Meet the 15-year-old star of Netflix’s Adolescence hailed the ‘Lionel Messi of acting’

Adolescence has only just launched on Netflix, and the haunting four-part crime drama is already blowing audiences away.

This engrossing series boasts a stellar cast of acting legends including Stephen Graham, Ashley Walters and Erin Doherty, as well as an immersive one-shot filming technique where each episode consists of a single take.

However, one of the standout elements of the show is the performance by breakout star Owen Cooper, who plays Jamie Miller – a 13-year-old accused of murder – in his first ever acting role.

Before the launch of Adolescence, Metro had the chance to speak to Owen about his acting debut, as well other members of the cast, who showered the 15-year-old with praise.

The teenager was 14 when he filmed the Netflix drama and is set to appear in the upcoming adaptation of Wuthering Heights with Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi, which will mark his first role in a feature-length film.

While being interviewed alongside Stephen and Christine Tremarco – who play his on-screen parents Eddie and Manda Miller in Adolescence – Owen explained how the most challenging aspect of the series was delving into Jamie’s troubling mindset.

The beginning of the series shows the moment that Jamie is arrested at his home by the police and taken for questioning, where it’s revealed that a young girl has been killed in a tragic knife crime.

As the show progresses, more details emerge about the mindsets of teenagers at the school, how young boys are being influenced by the online ‘manosphere’ community and how something as simple an emoji in an Instagram comment can actually mean that someone is being accused of being an ‘incel’.

‘The most challenging part for me was I did episode three first, and it was just trying to get into Jamie’s head about girls and stuff,’ Owen said, referencing the episode where Jamie is having a one-on-one conversation with psychologist Briony Ariston (Erin).

‘That aspect of it was a bit difficult at first, but then I got comfortable with it, and then with the help of Stephen and Phil [director Philip Barantini] and Erin, they helped me into it. But I’ll probably say his view on other people is the most challenging part of Jamie to play.’

Several of the people who worked on Adolescence who we spoke to expressed their hope that the drama will spark important conversations among viewers, particularly regarding the dialogue that parents have with their children – and Owen agrees.

‘I hope that to the parents it’ll open an eye to them, definitely. Kids’ social media is them. It’s their personal life, but you never know what your child’s doing online, especially with Jamie,’ the actor said.

Referencing Jamie’s parents Eddie and Manda, he continued: ‘Eddie and Manda, they obviously didn’t know anything about Jamie, what he was doing in his personal life. So for the parents to have a better view on their child, on what they’re doing online, would obviously help a lot.’

It’ll be clear to anyone who watches Adolescence that Owen is an extremely exciting acting talent to keep an eye on.

Ashley, who plays DI Luke Bascombe in the drama, said working with him was like witnessing ‘the Lionel Messi of the acting game’, while Erin, who plays psychologist Briony Ariston and shares an intense episode with him, hailed him as ‘spectacular’.

A Thousand Blows star Erin explained that for her episode with Owen, they rehearsed for two weeks and then shot it for a week.

‘Through that process, we were continuously surprising each other, and Phil the director was constantly giving us these little tweaks or things to think about, and then just letting it fly,’ she recalled. Each of the four one-shot episodes were filmed 10 times before a decision was made on the final version that would be used.

The actress continued: ‘Owen would do things that would take me aback. So in a way, it was the easiest job in the world, because my only task was being in that room with him and just letting whatever happened sink in, or reject it, or whatever, just letting myself be. There were genuine moments where I had no idea what he was going to do.’

Erin, 32, emphasised how ‘emotionally intelligent’ an actor Owen is to have been able to achieve what he did for Adolescence.

‘I keep talking about how incredible he is, but I just think it’s a real marker of his emotional intelligence and his ability to do this job. I just think he’s supposed to do this job, because he just was able to dive in and let this quite terrifying personality take over,’ she said.

‘It’s a really intense situation, and it was quite frightening at moments. But he really is spectacular in this and so it’s a real it was just an honour to be in the room.’

Ashley, 42, agreed, saying that in his opinion, Owen is a ‘generational talent’.

‘It’s like the Lionel Messi of the acting game. It’s true,’ the Top Boy star said.

‘You watch him and you’re like, I don’t get how you’re doing this without hardly any life experience. How are you finding these emotions and these pockets and these places? And he’s doing it all naturally.

‘We had to decompress coming off set, like you’re crying… This guy was going to play table tennis, paddle ball and stuff. It’s just so easy. It’s just a gift.

‘It felt like someone was talking through him, and he’s set for big things.’

Adolescence is available to watch on Netflix.

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