee Lou Wood.

Cooper also filmed the feature Cry to Heaven, playing Domenico. Outside of acting, the lifelong Liverpool FC supporter narrated the club's 2026 kit campaign and played in Soccer Aid 2026.